Brakes Discussion

hotdogjohnny

hotdogjohnny

Well-Known Member
1,378
755
USA
Vehicle Model
Civic Si
Body Style
Sedan
^^^I'm not going to start a new thread. This is the garage section so . . . 20k miles on my oem rotors and the fronts are acting warped. It's prolly a buildup, not warp. Is there any way to clean burned in stuff to renew the rotor without resurfacing it? After all, 20k miles is Bu** Sh** to have problems liek this. Oh yeah, and I'm on 3/32nds on the tires. Great. Never once a burnout or anything.
 
hotdogjohnny said:
I'm going to start a thread in the proper section on brakes with questions I have. For instance, with just 20k miles,it feels like my front left rotor is already "warped."
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Wouldn't be suprised..... Have them turned or upgrade... My front pads lasted me 5k miles and the stock tires lasted 10k miles.... Certain Honda parts suck...
 
nat3d said:
im not no.. i havent really gotten in to stopping power yet because i drive an lx. i dont know if he would know but i always see them post in suspension but maybe @death_roll or @Nix know a thing or two about this.
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Lol as in 'callahan' modeled after the Tommy Boy reference.

Just another ebay'er trying to make some money, I would avoid and get performance-backed proven stuff we all trust, hawk / stoptech / etc.
 
07TLX said:
Wouldn't be suprised..... Have them turned or upgrade... My front pads lasted me 5k miles and the stock tires lasted 10k miles.... Certain Honda parts suck...
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Thats surprising , I'm over 10k and my brakes and tires are still in great shape and that with NYC traffic thrown into the mix.
 
njhustler said:
Thats surprising , I'm over 10k and my brakes and tires are still in great shape and that with NYC traffic thrown into the mix.
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Maybe Honda actually did a correct change between 2007 and current Civics...

I wasn't happy when I had to change them, especially when Honda told me 400 bucks to change front pads, because they have to turn the rotors as well...
 
hotdogjohnny said:
^^^I'm not going to start a new thread. This is the garage section so . . . 20k miles on my oem rotors and the fronts are acting warped. It's prolly a buildup, not warp. Is there any way to clean burned in stuff to renew the rotor without resurfacing it? After all, 20k miles is Bu** Sh** to have problems liek this. Oh yeah, and I'm on 3/32nds on the tires. Great. Never once a burnout or anything.
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@nat3d

I've run the OEM shoes, Hawk HPS, and now AXXIS/PBR Ultimates on my LX.

OEMs are so far the least stopping power but the best for ZERO noise and low dust.

Hawk HPS - I know a lot of people hate them but I thought they were pretty decent for the price. Less dust than OEM surprisingly but they did make some noise when they were cold. Slightly better braking in terms of initial bite.

AXXIS - Holy frickin dust. My wheels are BLACK! It comes off easy though if you don't let it sit. They bite hard, never faded at the dragon and, thanks to Connor with his laser temp gun, I had hot some rotors at the bottom. The drums were definitely not helping and my driving was sub-par and adding to the brake heat. Still, no issues. Full power all the time. They do make a screech every once in a while but not bad. Seems like dust build up or something. Hit em once and if they make noise the second press should be quiet.


So it really just depends on what you want/need out of them. I'd probably recommend the OEMs unless you are going to do some serious driving. If you can lock up your tires or the ABS kicks on, then the weak link is not the brake, pads, fluid, or rotors. It's the tires.

I am also running the EBC USR Slotted rotors. Honestly just for looks. Hahahah. They don't add anything to the braking but hey, I knew what I was getting.
 
Centric Parts FTW!
IMG_1816_zpsffa53cab.jpg
 
njhustler said:
Thats surprising , I'm over 10k and my brakes and tires are still in great shape and that with NYC traffic thrown into the mix.
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I tend to drive at the limits of adhesion, just can't help it. That explains the tires, but I thought I'd do better.


I'm at 8mm on the front pads, maybe less, and 6mm on the rears, again, 20k miles. I wonder if I should switch them out now, before it gets too cold. I'm relegated to my driveway.
 
hotdogjohnny said:
^^^I'm not going to start a new thread. This is the garage section so . . . 20k miles on my oem rotors and the fronts are acting warped. It's prolly a buildup, not warp. Is there any way to clean burned in stuff to renew the rotor without resurfacing it? After all, 20k miles is Bu** Sh** to have problems liek this. Oh yeah, and I'm on 3/32nds on the tires. Great. Never once a burnout or anything.
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you're right that most issues attributed to "warped" rotors are actually caused by deposits on the rotor faces. this usually happens when the brakes are held down at a stop while they are hot. it stands to reason then that since hot brakes can leave deposits behind, the opposite must be true, and that's been my experience. although i've never had issues with my own cars (i try to never hold the brakes at a stop when they're hot), i've been able to significantly reduce the vibration in others' cars by getting the brakes nice and hot and then applying light pressure to let the pads sweep the rotors clean. if you do try this, you just have to be really careful, because if you're not you can easily boil the brake fluid and you'll experience what's call brake fade. pedal goes to the floor and you feel hardly any braking and go, "oh sh!t!" haha. also, you run the risk of leaving more deposits on the rotor if you come to a complete stop and leave the pads in contact with the rotors. because of that, most find it easier to just get the rotors turned.
 
