I am running an 03 Caravan with about 120k on the clock. I had to replace the front pads at around 80k which I understand is not unusual. So far, they have been great. The last few months though, the brakes feel fine when starting off cold, but, after a few km I can feel a definite pulsing which gets progressively worse as the day wears on. I pulled the front wheels a month ago (cold) to have a look around ... the ceramic pads seem to be doing a great job, everything nice and clean and surpriseingly, the runout appeared to be normal. I torqued the wheels back on just to insure they hadn't been rotated by a hack when I replaced the tires at around 110k. It road tested about the same afterward, like the rotors are overheating. I am thinking the ceramic pads, since they wear so well, must be generating a bit more heat than stock pads so I'm going to replace the front rotors. Since price is not necessarily an indicator of quality I'm wondering if anyone can suggest suitable replacements. By suitable, I mean high quality at a reasonable price.
Warped Rotors?
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Any rust scale build up near the rotor "hat" that may be causing the pulsing. If so, this can be chipped off or ground off. There could be a heat response there as well because the scale would tend to expand unevenly, I would think.
Front Rotors
I cleaned up most of the scale on both sides when I was checking for abnormal run out. As for machining the rotors, its tough to find anybody that does it anymore. I guess with an abundance of cheap imported rotors and drums on the market they would just as soon sell you new parts. The hard part is finding something better than stock at a reasonable price.
I cleaned up most of the scale on both sides when I was checking for abnormal run out. As for machining the rotors, its tough to find anybody that does it anymore. I guess with an abundance of cheap imported rotors and drums on the market they would just as soon sell you new parts. The hard part is finding something better than stock at a reasonable price.
Here's what Rock Auto says about rotors:
Meeting Original Equipment Specs
“Meets or exceeds Original Equipment (OE) standards” is the benchmark for replacement auto parts. It means the parts are designed and tested to meet the same specifications as the parts originally installed on the car when it was first built. It is not just marketing hype especially when used to describe a critical system like brakes.
The car makers (Ford, GM, Toyota...) and OE and aftermarket parts manufacturers (ACDelco, Federal Mogul, Tenneco...) are often the first to sound the alarm if a competitor makes false claims.
RockAuto supplier Affinia (maker of Raybestos, WIX, Quinton Hazell, etc.) recently announced a competitor’s “light weight” rotors do not meet OE specifications as claimed in the competitor’s advertising. (This competitor is NOT one of RockAuto.com’s other brake suppliers).
Brake pads rub against the brake rotor to stop the vehicle. A brake rotor has two smooth discs separated by an air gap to prevent overheating. Affinia found the competitor’s rotors were 18.83% lighter and had air gaps between the discs that were 68.58% greater than the OE specifications.
The rotors underwent thermal fatigue testing on a 2007 Dodge Caravan and 2005 Chevrolet Silverado. The OE standard specified that the rotors withstand 100 testing cycles. Many high quality parts manufacturers specify their rotors last at least 150 cycles.
Twelve of the competitor’s rotors were tested. All except one developed cracks and failed before 100 cycles. Nine rotors failed before completing 75 cycles. For more details, please read the press release Affinia sent RockAuto on July 9th.
Light, flimsy rotors might be less costly to ship in from overseas, but they also do a poor job of stopping cars and trucks. It is great that Affinia and other reputable manufacturers are policing OE standards, but it is also a good idea for consumers to buy trusted brands from respectable retailers like RockAuto.com. Who knows how many “light weight” rotors have been put on the road in the last year.
Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com
Meeting Original Equipment Specs
“Meets or exceeds Original Equipment (OE) standards” is the benchmark for replacement auto parts. It means the parts are designed and tested to meet the same specifications as the parts originally installed on the car when it was first built. It is not just marketing hype especially when used to describe a critical system like brakes.
The car makers (Ford, GM, Toyota...) and OE and aftermarket parts manufacturers (ACDelco, Federal Mogul, Tenneco...) are often the first to sound the alarm if a competitor makes false claims.
RockAuto supplier Affinia (maker of Raybestos, WIX, Quinton Hazell, etc.) recently announced a competitor’s “light weight” rotors do not meet OE specifications as claimed in the competitor’s advertising. (This competitor is NOT one of RockAuto.com’s other brake suppliers).
Brake pads rub against the brake rotor to stop the vehicle. A brake rotor has two smooth discs separated by an air gap to prevent overheating. Affinia found the competitor’s rotors were 18.83% lighter and had air gaps between the discs that were 68.58% greater than the OE specifications.
The rotors underwent thermal fatigue testing on a 2007 Dodge Caravan and 2005 Chevrolet Silverado. The OE standard specified that the rotors withstand 100 testing cycles. Many high quality parts manufacturers specify their rotors last at least 150 cycles.
Twelve of the competitor’s rotors were tested. All except one developed cracks and failed before 100 cycles. Nine rotors failed before completing 75 cycles. For more details, please read the press release Affinia sent RockAuto on July 9th.
Light, flimsy rotors might be less costly to ship in from overseas, but they also do a poor job of stopping cars and trucks. It is great that Affinia and other reputable manufacturers are policing OE standards, but it is also a good idea for consumers to buy trusted brands from respectable retailers like RockAuto.com. Who knows how many “light weight” rotors have been put on the road in the last year.
Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com
shente2
Wow..nice and interesting. i will try it later. Thanks for sharing information. Thanks for the comment, are you talking about the whole designing or a part of? Not bad. Have you done this type of stuff often? It seems like it. i like the idea but how do members of the public remove there details. stainless steel pipe
Wow..nice and interesting. i will try it later. Thanks for sharing information. Thanks for the comment, are you talking about the whole designing or a part of? Not bad. Have you done this type of stuff often? It seems like it. i like the idea but how do members of the public remove there details. stainless steel pipe
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If your talking about the address for the pipes, click on the right hand upper corner, the white triangle with a black line in the center and the red border and ask the administrator to do it.
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10,112 Posts
So you are saying that you have 120 on the original rotors with 40k miles of it on ceramic pads? If so, then you need rotors no question about it. The rotors are worn thin and can't absorb enough heat anymore.
Metallic pads that make a mess do not wear into the rotor very much but people change them to ceramics to lose the dust problem. The problem with ceramics is that they are very hard and wear into the rotor quite a bit. I have about 20k on ceramics that were with new rotors and they have already worn into the rotor quite a bit even though the pads look barely worn.
No true. Akabano invented the modern ceramic pad and is an OEM supplier for Toyota and Honda. I have used their pads on my Town & Country and PT Cruiser for a total of over 250,000 miles. I currently have about 45,000 miles on a front pair of Centric rotors and Akabono pads and the rotors have no wear. The rotors look great and the mini-van stops very well. Same can be said about my PT Cruisers combination of Akabono ceramic pads and Centric rotors. The OEM rotors and the Brembo rotors were fine, but this combination, in my subjective experience, seems like a winning combination. There may be some crap out there that is marketed as a ceramic pad, I have no experience with any ceramic pad other than those offered by Akabono.
Akabono now ships a new line of ceramic pads that is said to work better than traditional ceramic pads in very agressive driving conditions, the major weak point for modern ceramic pads.
Akabono now ships a new line of ceramic pads that is said to work better than traditional ceramic pads in very agressive driving conditions, the major weak point for modern ceramic pads.
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