Have had repeated problems with StopTech (cross-drilled & slotted) rotors being warped and found their customer service to be completely unresponsive and useless, so am looking for an alternative.

Looking at Hawk as an alternative. Any recommendations on Hawk or others? Good places to buy?

Thanks,

 

Most of the time, warped rotors isnt really warped but instead, has pad material embedded in. the cross drilled and slotted most likely contributed to this. and doesnt help that you cant conventionally shave the rotors, because of the holes and slots.

go for blanks! centric makes great blanks that they send out to other companies like stoptech.

 

honestly next time I will go with blank since the slotted cause pulse during hard braking is just annoying.

 

i have had problems with stoptech rotors. i think they changed their foundry or formula on their rotors within the past couple of years. had the stoptech d/s rotors up front with no issues until a rock got stuck between my rotor and the pad. had to change out the rotor with the same model and it was a disaster afterwards

anyways i now have EBC blanks (front) and akebono street performance pads and am very happy with the setup.

good luck to you

 

Paul, our star mechanic in NJ and my best buddy from high school who owned an auto parts store for 30 years says those drilled and slotted rotors are a waste of money. Stick with good quality blanks an you'll be fine. After all, our 3G TL's aren't exactly Maserati's.

.

 

There is a reason all of the companies put blanks on cars. Longevity, consistency in product and in performance, pricing and availability, reusability. There are a lot of positive to blank rotors.

 

Where's a good place to get Centric, and what would you recommend for pads?

 

I have found blanks for Centric and EBC on partsgeek.com for relatively cheap and they ship relatively quickly.

 

I got mine from Amazon, they were the cheapest plus free shipping. However, the front rotors I had to get the prime trial because they were reserved for prime members, Touche Amazon.

 

Went on Amazon. Multiple part numbers and unsure of which option would fit a Type S. So went to Centric's website to clarify and discovered that StopTech is the same corporate entity. Was being polite in original post about how bad my experience with StopTech was.
How do I know that the Centric product is any better/different?

thanks again

 

Centric blanks have a good reputation on the forum.
The issue another poster noted early on was that your prior set of rotors was cross-drilled and slotted, which may have caused the problems.

You can try contacting some of the vendors on the forum for brake and pad recommendations.
Otherwise, you can go with the stock Brembo rotors. I suggest considering Akebono Performance or Hawk HPS pads.

 

Another one for blanks. Used drilled once and hated it, never went back. Plus the holes and slots look ugly when rusted.

 

We offer rotors from Stoptech, EBC, Hawk, and Brembo.

https://store.excelerateperformance....0447&pid=10028

 

Racing Brake, PERIOD.

Put over 120K miles on my rotors with 4 sets of rear pads 2 sets of front pads and they are 1mm above minimum thickness and are slotted. Rear slotted rotors eat through pads way faster than the front, would not do slotted rear again.

Have the racing Brake rotors on my MDX and love them! Awesome customer support and haven't been able to warp the TL's or MDX's rotors, yet I've warped the rotors on every single honda/acura I've had including the accord and the 4G TL which are due for new racingbrake rotors!

 

Just remember the rotors don't warp. The rotor gets contaminated from pad material, the surface becomes
uneven and the result is a pulsation felt in the pedal.

On our '08 knock around car with 250,000 miles, have used metallic pads to "cut" the pad buildup a few times and
will be installing them tomorrow as the pedal is starting to vibrate again. I replace the ceramic units with metallic
pads I keep in the garage for only a couple of days and the pulsation is gone. Reinstall the ceramic and will be good
for many more months/miles.

 

Rotors DO warp from over tightened lug nuts.
..
.

 

They DON'T warp!
In extreme cases, the uneven tightening of the lug nuts, or uneven surface of the hub, causes the rotor to be, shall we say canted with uneven run-out which in turn will cause pad build up on the rotor and THIS once again causes the pulsation. When they are installed incorrectly, one won't feel any problems until the pad transfer builds up on the rotor.

Also, just think of the millions of cars on the road that have had wheels/tires installed without the use of a torque wrench. This in itself won't guarantee a result in the "warped" rotor, or pad buildup condition, but naturally can attribute to the uneven buildup.
Any idea how much heat is required to actually warp a rotor? A lot more than found in driving/racing.

 

ADD: Next time you encounter the condition, use a dial indicator on the outer edge, then move it to the rotor surface and see the difference.

Also found this:
http://www.hendonpub.com/resources/a...etails?id=1787

 

^^That's interesting information...
so technically, if one were to do a bed in procedure on an otherwise stock car that's always maintained metallic pads, they should be able to clear the surface build up off and never get warping?

That's awesome...
I had the brakemotives for 2 years, was cute for pictures.
Eventually, I swapped rear and then fronts back to my brembo blanks. I'd go Brembo on a Brembo caliper. It just sounds so nice.

 

I use a cheap set of what I called metallic pads, but they are actually semi-metallic that do the job ($9.95).

In the following article one will see that racing pads are used, but in everyday driving one would find them useless when cold:
https://www.zeckhausen.com/catalog/i...Path=6446_6444

 

Preferences for Hawk, Centric, StopTech, others?

 

Did Centric acquire StopTech? They share the same website?

I am reluctant to reward StopTech's horrendous customer service with additional business, and want to confirm that if I buy Centric that its not the same rotors different name?

Thanks,

 

Centric is just the parent company...I think stoptech is a marketing name given for enthusiasts.
Turbo, thanks for that info. Great to learn new things!

 

YES, rotors DON'T WARP.

After doing so many brake jobs myself, I realized over time in addition to the over-torquing of wheels causing the rotors to sit uneven on the wheel hub:
- If you install new rotors and do not clean old rust off the hub's surface, rotors will not sit flush to the hub, causing wobbling. Even just microns of thickness of rust turns into a big uneven hub surface.
- If upper and lower slider pins aren't sliding in and out at the same time, then upper or lower portion of the pad will move in faster than the other end of the pad, also causing wobble
- most of the time, pulsation is caused by uneven pad deposits on the rotors' surfaces
- upper or lower ears of the pad seized or not moving well inside the stainless steel pad anchoring hardware pieces, usually caused by rust built-up on the caliper bracket slots just below where the hardware pieces sit. This causes the pads to get pinched and not moving in and out properly. I now always put brake grease in the slots below the hardware pieces to prevent rust build-up. There is NO NEED to put grease or anti-seize in the hardware piece slots where the pads sit in, reference brake job tips noted by South Main Auto and FordTechMakuloco.