I'm never getting slotted expensive rotors again. They eat up the expensive pads too fast! I wasted over $200 for Stainless Steel Brake Corp Turboslotted rotors this year. Six events and they are toast. Where's the cheapest place you've found stock front 13" 1994-2004 rotors?
Best price on OEM front rotors?
- Thread starter SKMCOBRA
- Start date
i bought my last set from rockauto.com. They cost about 25.00 each. The open track vette guys get the cheapest ones since they are a disposable item.
I'm curious, how many events do you think they SHOULD last?! ;-)
I've seen guys go through a pair of rotors in one day at Road America!
Seasoning rotors properly will give you great returns on rotor life.
Tire Rack sells plain 13" Brembo rotors for like $65-$70 each and with proper seasoning, they will be one of your best rotor values out there.
FWIW
:thumbsup::coolman::beer:
Tire Rack has good prices on Brembo Plain Rotors front and rear.
I believe they are on back order until mid January.
I believe they are on back order until mid January.
I've been getting the plain Brembo rotors from www.buybrakes.com
They are a little more than Tire Rack, but with free shipping on orders over $100 they end up costing a little less after it's all done.
They are a little more than Tire Rack, but with free shipping on orders over $100 they end up costing a little less after it's all done.
Good to know, those Brembo calipers will probably eat my rotors faster than the stock ones.
What Bruce said
Well I had far reaching dreams of getting two seasons out of the SSBC rotors I bought this spring. Considering the stockers were on there for about 50k miles and then the whole 2006 season at the track (about 5 events), I thought a new pair might last two years. If by seasoning you are referring to properly imbedding them, then yes, I did do that first with the new pads and rotors. I had seen those on Tirerack, but thanks for the heads up. I was hoping someone had them for even cheaper.I'm curious, how many events do you think they SHOULD last?! ;-)
I've seen guys go through a pair of rotors in one day at Road America!
Seasoning rotors properly will give you great returns on rotor life.
Tire Rack sells plain 13" Brembo rotors for like $65-$70 each and with proper seasoning, they will be one of your best rotor values out there.
FWIW
:thumbsup::coolman::beer:
Thanks for the chuckle! :beer: Two seasons?! Maybe if you were track touring? ;-)
But seriously, seasoning rotors and bedding pads are two separate procedures.
:thumbsup::coolman::beer:
Someone explain why I should buy Brembo blanks from Tire Rack for $62 (front) and $45 (rear) when I can get OEM replacement blanks from RockAuto for $25 (front) and $20 (rear)?
Are the Brembo blanks going to last over 2x as long to justify the price?
Are the Brembo blanks going to last over 2x as long to justify the price?
Mainly because the cheap metal they use in the two bit China rotors will typically bite you in the ass on a race track. If you were just driving on the street, it may not matter.
The material Brembo uses to cast their rotors is most likely three times better than the cheap China crap.
My guess is twice the life at the minimum. What's the risk of a crash worth to you?
FWIW
:thumbsup::coolman::beer:
Sometimes the cheap rotors also have different patterns in the cooling vanes between the surfaces as well. Typically the cheaper ones are less efficient and therefore have a lot more trouble at track temperatures as well. Of course with proper cooling ducts it may not be as big of an issue. Also cheaper castings are more likely to have more internal flaws (cold spots, slag, etc) than more expensive ones.
I know I don't really count since its a truck but I didn't notice much if any life difference when I began running cheap chinese rotors instead of the brembos. And yes I did compare the cooling vanes in them before buying them. At half price it is nowhere near the price difference for me. Of course I crack my rotors after about 4-5 days on track no matter what at this point. My experiences may have a lot to do with my driving and the amount of mass I am trying to sling around as well. [disclaimer]So test them at your own risk[/disclaimer] :thumbsup:
Bruce, I am always curious about personal taste in procedures. How do you season your rotors and bed your pads?
Rob
Rob:
It's getting harder and harder for me to properly season my rotors because I drive my R less and less on the street.
To properly season rotors they need to go through numerous heat cycles during street duty on street pads. This is similar to a heat treating process called "normalizing" that relaxes any stresses that may be in the material. The more heat cycles the better. Sometimes I used to put rotors on my nephew's DD car and let him run them for a month or two for me.
Then they are ready to have a pad bedding proceedure. Different manufacturers have different procedures for bedding pads. The instructions should be enclosed with the pads. For example Hawk pads are bedded with your cooling ducts blocked off. Six to eight brake applications (not too close together to avoid overheating) from say 60-20 miles an hour. You don't want to come to a complete stop. Then six to eight from higher speeds in the range of 80-100 mph slowing down to 20 again. This gets a little tricky unless you have some good country roads to work with.
Now your seasoned rotors are properly bedded to your race pads. I mark the rotors left and right and I also mark the pads as to exacty where they came out of the car. They are now ready for immediate track duty once you hit the track.
Now that I've gone to the 14" Brembo Gran Turismo kit it's much more difficult for me to season rotors. I've found that the PF 01's are much more friendly for my use now as they do not require bedding like the Hawk pads do. They are pretty much ready to rock and roll right out of the box. I'm done with Hawk products now for several reasons.
FWIW
:thumbsup::coolman::beer:
Please expound upon this. I am in need of new pads as well and trying to decide what is best for my car. I ran Hawk HP Plus pads this year and was happy with them except for the slotted rotors eating them up. My driving is only for HSDEs and occasional street use. This car is not a track dedicated car...at least not yet. I still have the back seats in! :dw:
I used to like Hawk pads a lot. They did a great job of stopping the car. They were also reasonably priced. But..... The Hawk Blue's I originally started with ate the crap out of my rotors. Then, I ran in the rain once with Hawk Blues on the car and you can't imagine how acidic that brake dust is!
It took a whole day to clean the car and wheels after that. The Hawk HT-10's I used for a while after that and they also did a great job stopping the car. Just not quite like the Blues but I could live with it. The HT-10's lasted longer AND were much easier on rotors. The brake residue is nothing like the Blues if it gets wet. I've learned to just wash the car immediately after running in the rain.
I have no experience with HP Plus, or HP Street pads.
After converting to PF-01's I now pay more for pads but I don't have to bed them. This is a nice feature. Plus the dust is not a problem when the car gets wet from rain or heavy dew.
When I buy new rotors, I have the rotor manufacturer stress relieve them and that helps cut down on the seasoning process. When I'm running new rotors at the track I will take it easy on them for a few sessions.
FWIW
YMMV
:thumbsup::coolman::beer:
what thickness PFC 01s do you use with your Grand Turismos? I am exclusive with PFC on pads and use only the 01. We are putting a 14" Grand Turismo kit on the R next month.
We are putting the new PFC 14" kit on the other car for a tryout.
We are putting the new PFC 14" kit on the other car for a tryout.
I really can't tell you the thickness. I'm not at the shop and won't be back there until Wednesday. But I seem to recall they are in the .650" range?:shrug:
As a follow-up, Brembo rear blanks are indeed on back order until late January. I ordered a set of front and rear Brembo blanks from Tire Rack yesterday and at least the fronts will ship out this week.
Might as well post this here as well. I called Carbotech for pads and ordered a set of XP10s for the front and XP8s for the rear. For those of you in North Carolina, they are moving from Shelby to Concord (about a mile from LMS) in the next month or so. It'll be nice to be able to run over to their location and pick up a set of pads.
Might as well post this here as well. I called Carbotech for pads and ordered a set of XP10s for the front and XP8s for the rear. For those of you in North Carolina, they are moving from Shelby to Concord (about a mile from LMS) in the next month or so. It'll be nice to be able to run over to their location and pick up a set of pads.
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