jared703

I've been getting the infamous steering wheel shake when braking above 40 mph in my tsx for a couple months now. The car was bought new in July 2008 and it only has 20k on it. The dealer resurfaced the rotors at 3k, but that didn’t totally solve the problem and now am after a solution. The car is daily driven and not tracked.

At this point I’m pretty much set on the Racingbrake UP front rotors with the ET500 pads. I know the front brakes do most of the braking, but I also starting thinking about the rears.

I noticed that the 09+ gen2 tsx’s have an 11.1” rear rotor compared to our gen1 tsx 10.2” rears. Has anyone found an upgrade path to get these working? I’d imagine that you would need the 09+ gen2 tsx caliper mounts at a minimum. Does anyone know if this would fit? I'm not sure if the hub bore or bolt pattern changed in the gen 2's either. If everything is the same, it would be an easy way to pick up almost an inch more of rotor surface in the rear.

Simba91102

I doubt there would be anything easy about this swap (never mind the cost; it's unlikely you'd come up with the parts used). And rear pads (and rotors for that matter) are so easy to change..... I have to say why bother. The brakes work pretty well (I think) for street use. But.... I agree that the OE rotors leave something to be desired, and some have had poor rear pad life (not me by the way), I think a rotor change is probably all you need.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Acura OEM rotors FTL.

I have RB rotors/pads all around, and they're great!

sortudo7

Well I've been lucky and haven't had any issues with my 08 (knock on wood). I would simply upgrade the front rotors like Simba said. The work to custom fit then I'm sure would be similar to making the mounts for the TL-S calipers and rotors to fit. For such an upgrade I think the time and money would be better invested on just upgrading your brake setup with compatible rotors and pads.

huludicidal

Good choice on the pads. I'm rocking ET500s all around and they're great. Just stay away from Rotora rotors. The swap is probably more work than it's worth. I really don't see you noticing a substantial difference in brake effort with 10% larger rears.

jared703

Thanks for the input guys. I'll probably just upgrade the fronts now- that should fix the problems i'm having.

huludcidal- what rotors are you using? I'm going to put the RB up's on the front and probably leave the rears rotors oem with the et500 pads. I'm just not sure if I should upgrade the rear rotors yet.

huludicidal

I had a hard lesson about rotors. I originally bought Rotora slotted from Excelerate for all four corners but the fronts came warped. After a month of harassment I got my money back for the fronts. I was so put off by the idea of buying rotors (without warranty) over the internet I went to autozone and bought their Duralast blanks. They were $46 each and have a 2yr unlimited mile full replacement warranty. If they get warped or deposited within 2 yrs, you get brand new ones at no cost. Nobody could match that deal. Besides, if you don't track your car, slots and crossdrilling does nothing for you except ups aesthetics. I must say though, their product is superior quality to the Rotoras and they perform brilliantly with the ET500 pads. I love 'em and I recommend them.

The downside of the Duralast rotors (and Brembo blanks etc.) is that the hats aren't painted or treated so they will rust orange. Before you put them on, you can spray the hats with caliper/rotor paint...problem solved.

I am weary about buying "expensive" rotors because depending on your driving style, they will all get deposits and "warping" issues. I don't like resurfacing rotors so when/if that happens, you waste way more money. I've always used aggressive pads and haven't ever had rotor issues except with my OEM setup but IMO, why throw away $200+ on aesthetic rotors when $100 will perform equally as well and in the case of Duralast, come with an insane warranty. It's also better to have a physical store as opposed to the internet.

orlando

I've already resurfaced my front oem rotors at 20k and now at 40k with a pad change in the rear. I don't know if its because my rear pads are worn down that it puts more pressure on the front brakes to warp again. but for the rear pads to wear out before the front makes me think that its working as hard as the front. Because of my driving and braking style I would rather change all four corners to even it up when its time to change any of my rotors, just a suggestion. by the way i plan to upgrade to RB rotors but not sure on what pads to go with it yet.

Jottle

for some reason, others know, the rear brakes on our cars always wear sooner than the fronts. So don't worry about the difference in your driving style. It's just the nature of the weight distribution/braking system on the tsx.

