Hi all,
I have a 02 TLS with 235K miles and tired of seeing wheel vibrating when braking after some time. All parts are OEM like the rotor and pads but I am tired of getting them turned down after x amount of miles. Is there a rotor/pad recommendation for me and what site do you guys recommend. I live in Northern CA.. Thanks in advance and I appreciate the knowledge sharing. BTW, It feels like the vibration comes back ~2 years after resurfacing or rotor replacement.

 

Because of the way the floating disk brakes work; there's an iron rotor sandwiched between pads. and when you hit the brakes, these pads clamp down on the rotor. this great amount of friction helps stop the car, but it also generates massive amounts of heat. Sometimes, the pad material can imprint itself onto the rotor. Turning or machining the rotor can help get rid of this brake pad material that was left onto the rotor. or you can try different brake pads, or perhaps modify your braking style.

I have great luck with autozone brake rotors and pads.

 

Hi Just,
Thanks for the information on the dynamics of the pad and rotor interaction. I was thinking to get slotted and or drilled rotors which is suppose to remove the heat but was not sure if they really help. I was lookin g at EBC sports rotors. Thanks for any recommendations..

 

too be honest, anything you choose will stop the car! just depends on how much money you want to spend!
it's really the braking style that affects the pad imprint. Let's say you had to scrub some speed off in a jiffy because the car in front of you made a sudden stop. this heats up the brakes, and now they're hot. you come to a red light and you are forced to apply your brakes for a long period of time. this is how the pad imprints itself onto the rotor.

a racing type of pad will be more impervious to heat. you can try the EBC pads and rotors!

 

Not sure if my experience is just placebo, but I swapped in the dual-piston calipers from an Acura Legend into my '99 TL and haven't felt any more pulses/vibrations during stops since then. For reference I also have never gotten my rotors turned, and they were swapped when I first got the car about 3-4 years ago.
I'm running those calipers with some kinda ceramic brake pads I got off Amazon, fitted for the '99TL, nothing fancy there.

 

thanks Just.
I just got a pair of EBC stage 5 with yellow pads and will try them out. I will give feedback once I break them in.

 

Turning rotors is overrated. Get new ones each time as you’re taking away material each time you turn thus making the rotors more susceptible to warping.

I would just get blanks from RockAuto or Autozone, i had horrible experience with EBC drilled rotors cracking on me and causing even more vibration

 

Thanks Thoi,
I got the EBC with pads from Autohance. The rotor is slotted with divots and no drilled holes to mitigate cracking like you mentioned. I can’t get rid of the 02 TLS. It’s just keeps on running and I let my teen kids use it. From day 1, I got the suspension swapped to Koni yellows with comptech springs and sway bars and I just love the ride to this day. Since I have 235k on it, I will continue to repair any issues like a cracked radiator which occurred last month and consumables like brakes etc.

 

Good choice on the dimpled rotors!!


I have slotted rotors, have had them on for about 10 years. I've noticed recently that when I brake it feels like they are warped, or start to shake. what I'm trying to say is; even expensive slotted and dimpled rotors will still be a candidate for heat transfer of the pad material.
there's no way NOT to hold the brakes at a red light, because then you would be breaking the law by running a red light

 

Just,
great that you don’t have vibrations on your slotted rotors until after 10 years. It seems like every 2 years I feel vibes due to warped rotors. But good point on not steeping the brake at a red light since heat will be less apt to cool but I rather hit the brakes at red light than set it in neutral or park which might screw up my transmission even more which I think might be the next major issue on my 235k tls. Thanks for the inputs and I will let the team know how the new rotor works.

 

let us know how you like the rotors and pads!!!!

 

This investment WILL help, tremendously, in eliminating your warped rotor issue. It is a known proven cure for 2G CL and TL's.

 

This is what I did years ago and have never had an issue since.

https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...brakes-929797/

 

^
Nice!
You did your research.

 

I will go with EBC stage 5 with yellow pads. Sounds like this will fix the warping issue and I will let you guys know after I get parts, install and break it in.