stewie20068

I had the oem rotors and pads, but replaced them 2 years ago due to shuddering/vibrating any time I braked. Initially the racingbrake rotors and hawk performance pads felt great! No shuddering and MUCH better braking.

Now I'm having the same problem I had with the OEM's...shuddering. Especially when braking over 80mph. I've also noticed that when I get down to like 10mph and hold the pedal at a constant location the car unevenly slows....like there are parts of the rotor that cause heavier braking (because its thicker??).

I've tried bedding the brakes in again, and that will fix the problem for a week or so, but then it comes right back. I'm very careful when I do hard braking to not sit with the pads pressed against the rotors; I always use the parking brake to sit if I just did a heavy stop.

Do you guys have any suggestions? I hate having to bed my pads every 2 weeks....

Stylinhonda

That's crazy. I still have the OEM's at 32k miles. The shuddering is just nuts. Even loud at times. Everyone says great things about getting aftermarket pads and rotors. Yet I have wondered how they hold up after another 20k to 30k miles. I too wonder why this is an issue.

icemiko

iTrader: (2)

Warped rotors maybe?

LuvMyTSX

I had Power Slot rotors and Hawk ceramic pads installed almost 40k miles ago and have not had a single problem. The stock brakes were crap.

stewie20068

what do you think would cause my rotors to warp? Especially since they are supposed to be top-notch rotors and pads? How can I prevent this from happening in the future?

nbtx

Are you torquing the lug nuts to 80 #ft?

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

My oems were warpped at 30k miles and i live in the northeast so i got powerslots in the front and cryo power slots in the back

Fronts are dead after what 100,000 miles.
Got new powerslots coming in.

stewie20068

not sure. I have the acura stealership rotate my tires. are you talking about the wheel lugs? are you worried that they aren't tight enough?

deadlyklappy12887

maybe a problem with the callipers?? im not a car mechanic by no means but i mean if the rotors are still good ( i have racingbrake too and they are amazing quality) and you are sure you bedded the pads properly, then i dont know what else to think of..but this again is coming from a layman lol

stewie20068

I've examined my braking habits over the last few weeks to see if maybe its the indian and not the arrow causing the problem.

I've noticed that when I anticipate the need to brake I find myself taking my foot off the gas and VERY lightly pressing on the brake....could this be causing problems?

I've pretty much decided that over a period of a few weeks my brakes end up with uneven pad distribution that results in my brakes starting to shudder. This can be temporarily fixed by re-bedding. I need to change something I'm doing with my habits though...any other ideas?

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

Use the Racingbrake ET300 or 500 pads. They have really been performing much better on racingbrake rotors. For people that have a shaking problem with the hawk pads we tend to see the ET500 working better for them. You are just getting too much heat in the pads but then the rotors cool them off too fast. It is inconsistent temps that cause the pad distribution to be off.

People with other rotors don't have this problem because the rotors come up to temp easier so the temps stay more consistent. Racingbrake rotors need to have MORE heat in them to work evenly.

stewie20068

Oh ok, I'll try those out. thanks!

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

When I had OEM pads /w OEM rotors, I experienced a lot of brake shutter. When it came due for new pads, I installed Hawk HPS's but kept the OEM rotors. To my surprise, all brake shuttering disappeared and has yet to return in the 18k I've put on the Hawk brake pads so far!

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

This supports out claim that most of the time brake shimmy is due to pad issues, not rotor issues. Changing rotors is still a good idea for a lot of people though, since the rotors are big contributors to those pad issues.

carmagnut

I can say that I am very happy with the RacingBrake rotors and pads I picked up from Marcus awhile back. Stopping power is great (not that I am making panic stops all the time), the do not squeak or squeal and they have not studdered, shuttered or anything: not once. I am running both pads and rotors in the front and just the pads in the back. I forget how much they cost; I don't care; it is one less thing that I have to think about when I am on the road. Oh yeah BTW I NEVER did the bed in process; never felt the need to at all. My 2 cents.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

That's a pretty good review

Miamicarfan

Good information to know. Looks like those Hawk pads are the way to go.

Several questions:

1) The Hawk HPS pads are ceramic? They do not have asbestos?

2) How does the brake dust accumulation compare to the OEM pads?

Miamicarfan

LuvMyTSX, thunder04:

I checked out the Hawks brakes website. They have two types of brakes for TSX. The Hawks HPS and Hawks ceramics. Almost the same price.

