4ank

I've had my BBK for about 50k miles and I am am about to order the third set of rotors for them. I've had the cross-drilled and slotted and am going to go with slotted only this time, but it seems really strange to me that these aren't holding up. It's my daily driver and I am really not that hard on it in the grand scheme of things.

Anyone else experience this?

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

what brand rotors?
what kind or pads?

are u tightening the rims in the correct sequence and torque?

4ank

Rotora rotors (on bbk) with the least aggressive rotora pads (forget which ones)...

and yes, tightening wheels with care

pits200

What do you mean by not holding up? Are they wearing below the thickness specs to fast or are they warping?

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

hmmmmmm. other than those questions i cant really help. how long are teh rotors supposed to hold up? 3 sets in 50k is fast.

lot of stop and go? aggressive driving on the streets?

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

are ur rims heavy? brakes work harder with heavier rims

4ank

thanks guys -- well, the first set I mistreated a bit, but this last set I have been good to. They look like hell and are warped (steering wheel pulses). I haven't really been rough on them -- been driving pretty easy lately as the miles have gone up.

I have TL a-spec wheels, so a little heavy.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

did u reuse the old pads?

BlackBettyR1

Sounds to me like they arent warping, more like brake jidder. They just are simply "Glazing" over. Check out these articles.


http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...rakedisk.shtml


http://www.examiner.com/x-1060-Orlan...d-brake-rotors

CH46ESeaKnight

Thats because Rotora makes garbage. But that is just my opinion. Chinese Steel.

Rejckt

iTrader: (2)

It's either rotora or brembo =/
Personally I like my Rotora, but that's over the stock brakes... can't really compare.
People having problems with the brembos and rotora is like a grand cheaper too.

phee

iTrader: (5)

are you tightening your lugnuts to the same spec every time? and evenly all around? use a tq wrench.

make sure ur rotors are installed in the right direction

use ceramic pads

dsickles

iTrader: (5)

that was the judgment of a local machine shop the second they saw the Rotora BBK.

rp_guy

you should be doing a re-bed instead of replacing them so quickly..

BlackBettyR1

+1

4ank

all good info. I will take a pic of what they look like too, they look pretty ugly. I've also replaced the pads with ceramic pads when I got them.

Thanks.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

X-drilled + Slotted is too much, 1 or the other is the way to go

4ank

Good articles. Although I am relatively light, I did have an emergency stop a week an a half ago. I think I released right away (because I got out of the car), but this could be contributing to it. Will take a closer look and snag a few pics of my rotors tonight.

In the event that I need to have them Blanchard ground, any idea of where I can get this done? Local machine shop?

CH46ESeaKnight

ihey are warped then a re-bed will do nothing for it.

BlackBettyR1

I would try Garnet paper first, and dont be scared to buff it. I do this on my sportbike once a season. It just stops better after I sand and then re-bed my brakes. The only place I know that does blanchard grinding is a small shop by me, but I do not know if they do any low volume stuff like that. I am sure there is some forum, somewhere, that could direct you to a good shop that specializes in rotors.
I am more familiar with double disc grinding, as I use that for many of the parts I manufacture for fuel injectors and fuel pumps.

Let me know if that Garnet papet works out for you, and make sure you DO NOT use emery cloth or regular sand paper...

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

that is odd for 3 sets already, especially considering with how you say you are driving, but i thought the idea for a BBK was to help prevent the warping

but what it sounds like is that you have run-out issues, which over time cause the rotors to wear uneven, with then destroys the parallelism of the rotor faces, which cause the vibration cause the rotor is getting thin, and then thicker all in the same rotation

also do you got the 1 or 2-piece rotors, what size are the rotors, and also what calipers do you got

fsttyms1

100k trouble free and awesome miles. MANY track days and doing great (though the pads have just about worn the slots off the rotor)


If you are having shaking, go out and try to bed the pads in with multiple hard non abs slowdowns from 60-70 and see if that deglazes them, they may not be warped, just glazed.

4ank

ok fellas -- here are the pics (from my blackberry)... let me know your thoughts:

CH46ESeaKnight

How is your gas milage? Is it possible your calipers are not releasing correctly?

4ank

Possible, but gas mileage is good, if not great. Got 27mpg a couple weeks back.

edit: I already had one caliper rebuilt because of that same reason.

Allout

Sounds abnormal to me. Check the rotor thickness.

The standard Rotora pads are the R2's. Have you been running the standard pads down to the metal backing or close to it?

I have not had that problem on my BBK and a friend who does more city driving is able to get 20K on a set of pads and replaces rotors after the 2nd or 3rd set of pads.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Have you bitched out Rotora yet?

4ank

So what does everyone think based on the pics? time for new rotors, new pads or try to salvage them?

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

i think you need to find the root of the cause first, like checking for runout maybe (it would require new rotors though )

but first as fsttyms1 said go and actually use the brakes HARD a couple of times, and see if they will deglaze themselves first (pad material may be built up onto the rotors) (also more aggresive pads may help too, then switch back to the pads you have now, and keep the aggresive pads as "deglazing" pads when ever you start to get a vibration from the brakes)

Allout

Are your pads worn out? I've seen worse rotors than that. My first set of rotors actually had a ridge on the outer edge and had reached minimum thickness when I measured them.

4ank

Nope, pads have plenty of meat left.

Allout

If that's the case, I would re-bed the pads and see how it performs. Easy driving can remove the layer of brake material off the face of the rotor causing it to grab unevenly.

Don't worry about the look of the rotor if you can get it to stop evenly. Run it until it drops.

4ank

Yup - agree. Are there re-bed instructions around? I will search, but I'm being lazy. ha.

Thanks for everyone's input.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

bedding instructions should have came with the brakes originally, but if lost you should try contacting Rotora themselves, for their way of bedding in their brakes

4ank

bought them second hand, so don't have them. But found these online:

http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

sound about right other then step 6 with the blue coloring tint to the rotors, but every one does precieve color different though

also in step with the "immediately accelerate back", is a little extreme, you can take some time getting back to speed, but yes do not fully stop with the scortching brakes, and try to keep moving at least some if possible

also once done the bedding try to drive a couple of miles further, to try and let the brakes cool off, before you fully stop, so you don't just warp them again

Allout

Ton's of good info on StopTech's site. Here's the page on bedding. Let us know how it works out.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...contents.shtml

From their instructions: "Note that, if the brakes of a vehicle with high-performance or racing pads are not used continuously in an aggressive manner, the transfer layer on the rotors can be abraded (literally worn off). However, the transfer layer can be re-established, if needed, by repeating one series of stops in the bed-in procedure. This process may be repeated as often as necessary during the life of the pad."

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

Try re-bedding the pads. It will transfer a new layer material, hopefully evenly, across the surface of the disc. You can specifically use this link:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...formance.shtml

4ank

Update: I tried re-bedding and it improved the pulsing dramatically...plus it was really fun to do. I think I will try it again to see if I can get it a little better.

Now -- onto my next question. Here are my old rotors. Are they repairable? Advice?

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Its tough to tell, but they look like used rotors

Meaning they look usable.