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Hey guys, here's a quick ask for your expert recommendations - this time for my brakes system.
Last year at registration I was notified that my pads (all 4) are at 'advise' condition. That was 11 months ago and I'll need to do all 4 to pass inspection. My front rotors are trashed (warped) and my fluid has never been changed (to my knowledge)
I have an '03 TL-P with stock wheels. I'd like to upgrade with the '95 legend calipers on the front. At any rate, if it were your car what would you do?
If it were my car, I would do all of the items that you listed, but only you know what kind of budget you're working with.
I just recently did a full brake job on my '03 TL-S and I installed '95 Legend calipers, braided brake lines at all four corners as well as new rotors and pads at all four corners. I went with Centric rotors and Akebono ACT pads. I've been happy with the results so far and I can tell you that the pedal feel is much improved with the braided lines when compared to the OEM rubber hoses.
There are a lot of rotor and pad choices for our cars with varying degrees of braking performance and dusting. You should be fine with whatever you decide to go with as long as you're not buying the lowest quality / cheapest parts out there.
Budget all depends on how much longer I think I'll have the car but I will say the Brembo kit is a definite (but so very ). How much longer I have the car depends on general availability of parts.
Right now it looks like I'm driving it for the foreseeable future. Funds are a little tight at the moment but I like to save and do things right (and do it once).
Second better pads. I like Hawk HPS but EBC makes good pads also. My experience is mostly with Hawk pads though.
If you know what you are doing and have the money new Legend calibers will certainly make an improvement. Especially when paired with good rotors and pads.
Check out RockAuto!(quick google search will get you a discount code) StopTech pads and rotors and flush your fluid. It's not much more for the slotted rotors and they are worth it on the front at least. If you still have money in the budget get SS lines then the Legend calipers.
NOTE: check the run-out on the rotors and follow the bed in procedure completely then re-bleed your brakes. If at some point in the future you feel your pedal pulsate complete the bed in procedure again.
Hey Guys, end of October is approaching and I gotta lock this down. I've decided I'm going to go with something along the lines of what Skirmich's running. I'll be doing all 4 corners.
I haven't ordered parts yet. I'm going to upgrade to the Legend calipers for the front - will the pads and rotors fit straight across?
While I wait for them, are there any tools or misc you guys think I might need for the job? Or otherwise any oddities or errata I'll have to deal with? Also, this is going to be my first time driving on a brake system geared more toward performance over OEM. Any ideas what my experience will be?
The first 1.5 miles of my commute is downhill at ~10% grade. The rest is freeway and highway into work.
With the Legend calipers you still use TL pads and rotors. Look up bedding recommendations from the rotor/pad manufacturer. Basically you are going to heat them up in a specific way to bed some of the pad material on the rotors.
Make sure you bleed the brakes using the proper way for these cars. Front drivers side, front passenger, rear passenger, rear drivers. If you change calipers there is a good chance you will get air in the ABS system so after all this and bedding the brakes do a few stops that activate the ABS system. Then bleed them again.
Have fun and I think your be happy with your new brakes.
^
The Single pot caliper has little to no brake feedback, In general its very hard to get the feel pressure to make the braking smoother.. Also being a single pot it tends to apply un-even pressure at the brake pad which makes it prone to overheat and thus make rotor warping easier.
The Legend calipers fix that, It gives enormous brake feedback from the beginning which makes easier to apply the exact pressure to slow the car down. The dual pot applies even pressure to the brake pad sides which helps a lot in reducing the rotor warp issues.
BOTH Have the same braking force, So there is no reduced stopping times.
Finally got em on The camera seriously can't handle the color awesomeness. It's a very deep metallic red.
Gonna grease up the rotors with some WD-40 (friend's recommendation) and head down the hill for a test drive. I'll post back here with my experience with the new brake system!
Lol thanks guys, I Was just kidding about the WD-40. I got everything put together but haven't been able to get it out on the road yet. The pedal goes all the way to the floor, and I've bled the system a couple times. I don't get any air bubbles from the bleeder valves, any ideas? I'll post a new thread about this because I need my car running urgently.
It's snowing outside and had a close encounter with brake failure so I didn't dare take it anywhere but the street in front of my house. My first impression of the legend calipers and SS lines is that the brake pedal feels quite firm, similar in a way to how it feels if you pump it with the engine off (But with an inch or two more of play).
The pads and rotors currently are making a grinding noise. I'm willing to believe it's a combination of the zinc coating rubbing off the rotor and the 'brake-in' coating on the EBC redstuff pads.
The brakes also vibrate very loudly in the last foot or so when coming to a stop. I put caliper grease with brake quiet all over, did I not put enough perhaps? (Used Versachem Synthetic Caliper Grease Brake Quiet)
This is my first time doing all 4 brakes with a complete overhaul so I'm not quite sure what to expect on the bed-in period.
Hey guys, just one last post from me on the project summary and final thoughts on the brakes so far, with a couple pictures.
As I said before I've never driven a car with a 'performance' brake package so these are my impressions as a newbie to this area.
I'm still bedding in the brakes with less than 100 miles on them so far but I've noticed dramatic changes already. Stopping is smooth as silk now. The legend calipers + SS lines give you the ability to deliver very precise amounts of input to the brakes. So far I've been giving myself about 2-4x the stopping distance to allow for proper bedding but at one point today I had to press on them a bit. I felt a hint of the 'bite' people have spoken of and believe me, these brakes want to STOP, which can only mean huge benefits in terms of safety.
After pulling everything apart and lubricating/greasing every component I've noticed the elimination of subtle bumps and rattles in the front end. The suspension has a more 'solid' feel with things not rattling around anymore.
My fluid (see picture) as a best guess was around 7-10 years old . I found that for the most part the grease in the pins had mostly dried with the pad brackets having completely dried. In fact, my front left caliper pins had seized and I had to bang them out. I discovered the source of my bad 'wheel bearing' on the front left. My steering wheel previously vibrated violently when braking at freeway speeds and would sing horribly at low speeds, especially when in reverse. Now it's quiet as a mouse at any speed.
The retaining screws on the OEM rotors were seized so I drilled all of them out. Consensus throughout the web indicates that they are needed only for factory assembly. The e-brake shoes are a bit of a pain to adjust until you get the hang of it. I also tested for rotor run-out (see picture) on all rotors (I'm not sure that quick-lube/big box brake shops even do this). They are less than 0.001". to EBC.
As a summary, I'd highly recommend people take a second look at their brakes. I know people are interested in squeezing HP into their car but braking can go a long way to improving the overall driving experience.
This is my first time doing anything on a car's brakes and so between everything I did (including prep and painting) and diagnosing the air in the lines it took me about 12-14 hours total.
Thanks again to everyone (esp. Skirmich) for the recommendations! I'll watch this thread in case anyone has any questions for me.
And don't make fun of my OEM rims.
Final product
Bleeding and testing runout on left rear. OLD fluid in the bottle, SS Goodrich line on the left.
09-21-2015, 02:38 PM
(but so very 
). How much longer I have the car depends on general availability of parts.
The camera seriously can't handle the color awesomeness. It's a very deep metallic red.
