Has anyone ever bought brake rotors on Ebay? I have seen cross drilled and slotted and just slotted ones. Are these rotors any good or should I steer clear of them?

 

in my experience, most of those slotted/drilled rotors are just brembo blanks that have been machined by other companies.

This in turn, creates a weaker rotor than the blank. Real slotted/drilled rotors are good though. You just have to be careful with ebay sometimes.

Drilled/slotted rotors usually cost an arm and a leg, and in most cases, are not needed for street driven cars.

 

post the auction you're looking at too btw.

 

I paid $440 INSTALLED for my x-drilled and cerami pads all around. HALF what a brakejob would have cost at the dealer with OEM parts. This has been an argument for a long time, but I will always say that it is better to have better brakes than not. No-one NEEDS 18" wheels on a street car either, but we all enjoy the handling from them, don't we. Having better brake means better stopping PERIOD. While I agree that the off-brand slotted/x-drilled are probably not quite as good as the brembo's, the cooling benefits of the slots/x-drilling faroutweight any "so called strenth" losses that might eb incurred. Meaning that the brakes will be LESS like to warp even though they would appear to be weaker. They also weight less which helps them do their job of slowing the weight of themselves and the wheel down, which ESPECIALLY helps if you have those 18" heavy ass wheels we all like. Just my 0.02

 

crossdrilling rotors do not make your brakes perform better. What they will do is act like a cheese grater on your brake pads. They look sexy as hell, yes, but they do nothing in terms of improving brake performance (unless you have pads that were made in the 1940's). These holes will also not help cool the rotor.

slotting rotors should be thought about if you are consistently glazing over your brake pads. They do NOT help cool the rotor.

Oversized/Big brake kit rotors might be an option for you if you are overheating your brakes consistently. However, you increase rotational mass and weight in this case. A better solution to overheated brakes is a different brake pad compound and a different brake fluid.

blank/OEM rotors are perfectly fine for 98% of the population out there. Even for most road racers/autox/track racers (non-professional), blanks will be more than adequate.

If you want to improve your braking distances, bet better tires.

(Brakes work by converting Kenitc Engergy in to heat. And if you remove mass from the rotor, You increase the Opperating temps of that rotor.... Meaning Slotted rotors = less metal = More heat.)

I should also note that most of the "facts" about brakes in the import scene (xdrilled/slotted/big) are marketing ploys that have been HIGHLY successful.

http://www.teamscr.com/rotors.html for more information on rotors.
http://www.teamscr.com/rearbrakeupgrades.html for more information about "big brake kit" performance

 

I'll throw some more information into this thread for everyone to read.

Changing pad compounds can make a difference, and can make the brakes feel like they stop the car faster, but the pads arent whats stopping the car - The tires are.

What changing pads does is alter the Brakes Torque Curve, Which in turn alters how much brake presure is needed to get the same amount of torque to the tires (As stock or other pads). The total amount of torque the tires can apply to the ground hasn't changed, just how much pedal travel you use in order to reach that Terminal Point. It is possible to apply too much torque than the tires can handle and this will result in a skid.

The other thing chaging pads does is alter the Opperating and Terminal Fade temp of the brakes.

The best brake system for any car is dependent on how the car is driven and how the brakes are used. The best brake system will put all the factors together and find the best compromise that will best suit the driver.

 

Oh yea,

You know that zinc coating that many people offer? yea, that one. Well, thats just another marketing gimic. They put it on, but it'll come off the first few times you brake.

Here's a pretty good brake job DIY if you need it.
http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...=drilled+rotor

Its not going to be EXACTLY the same, but pretty much the same procedure.

 

well, i'm not sure, but it sounds like you know what you're talking about. however, i must disagree. i've had regular rotors and x-drilled (KVR brand). the x-drilled ones i had lasted 5 years and were never turned or shaved. when i replaced them, the difference was incredible (again, as with the first time i got them). i used the same brake pad, but just had different rotors. they helped the car stop better.

if they did not help at all, then i'm guessing cars such as Ferraris, Lambos, etc. would not have them. also, aside from cooling the rotor, they are all about heat and water disappation. this may not be from the rotor, but from the pads and surrounding parts. the water can slip through the holes during wet braking.

so although you know lots (or seem to) and may be partially correct, i will say that experience is something that i rely on more than anything. and about the coating part, i'm not sure about it one way or another. but i've had it on previous rotors that i bought.

 

What brand were your regular ones?

As for water disappation? I doubt that has anythign to do with it. From the amount of heat you produce when you brake, i'd think that the water would evaporate once it hit the rotor.

And if you own a porsche, ferrari, or lambo, then i'd hope that you could afford to pay for a brake job. Now let me ask you this, have you ever seen drilled rotors on a nascar car? I haven't.

