Brake pad and rotor replacement

[kanwisch]

Seen some other info on here about these things, so thought I'd post up, for posterity, my replacement experience.

 

Previous to the Lumina, I had a Saturn SL2, which got totalled when I woman turned left in front of me. That car went through two sets of rotors, manu'd in China and Taiwan, and both sets warped nastily.

 

So, I've sworn off Asian rotors, regardless of their notoriety or inexpense. When I replaced the Lumina's, I found an online shop I like for their prices, experience, and good knowledge (brakewarehouse.com). Yeah, not necessarily the best prices, but good enough, and reasonable for the service.

 

Anyway, I'd ordered EBC Green's for the Lumina through their web pages, and I got a call about 10 minutes later from a guy out there. He asked what the application and desired characteristics were, I told him, and he pointed me to Performance Friction's Z-rated pads. He also encouraged me to get rotors simultaneously, based on the mileage (~100k). I declined, thinking this a sales-angle, rather than helpful angle, and ended up ordering a set of rotors when the local shop couldn't cut mine even because of thickness concerns.

 

So, I got the Kelsey-Hayes rotors shortly thereafter. And the car stops much more evenly and quickly. The pads require a little warm-up, but the commutes of 100mi per day make that very simple. And my wife's poor treatment of brakes hasn't managed to warp the rotors yet, so thanks to Canada for quality manufacturing (sorry, couldn't find US ones I had heard anything about, or didn't already have experience with).

 

That's my brake part review in a nutshell.