kilroy

I read in this forum that Acura is replacing brake pads, free of charge, with pads that have less metal in them to prevent disk warping. Yet many folks here are running Metal Master pads- which I assume have more metal than the stock Acura pads. Is there any concern that these will warp your rotors worse than stock pads?

My Rotors are starting to warp, and I want to replace my stock pads with Metal Masters. Am I a shooting myself in the foot?

mgothers

What rotors are you using? Go for some slotted ones, try Powerstop or if you feel like shelling out the bucks, Brembo.

matt

AcuraTL

I've had metal master pads for a year now, no warped rotors. It is really your driving style that causes wapred rotors. I have a 99 with 28,000 miles, not even a slight hint of vibration when I step on the brakes. Also, my rotors were never resurfaced....bone stock.

Nate

I am paranoid with my brakes warping. After hard breaking, really after any stopping, I always leave some space in front of me and slowly roll forward at stoplights. If you brake hard and hold down the brake, the area under your brake pad can't cool as fast as the rest of the pad and I think this is what causes your rotors to warp.

jdl75

The problem is in the OEM rotors. They are too thin for our driving styles. They do great for mom going to the grocery store, but bringing you down from 120 when smokey lights you up, well, you'll be vibrating like a bed in a cheap motel.

Re-surfacing will only serve to worsen the problem. Thinner rotors are less able to disapate heat, and they are less resistant to the forces cuased by heat expansion as there is less material to resist the bending.

Without knowing the metalic conent of the pads, or more importanatly their coefficient of friction (usually represented by the lowercase greek letter mu, looks like a u with a tail on its' left side), it is hard to say for certian if it will increase your problem. Taking a SWAG, I'd say yes, it will make the problem worse. To achieve better stopping power, you need more friction. To generate more friction, you will have either more metalic or a carbon-based pad (currently illegal for "on-road" use). Either way, more friction = more heat = more warpage.

Stick to stock, and get the whole set-up replaced (rotors and pads). I went through this at ~25,000, and again at ~33,000. At ~40,000. the problem appeared AGAIN, and this time they replaced pads and rotors. Previously, they only replaced rotors. I never let them re-surface the rotors. I had many heated discussions with the service manager and the folks (f**ks?) at Acura in California, but they eventually saw it my way.

I hope this helps.

BTW, if you want the aftermarket stuff, wait until you get the OEM replaced, so you have a good fall-back set. Then, replace the OEM rotors as well as the pads. Double check w/ the rotor manufacturer that the pads you want to use are OK.

kilroy

Thanks for the input everyone. This is seems to be an ongoing problem with Honda - my Accord had the same problem a few years back.

While I am sure I drive more aggressively than most people, I've never felt that I was extreme. I do a lot of stop and go driving, however.

I may try Metal Masters with the stock rotors machined. If I can get another 20k out of em, I'll be happy - After that, new rotors. I have been considering buying a TL-S and was hoping that they improved the brakes. After reading through TL-S forum I see this is clearly not the case.

The thing that really irritates about all this is that I know Acura can design a great braking system. My Wife's MDX has some of the best brakes I've ever put my foot against.

Hmmm, I wonder if they would fit our cars?

Fiddler

This is my brake story: :o
Stock rotors - decided to get EBC green stuff pads for front.
Warped the hell out of front rotors (not to mention all the break dust .. possibly due to the vibration in the rotors).. had them resurfaced .. they warped again in a matter of weeks.
replaced stock front rotors with brembo slotted/crossdrilled. NOTE that these are not the same rotors that brembo uses in the $2000 kits. Brembo makes a lot of "stock" for rotors. meaning third parties actually drill the wheel holes , crossdrill them and slot them (i believe brembo might slot them but they definitely dont cross drill these). these got warped just as bad which i just find unbelievable since there's supposed to be much better cooling... this really pissed me off .. so i decided to get powerstop rotors (drilled) and metalmasters. this is the setup i have now..(the EBC were only on the front.. the metalmasters i have on all 4 wheels). My front seems to be great, but i feel my rear rotors warping now (shaking in the pedal but not steering wheel). so I dont know whether to resurface rear or just buy 2 more powerstops.. in any case. i am very unsatisfied with honda discs... could be just me.. i drive fast but i dont think i brake excessively or a lot.


ok i'm done

t-rd

Fiddler, if you are still there, I want to ask you some questions since I plan on a brake service with my 60K miles tuneup. My front rotors are a set of Powerstop rotors with Axxis Metal Master pads. I think these are holding out fine because the front rotors have very smooth surfaces to the touch. My rears, however, I have kept them stock, and they have uneven surfaces. So I think the rear ones are really due for a replacement. I am debating whether I should just go OEM again for the rears or get Powerstop rotors, since I already purchased a set of Axxis Metal Master pads for the rears. After reading your story, I think I might just stay with OEM for the rears?!

One thing I did learn about new rotors is, you need to break them in correctly without any hard braking for the first few hundred miles. I warpped my first set of Powerstop rotors simply because I didn't know better and I went berserk on them. Could this be your case? But really my gripe about Honda/Acura brake system is, they suck compare to other competing cars in the same class. It's common to see Hondas or Acuras with 60-0 braking distance hovering around 200ft! While Nissan or Mazda drop below 190 ft, BMW or others are even better. They really do need to work on the braking system.