^^^ I must be guilty of that because I never knew about the hot pads at a stop. I can get my brakes real hot in a five minute drive near my house, then out onto the highway. How long shouls I hold the light pressure to sweep the rotors clean, and how many times do I do it. I take it I should maintain speed by using light throttle at the same time?
 
When the pads and rotors are hot and up to temperature the worst thing to do is come to a stop holding pressure on the brake pedal. It is hard sometimes to remember that.

Do you know anyone with an air compressor and an orbital sander? If you are comfortable taking the rotors off, hit them with P80 grit on an orbital lightly on both sides and then re-install the rotors and wheels. If you have a slightly worn piece of sandpaper, take the slight glaze off the pads by hand.

Take it out for a spin and apply the brakes 3-4 times from highway speed in a row, but don't come to a complete stop, accelerate up to speed and brake again, down to around 20 mph or so. Repeat. You want to get the pads and rotors up to temperature, and then let them cool down while the vehicle is in motion. Obviously it's best to do this where there is light traffic or with no one else around.
 
hotdogjohnny said:
^^^ I must be guilty of that because I never knew about the hot pads at a stop. I can get my brakes real hot in a five minute drive near my house, then out onto the highway. How long shouls I hold the light pressure to sweep the rotors clean, and how many times do I do it. I take it I should maintain speed by using light throttle at the same time?
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^^^that too. like Michael Hurd said, if you are able to, taking the rotors off and using sandpaper will work as well. then perform the bedding procedure described above.

if you don't want to take the brakes apart, you can try what i was talking about. usually, if you do several hard stops and start bring up the temp, you'll feel the pulsing start to improve. you can drag the brakes and if they're hot enough you'll feel the vibration start to become less and less, and eventually it goes away. i really can't say how long to hold the brakes or how fast to go because it's more of a "feel" thing. if you've never experienced brake fade, then it'll be hard to describe what i mean by this. but basically, when the brakes are hot enough there will be a point where you can feel the vibration start to improve. where most people usually go wrong is not letting the brakes cool enough before coming to a complete stop and then leaving new deposits in the rotors.

also as mentioned above, if you try this (or are bedding in new pads) make sure you have nice long straights and no traffic around.
 
Michael Hurd said:
When the pads and rotors are hot and up to temperature the worst thing to do is come to a stop holding pressure on the brake pedal. It is hard sometimes to remember that.

Do you know anyone with an air compressor and an orbital sander? If you are comfortable taking the rotors off, hit them with P80 grit on an orbital lightly on both sides and then re-install the rotors and wheels. If you have a slightly worn piece of sandpaper, take the slight glaze off the pads by hand.

Take it out for a spin and apply the brakes 3-4 times from highway speed in a row, but don't come to a complete stop, accelerate up to speed and brake again, down to around 20 mph or so. Repeat. You want to get the pads and rotors up to temperature, and then let them cool down while the vehicle is in motion. Obviously it's best to do this where there is light traffic or with no one else around.
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I have an electric orbital sander someplace. I may try that. Or I may buy a flex hone brush like this:

Flex Hone Brush.jpg

Apparently, it leaves a nice cross-hatching like original finishes. $35.00 shipped. I don't know. First I think I'll try to clean the rotors under power on the road, as suggested. If that works to get rid of the mild pulsing I get, great! I'll bet I left deposits on these rotors just from lack of knowledge about the issue. I know now!
 
again tho, if you do try this, be very careful, because you can boil the brake fluid, and if you do, your pedal will go to the floor and you will have very little if any stopping power.
 
hey_mikey said:
again tho, if you do try this, be very careful, because you can boil the brake fluid, and if you do, your pedal will go to the floor and you will have very little if any stopping power.
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understood. I've experienced brake fade . . . on a spirited run down a mountain in southwest Virginia in 1977. Scared the Sh** out of me in my 1970 Volvo 164!
1970 Volvo 164.jpg
Learned to recognize brake fade before it's a problem. Don't worry.
 
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I wonder if Honda covers resurfacing under warranty. At Nissan its a covered repair.

anyways, you may have luck with trying to get rid of the pulsation via the methods mentioned above, but if they're warped, they're warped. I've heard people say there's no such thing as a warped rotor - its just uneven pad material transfer, but I have to strongly disagree. I've seen countless warped rotors dancing around on brake lathes.

I have seen the pad transfer that many describe, but I would expect to find this more cars with an automatic transmission. a hard sudden stop at an unexpected red light, or taking a highway off ramp and sitting stopped with your foot on the brake can cause this uneven transfer of material.
 
:clapping:@Michael Hurd and @hey_mikey : I tried the suggestion two days ago to heat up the rotors and reburnish the pads. It took all of 2 minutes to do and cured the problem. Thanks so much for the idea! No more pulsing brakes.:banana whip2:
 
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