Simba91102

This is true to some degree I'm sure, but the type of driving is I think the key to pad life (and perhaps your driving style). My 05 still had plenty of pad left when I changed the rear pads at around 50K and the front ones at around 70K. And my wife's 07 has almost 90K miles on it and the pads still have life left in them. Why? All highway driving. I'm sure this would be true with pretty much any car, and I'm as critical of the poor rear pad life as reported here as anyone. I think it was an engineering misstep on Honda's part (I mean the too small rear brakes perhaps remedied with the 2nd gen).

nj2pa2nc

my 06 tsx still has the original brake pads and rotors- The last time they were measured they were 8's in the fronts and 6's in the rears. I also do mostly highway driving. My car is now at 103K miles.

kanonen

I have the "shakes" too (85k on stock rotors and pads) and i have been thinking about changing rotors, pads and change the brake fluid but isn't very motivated...for 2 reasons:
-the car brakes well (other than the shakes), at least that's what i think as i don't have a point of reference.
-i am hanging on what rotor and pads to get.

The better this thread gets the more info we can get so keep it up folks what's your experience on brake upgrade.

bump

huludicidal

Brakes are my favorite upgrade. I love upgrading components that you use daily even without spirited driving. Whenever I buy a new (used) car it's the first thing I do to it. For street applications, you will not notice braking differences between rotors so don't stress out so much about that. Pads are single-handedly going to make the difference in braking for street use. I recommend going with an aggressive pad but you must compromise the dust and squeal. In my cars, I have used Axxis Ultimates (which are INCREDIBLE but rains dust on your pretty wheels), Axxis MetalMasters (feel like OEM but less fade), and right now I'm using RacingBrake ET500 (aggressive, low dust, no noise). When cold, the ET500s feel like OEM but as soon as they warm up, they come alive and they stop the TSX beautifully.

You say the car brakes well but you have no reference to what it could be. If you can, drive a TSX with upgraded brakes and then you'll start feeling like your OEMs just can't stop the car.

jared703

I think I’ll probably go with duralast front rotors with the et500 pads and keep the oem rear rotors and go with et500's. It will save a good amount of money and fix my problem, providing solid consistent braking.

Without increasing the rotor size, your stopping distance isn't going to improve much. The racingbrake rotors might be better for heat dissipation, but I just don't beat on this car hard enough to warrant them. I have a mazdaspeed 3 for that.

huludicidal

Good choice. It'll Be the best bang for the buck solution. I don't agree entirely on stopping distance though. You can only apply so much brake power before your tires become the weakest link. Similarly, oem pads fade horribly. They cannot handle the heat generated under heavy braking conditions. Upgrading to a pad that can handle high temps takes much more to get them to fade, thus resulting in consistent brake power which does reduce braking distance. Of course, as with BBKs on street applications, aggressive pads will only stop the car as short as your tires permit.

jared703

I agree, tires are the first part of the braking equation. I'm still on the oem Michelins for a while, so I'll make the best of it.

TingaAupiu

I've had to resurface my OEM rotors three times on my 08 and I just hit 60,000k. I am about %75 highway and %25 city. I got tired of having to do that, so I went with Stoptech rotors and pads. The rotors look awesome and when they get hot, the stopping power if very noticeable. I mostly upgraded for aesthetics, but I'm glad I went with Stoptech. Plus, I didn't hear any good things about Rotora's, which were my other option.

Jottle

I have stoptech pads and centric rotors in the rear. They definitely have better grip. It's so good that there's no real modulating the rear when at a stop. If I let off the brake a tiny bit at a stop, you can hear the rear rotors groan as the pads slip verrry slightly on the rotors. The stock pads would be silent if I let off the break to let the car roll a bit because they weren't gripping the rotors as much and could just sort of slide across them without making any friction.

ck123

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Acura...Q5fAccessories

what i'm using on my integra. it bites hard!

deepen03

i would get these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Acura...Q5fAccessories

got them on mine in october, been working great since. and because they are drilled, the water goes right through in the rain so no skidding. And there is no brake dust thanks to the ceramic pads and the drills and slots.

npolite

I've been hearing that the 2nd gen has a similar problem to the 8th gen Accords. While the size has increased, so has the weight and the Electronic Brake distribution has increased more to the rear to avoid nose dives. My sister was going trough rear pads every 15k miles before she sold her 08.

If I'm pleased with the OEM pads, will going with Duralast rotors help prevent the shudder or will the brake deposits end up on the rotors similar to the OEM ones negating the upgrade?

huludicidal

^^ I'm pretty confident the pads are mostly to blame. I'd get a whole new setup with duralast rotors and an aggressive street pad. You're guaranteed to be more than satisfied. It's the aggressive pad that prohibits uneven deposition, although they chew up rotors more. Besides, if you're already in there swapping rotors, doing the pads won't be much more effort.

jared703

Some have also had success with using sandpaper to scour their pads, with a goal of eliminate deposits. If you're happy with your oem pads and they have good life left, you could go that route as a preventitive measure.