What is difference? Do any of these pads contain asbestos?

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Any aftermarket pad will emit less brake dust than OEM.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Also, to the OP: It's always preferable to mate the same manufacturer's rotors to their pads.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

I have a few issues here....

"Looks like those Hawk pads are the way to go."

Who said that? If this customer has issues with Hawks on the Racingbrake rotors after 2 years, I would contend that he needs to replace the pads, either with the same thing he had if he's currently happy, or with Racingbrake pads as they are a better match to the Racingbrake rotors. In a more extreme case he'd need new rotors, but I'd try pads first.

"The Hawk HPS pads are ceramic? They do not have asbestos?"

They are not, Hawk has a separate ceramic compound, and I highly recommend against ceramic pads on racingbrake rotors as well, fyi. They are not aggressive enough.

"Do any of these pads contain asbestos"

Also no brake pads have asbestos any more. Its a carcinogen, didn't you know?

"Any aftermarket pad will emit less brake dust than OEM."

That's simply not true. In fact many aftermarket pads will create more dust when they are more aggressive because they wear down the face of the rotors. The rotor dust is very dark and builds up fast. Your Brembos are a classic example of this in action. The pads you might run are making less dust because they are less aggressive on the rotors, and more pads are going to be this way than not. Your perception might be that all pads create less dust but your perspective is biased because you have Brembos.

"lso, to the OP: It's always preferable to mate the same manufacturer's rotors to their pads."

That's really not true either. In a lot of cases it can be ideal to match brands when the parts are specifically designed to work together, but that is not the case for most rotor and pad makers. This is almost like saying you should match the brands of your socks and your shoes. In some cases it might work out that way but in no means is this a general preference.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I bought the Hawk HPS front and rear pads. Other than the increase in brake dust vs OEM, they have exceeded my expectations.

(I'm still using the OEM rotors.)

malnik

Don't mess with Aftermarket stuff. They're not genuine Acura products.

You should stick with OEM rotors and pads.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

But with my "genuine Acura" brake pads, I experienced a lot of brake shuddering. With OEM rotors + Hawk HPS, I experience zero even after 18k miles of commuting 120 miles round trip in SF Bay Area traffic Monday - Friday.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

They don't actually work that great for everyone. I would say that if the stock stuff works for you there is no sense in changing. But that is not the case for a lot of people.

malnik

I called an Acura Dealer and they said Acura vehicles should be using OEM parts. They also said lot of people are having problems because of aftermarket parts.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

Don't think they are a little biased?


I used to work for a few dealers. And yes, they only want to see OEM stuff. But no that does not mean that OEM stuff is the best.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Dude, if you called Apple and asked what kind of RAM you should buy for your Mac, are they going to tell you to buy Crucial Memory?! HECK NO! They're going to tell you to buy memory directly from them because it's "OEM" and "best compatible". That doesn't mean that aftermarket RAM isn't as good (or possibly even better). They want your money!!!

When would a dealership ever tell you to NOT use OEM parts? Think about it. It's like telling somebody to not spend money at their business!



Edit: I'm not saying to not buy OEM parts...if that's what you want to do then that's fine (and in most cases I would probably buy OEM replacement parts depending on the situation and what needs to be replaced)...but it's most certainly not a "must do" sort of thing.

swift22

heeltoe and OP:

He may not have a warped rotor , but his pads may have glazed them over so there is "spots" of the rotor....grip, no grip, grip. i have the same issue


Ceramic pads are more aggressive than semi-metallics but if you dont do heavy city braking the ceramics wont have enough heat.......and if you are using high quality slotted/drilled rotors that pull away heat faster...........you may WANT to go with semi-metallics. Anything that bites harder than "street" ceramics is a racing pad in my eyes and would need to be used in that type of enviroment.

wreak

I need to replace my rotors and pads all around soon. I was planning on running oem acura pads with racing brake slotted rotors but now I'm thinking maybe I should run stoptech rotors with oem pads, would that be a better route since the racing brake rotors require more aggressive pads? I had no idea that racing brake rotors needed to have a certain pad otherwise I'd end up with shuddering again...

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

I have really moved away from recommending ceramics this last year...I think with the right rotors a really aggressive pad is going to give better braking all around, and better life.

In the end, the Racingbrake pads and rotors combos continue to serve us well. We are now looking at doing some BBKs with them too using *gasp* upsized and vented rear rotors!