 

Ok dude, I've been down this road in too many threads before. I have had many different brakes on many different cars. I know alot from experience, cause I am VERY hard on my breaks. I enjoy driving fast, that means I also need to stop fast. My stock OEM rotors on my integra warped within the first year and a half. I upgraded to OEM SIZED x-drilled. Had them on the car for almost 4 years, finally started to get heat cracks at the end of their life. TRUST me when I say that regular rotors would have broken apart by the time those ones got any damage. The TL's original brakes were crap. I was always warping rotors. Put the CHEAP ROTO-TEK rotors on the front and ceramic pads all around, and I haven't had hardly a shimmy. I realize I also changed the pads, and that DOES account for alot of the improvement, but I also know the rotors are a BIG part of that. As DUB said, you really think that Porsche, Ferrari and even GM for crying out loud on the Vette Z06 would put cross drilled rotors on if there was no benefit? you said yourself about the rotational size and weight of the rotors being an issues, x-drilling helps with this as well. And beleive it or not, the purpose of the rotors is to dissipate heat into the AIR not into itself. The extra surface area of the holes helps the rotor to do this. It is not the heat that stops the car, but the friction itself. The heat is a BY-PRODUCT of that action, and as such is not needed for the action to happen. Why do you think amplifiers have heat-sinks? They create more surface area to dissipate the heat INTO the air.

 

And as for the coating.... I hate to break it to you but it DOES work. The coating is not intended to keep the part of the rotor that the brakes come into contact with protected, yes it wears away from that area of the rotor within a short time of intalling it. What it DOES do is keep the REST of the area of the rotor (outside edges and the area around the hub) from rusting out and looking like crap. Since these areas do not get cleaned by braking action, it protects them from the brake dust itself and HELPS to prevent them from rusting. You still have to mainatain them to some degree by rinsing off as often as possible, same as any wheel to keep them from getting stained, but they will help the situation for quite some time.

 

Just one more thing about x-drilled rotors. The reason they work so well, ESPECIALLY on the front breaks (which are vented more often than the rears on most cars) is because the holes typically line up with the curve of the vents in the middle of the rotor. This creates a good airflow through the vent and out the holes to the outside of the rotor. More surface area fromt the holes = more heat dissipation into the air = LONGER LASTING ROTORS and LESS FADE. Brakes fade because the rotors get hot and gasses build up between the rotors and the pads. By keeping the brakes cooler and helping to dissipate those gasses, the x-drilled rotors can GREATLY reduce brake fade.

 

100% agree with Cornflake - the drilled and slotted rotors give more surface area to allow the heat to dissipate, cooling your rotors, making them less likely to warp and helping you stop faster.

I'm no expert but I just installed cheap cross drilled and slotted rotors, and I feel a world of difference from the oem ones.

peace

(Oh, and btw, ABS is built on the fact that brakes are far more important in stopping than your tires, by not locking the wheels, your brakes can oppose your car's motion with higher frictional force.)

 

Thanks Choc. Yeah, put those new rotors and pads on my car BIG improvement. Gonna change the rear rotors next summer to x-drilled to match the front. Prolly find some stainless lines as well to help the feel.

 

I agree that ABS is to keep the job of turning kinetic energy into other forms based on your brakes (which are designed to do that).

However, brakes are not "far more important" then your tires. Let's assume for a moment massive cross drilled/slotted/whatever rotors with 6 piston Brembo calipers. Let's also assume the car is on ice. Those brakes aren't going to do diddily squat.

If the tires can't get grip on the surface, your brakes are useless. Tires are so often overlooked (people get the Wal-Mart special) when in reality, they are THE SINGLE MOST important safety item on a car. (IE Ford Firestone rollover incidents etc)

 

Wackjum, I agree. Tires are a VERY important safety item and are also critical to brake performance, you can only have as much stopping power as the most limiting factor. Quite often that IS the tires. But for most people who have decent tires on their cars, having better brakes alone will help the braking of their vehicles. ESPECIALLY if you are running big rims with big fat tires.

 

Hey thanks for all to opinions on the brake issue. Sorry for raising such a touchy issue between members. The one person asked what auction I was looking at, I was just browsing in the parts area under acura tl and saw rotors for fairly cheap ($160 f & r x-drilled and slotted) and it seem to good to be true. I think this spring I may by some and new aftermarket pads (green stuff) and switch them out. If I do i will post pics of the process. Thanks again. Quick question off the subject, how do I get my pics to appear and not just the link to the pics and how do I put multiple pics in one post?

 

There is a thread on this in the main forum I beleive, but all you do is put [I M G ] without THE SPACES at the fron of the link and [ / I M G ] at the end (again with no spaces) and the image instead of the link will appear in the thread.

 

Im glad you posted this question as I was wondering the same thing. Here is a link to ones commonly posted on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33564

I was thinking about getting those and some new pads some time in the near future. Im just afraid of paying too much for "junk" or something that isnt worth it. But if you are telling me that some "cheaper" rotors work significantly better than stock then i may get some anyway.

Also would a "real" brembo big brake kit straight from brembo themselves that was made for an accord fit on our cars? If it does at least I will know that Im getting real brembo rotors, not some imitations.

 

Hey, i have a q? that has to do with breaks, mainly the master cylinder, my brother friends said it needs to be replaced, saying it would cost $150 for him to get it, so im woundering if that is how much the thing cost. I know i can find search on my own, but im asking u guys firsts, Thanxz.

 

O n i wasnt sure if he was geting the OEM parts.

 

When I thought mine was gone, had the dealer price it out, was over $300.

 

oOOO thas alot... im so broke rite now

 

i'm not sure i would stick to the dealer on this one. there are a lot of shops (local, etc.) that could 'maybe' do it for less. i'd sure check them out first, and make sure that it needs to be changed to begin with.

 

Dealer told me mine was shot (cause I let the fluid go too low when bleeding brakes safter changing a caliper) but they bled the system for me and put it back in and it's been fine (knock on wood) ever since. That was almost two years ago.