Personally I'm going to go with new rotors and better pads to cover my bases. The last thing I want is to have more problems a few thousand miles down the road.

deepen03

yea if you want, check out the ebay ones i posted up there.. they are pretty good. I have had no problems in rain or ice and the braking is really quiet. And the best part is that there is ALMOST NO BRAKE DUST! I can drive my car for a week, before i even notice a little bit of gray dust on the wheels. unless there is rain of course lol

alucardx

i use brakemotive's powerstop brake/rotors, have had since sept 09. workin good so far

jared703

Just ordered the et500 pads today. I'll pick up the Front rotors in the next week or so. I'll probably install everything in the next couple of weeks.

huludicidal

Good choice, you'll dig this setup. Every time I use the brakes I get a "man I love these brakes" grin on my face.

jared703

Yeah, I'm excited. I'm going to get new duralast blanks up front. I'll have the et500's on the front and rear and just re-use the rear rotors.

npolite

Would the ET300 be a better overall solution so I don't get the excessive wear on the rotors but avoiding getting the deposits on the rotors like the OEM pads?

jared703

I haven't used them before so i'm not sure how much they wear on the rotors.

huludicidal

It really depends on your driving style. The ET300s are a less aggressive pad but I'm pretty confident the ET500s don't chew up rotors excessively when using them for normal street applications. I'd place the ET300s under "OEM brake response with less fade".

I used to run Axxis Ultimates, which are very hard on rotors (and dust like mad) and never had to change rotors in over 40K miles.

huludicidal

Once everything is bedded and broken in, this setup will come alive. The ET500 pads are like OEM when cold but they really wake up with some heat. High speed braking is awesome because they exhibit a really predictable linear decrease in braking effort as they heat up. Around town at low speeds (~15mph in Boston) it takes about 2-3 stops before they wake up, but even when cold they are no worse than OEM.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

Get back to us in 3-4 years. I have customers running that long on Racingbrake rotors with no shakes and no resurfacing after 3 sets of pads.


All these great recommendations and little-no reviews on heeltoeauto.com???

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

Racingbrake rotors and pads are really the best combination for wear and performance (including smoothness, quietness, and stopping power).

IMO anyway.

We are going to be updating the Racingbrake lineup soon with some HT-Spec brake packages!

bradykp

my OEM rear brakes didn't pass the first inspection - i think that was 2 years, probably about 30,000 miles. front brakes were fine. inspection was by a mechanic that has been the family mechanic for a long long time so it was trustworthy. this was the 2006. by the time i saw the TSB on the wheel shake the dealer wouldn't do anything about it - said we had too many miles and could be normal wear. i was not happy about that!

next round i'm gonna get me some better brakes.

jared703

Install was a success. It took about 1.5 hours total. I had to run out and get an impact driver socket (manual tool) to get the two screws in the rotor that are from the factory. I used the rear brake piston tool for the rear calipers to retract the pistons, I'd highly recommend that.

After bedding in the brakes, I tested braking around 60 mph and there is no more shudder! The brakes have good bite, feels pretty close to OEM. Maybe a little more bite. Glad to have confidence inspiring back while braking at highway speeds.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

The stopping with the 500s should be much better than OEM. Did you get any smoke off the brakes after bedding in?

jared703

It's probably hard for me to tell since I haven't driven alot on them yet. They feel better than oem, I'm just not sure of how much. I really feel the difference when braking from 30mph and above.

I need to do some higher speed bedding in, I mostly did hard 45-30mph, 8x or so. I did 2 hard 60 to 40 mph stops. I didn't look for smoke.

DuvalAcura

Most early model TSX's had problems with early rear brake pad wear which caused vibration etc. If you do go the OEM route for the rear brake setup next time around make sure the dealer gives you the updated pad part number 43022-SV4-G22... NOT 43022-S84-A50!

::TSXLOVER::

I have a 2004 TSX with only around 60K miles(!) on it. First replaced my brake pads and resurfaced rotors around 30K at dealer because of very noticeable shaking. It was okay for a while but I had shaking problems again around 50K. I recently replaced my front rotors and pads to brakemotive (powerstop brands) slotted/drilled ones by myself and the brakes now feel much better. Also tried to replace my rear rotors+pads but the dang screws won't come off even with manual impact drivers.