see_fu

Hi people, I wanted to get some info on the Brembo big brake kit. I just recently switch to the Brembo Big Brake kit, because I've been warping everything else on the market. Has anyone been able the rotors that come with the Brembo big brake kit yet?

Beason

well if u get the kit you really do need better tires than stock. Hope you got aftermarket tires or u just wasted money on that kit

samkws

gd choice

TopGum

Don't really understand your question The Brembo's are as close to bullet proof as you can get. The 12.4" Brake set up requires 17" wheels, the 13" requires 18". You also have to take the spoke curvature into account. There must be a minimun of 34 mm clearance b/t the caliper and the spoke of the wheel. The disk actually "floats" on the hub. The disk is iron, the hub aluminum. There are tiny springs mounted as to provide some flexibility for the different expansions of the two metals when they get hot.

In a word, awesome but pricey. I don't regret getting them for a second. The difference in stopping is incredible And yes, you won't do them justice unless you have some good rubber .

see_fu

I have the 13" kit installed already. I'm just wondering has anyone been able to warp the rotors. I wanna abuse the kit, but not if it means that the rotors are gonna warp. I was able to warp the stock rotors in a matter of months, the aem rotors in weeks. HOpefully these brembos are more durable considering I bought the kit not for performance but as a solution to my warping issues.

rominl

if you break in the kit correctly you shouldn't warp the rotors that easy. unless you hard brake from 100 to 0 10 times and at the end of the 10th time you stay your foot on the brakes for 5 mins.

how did you break in your brakes? that will determine a lot

NighthawkBlack

Yeah my kit isnt warrped but one of my tires is out of round and that gives me a slight vibration when driving that also occurs when braking. If you broke them in right I really think it would be near impossible to warp.

TopGum

OK, sorry . If you followed the pad bedding instructions properly, I do not think with any amount of proper aggressive driving that you can wrap these rotors. Abuse like water when hot or mentioned above could possibly warp them but you would have to really want to damage them.

Just watch the pad wear. They pads do not have wear indicators. You must visually chack them from time to time. Enjoy the drive!

rominl

hey see_fu, do you have a tl or a gs?! @_@

see_fu

Rominl, I drive neither. I drive an Accord =)

ANyways I spent the first 500 miles off the fwy and braking fairly lightly. I'm just waiting to start stomping on them!

rominl

oh hahhahaa, icic, coz' i see you here and also on the clublexus, so i was wondering.

actually that break in method is wrong? all the big kits i have heard (brembo, ap racing, etc...) after you install the kit, get a good stretch of road, push it to 60, hard stop to 20, push it to 60, hard stop to 20, etc... for 10 or 20 times. let the car complete cool down and do it all over again. after that, drive the car normal, try not to brake too hard, for the next 200 to 300 miles. don't put your foot on the brake for too long during this period coz' that will warp the rotors.

after this, you are good to go. babying the brakes from minute one is not the way to go

TopGum

"get a good stretch of road, push it to 60, hard stop to 20, push it to 60, hard stop to 20, etc... for 10 or 20 times. let the car complete cool down and do it all over again"


the manual says 30 times

rominl

ah, sorry about that, i was recalling from memory

see_fu

yea I started to hang around the CL forum after I did a few projector retrofits for a couple of the guys.

great! I probably screwed them already. I member the brembo manual said something about going up to 45 and then apply brakes light to medium pressure. then go 1/4 mile w/o stoping and repeat. my question is how the hell do u find a 1/4 mile stretch w/o having to stop!

Anyways I'm pretty sure the brakes are fine. If I warp these I'm gonna send Brembo a package that goes BOOM!

rominl

that's why when you install brakes you need to find the right shop that has places around for the test drive break in, and will also do the break in for you. the shop i always go will install the brakes for me for 100 bucks, but they are in the city so they can't do nothing for me. that's why if i get brakes upgrade i would rather pay 300 bucks for install in another place.

keep us posted about what's up with your brakes. hopefully i am getting ap racing 6 pistons soon

btw, you retrofit projectors headlight on gs?

see_fu

of course i can! i did 2 first gen gs a few weeks back w/ 5 series projectors. Check the site out. www.illusion-lighting.com in the gallary section in stage 4. You should meet up w/ Rich (lexsc400 on CL). I did his retro a few months back.

see_fu

Brembo sux ****!!!!! now even 1000 miles on it yet and already feeling a slight pulsation when i get pretty slow. I can only feel the pulsing when the car reachs around 10->0, but no steering wheel shake yet.

Anyone know if brembo would be willing to replace them? There's no warranty on this kind of stuff and its kind of expensive to replace ($300/rotor).

Shyne

it will go away, mine were like that after the 1000...of course i just have the kvr rotors...Shyne

rominl

that's weird, seriously there is no way those rotors will warp like that. i have gotten the ap racing setup and so far it's still good. if anything it gotta be the break in process. believe it or not, when i broke in my ap racing, you got smoke everywhere and it smelled like crap.... the whole thing was like an oven, red hot. but let it sit there for the whole night, cooled down, and now it's going very strong

see_fu

I have no clue. brembo says to do 30 light-medium brake pressure stops w/ 1/2 mile intervals. I did that. I'm beginning to wonder if its something w/ my suspension cause the warp kind of comes and goes.

It's like if the rotors are either really cold or really hot it doesn't pulse. but if its somewhere in the middle i get a pretty bad pulse now.

When I did my break in process it didn't smoke or anything. no smell either. but when I broke in my aem rotors it STUNK!!!!


I actually have a friend that warped his brembos too in a few weeks, turned out to be his master cylinder. So the guy replaced the rotor and now its warped again.

rominl

wow, that's bad man. i still doubt if it's the product issue coz' i know brembo has some very high quality control and their stuff are quite proven to last long (for racing).

you think you should check the master cylinder too? how about your rims, you sure it's still circular and not damaged right? tires, is it new or quite worn out? i got less than 30% on my front tires and that's what giving me pulsation

see_fu

well i think everything on the cars still fine. i just had the rims balanced and rotated and the tread left is still good. I've only driven on these for 10k.

Anyways I think i fixed the problem. I decided to try a late bedding in process. eliminated most of the warp. I just have a very slight warp when i brake very light.

Allout

I heard a tip yesterday on avoiding Rotor warp. I was told that after you agressively use your breaks, avoid coming to a stop and keeping your foot pressed on the brake. If at a stop light, put in neutral and get your foot off of the brake. The braking process generates a ton of heat and keeping the brake applied against the rotor does not allow the heat to disapate. (Also increased pressure=increased temperature). Warpage created from difference in temperature across rotor surface. Don't know if it works but it makes sense.

If you're trying to avoid warped rotors and not interested in increased stopping power, an alternative would be to buy Cryogenic Rotors to replace the stock units. This site has some info on how it works.
http://www.formymercedes.com/cryo.asp

SilverBulletCLS

Well I got some news and as soon as its complete I will let everyone know. Wilwood Big Brake kit from Fastbrakes soon to be a GD will be out. Price around $1200-1300. 13" Big brakes 4 piston calipers will fit behind our stock 17" cl-s wheels. Yes it does and was verified by a local to the company test fitting it. 12" brake kit will not though. The way our wheels are made, there is more room further out in the rim than closer, due to the spokes going out farther.

More details later.

NighthawkBlack

I have Brembo s and I started to get a vibrayion when braking but it turns out one tire is out of round. Check your wheels first.

see_fu

How do i test if a tire is out of round?