I'm thinking about making changes to my brake system, and was wondering if the stock rotors good enough? I've never had warping issues with these rotors, but my pads wear out SO quickly....its only been 23k miles since my last change!!

I plan on upgrading the pads, sticking with the OEM rotors, and possibly switching to SS lines.

Could I get away with the stock rotors and still feel a difference in stopping, brake feel, and most importantly, longevity/brake wear?
Thanks for your thoughts.

 

if this is your second set of pads, I would recommend new rotors. Unless you use a set of calipers to figure out the thickness of your current rotors, as a general rule, after the second set of pads wear out, I change rotors. Also, you probably have enough grooving to require the rotors to be put on a lathe and you would run through your tolerance anyway.

Long story short, get new rotors.

 

Wow, what a difference how you put on the miles makes (I guess). When my 05 was in for the 60K service, the tech measured 45% left on the fronts, 10% on the rears (all original). These are virtually all highway miles, so I assume the experience recounted here must be stop and go mileage.

 

definitely stop and go. LA to Orange county, California traffic. fortunately its much better for me now that I've changed jobs.

Thanks Moda for the recommendation. I'll be swapping the rotors too then...i was thinking I should anyways, but I wanted to see if someone out there thought the stockers were still good after 2 sets of pads.

Time to go through all the "brakes: which one is best" threads....

 

You might be replacing too often then. The thickness is also dependant on if you have the rotors machined. If they are not shaking machining is not really needed either.



IMO, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Until you start overheating, warping, cracking, etc rotors, I don't see the need for replacing them. Get some new pads and the car will stop much better, but the new pads may induce a need to upgrade the rotors as well.

That being said, all else remaining equal, heat treated rotors like racingbrake will last 2-3 times longer than stock.

Marcus

 

^^Given that I don't know nor does he the thickness left, given that, after 2 sets of pads, I could only guess there wouldn't be enough to machine down and maintain minimal thickness. Again, just a general rule since he wasn't able to provide what the current thickness is.

 

Thanks guys, your input is greatly appreciated. FWIW, I haven't had any overheating, warping, etc. Everything has been as smooth as can be, but my rear pads are just wearing out too quickly, as per usual for the TSX.

As such, I plan on getting new pads and upgrading my brake lines to stainless, while keeping the stock rotor.

I do have a couple of follow-up questions seeing as this is my plan.

1) If I were to just replace the pads, would I still need to turn the rotors? Would the bed-in procedure be good enough with new pads?

2) I'm leaning towards either Hawk HPS or Hawk Ceramics. Marcus (or anyone that knows), what new pads would you recommend for daily driving for stock rotors? I'm in LA/OC traffic most of the time, so my speeds vary widely....80 mph one minute, stop abruptly, and then stop-and-go the next. You know how it is.

Which would fit the bill for being quiet, having low dust, and of course, consistently stopping well?

thanks all.

 

I've got 35k miles on my Goodridge, heavily tested if you know what I mean, and they have been flawless.

Again, depending upon their condition, you may not need to have them turned. How about removing the wheels and snapping some photos. If they are heavily grooved, then yeah, I would say turning would be required. If they are smooth, then no. I've put pads on my TSX with mildly grooved rotors... they brake fantastically. I used the Hawks HPS, both front and rear. Light dusting, but work great. As you'll read here, they do require some initial heating up in cold weather, but aside from that, they work great.

 

I'll try and take some pictures tonight....my kids and a Laker-Spurs game might dominate my night though.

On the HPS pads: I ran into your impressions while searching, but I also saw that JTso was running Ceramics and thinks well of them. Both of you guys have valid opinions in my book, so I'm still torn. Noise-wise, how are the HPS for you?

 

The HPS haven't given me any noise issue, but they are on my friend's Lude. Both are great options for you... I just want more bite when I hit my brakes. I've setup my car so I can't over drive it... so I will rarely ever push my car 75% of what it actually can do... that was intentional.