rbgilparra

Hello Guys, i have a little dilemma; i have to get front brake pads soon. for a 2007 TL-S MT. the dealer is asking $400 for the pads and labor; this does not include resurfacing the rotors. i called another dealer they said that they will do it for $400 and they will resurface the rotors as well. to be honest i don't feel any vibration when i apply the brakes, or any sign that the front rotors needs resurfacing. but i know that it is a common practice to resurface them when changing brakes, and the the dealer also suggested it, i don't trust them to much though, lol. Should i resurface them or not? should i just replace the brake pads? thank you all in advance for your inputs.

piggydog

imo I never resurface unless I feel vibration when braking. Also brembo pad replacement takes 20 min. It'd take way more time and money to take to a dealer. Spend $60 for the duralast ceramic lifetime pads DIY and you're good. Less dust too. If you're around Irvine come by when I'm free and I'll help ya

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

You'll almost certainly have warped rotors after you resurface them.

Acura rotors are known to warp. $400 for pads/resurfacing is about right at the stealership.

It is common practice to resurface rotors with new pads. This ensures even wear.

So as to whether to do it or not....

rbgilparra

thanks for the offer piggydog; unfortunately i'm in the bronx new york. lol. but i have a freind who's a mechanic he offered to do it. i could do it myself too, but i don't have the tools. but thanks for the input, you too princelybug! my main concern really is weather or not i should resurface the rotors.

spinxt

Don't do it...I did and afterward found out the Brembo rotors are not to be resurfaced. Ever since then they warp under heavy braking....they are okay otherwise, but if you're at highway speed and slam the brake on or are coming down a steep hill you know it.

You're better off upgrading to an aftermarket drilled/slotted rotor.

01tl4tl

have your mechanic buddy remove the wheels and inspect the rotor surface
If its grooved or has nicks or other bad things he will be able to see them,
in that case its best to get new rotors
Are there grooves or the low pad squeeler is going off?

Acura rotors are not the best and removing metal makes them more prone to warping/shake, especially if done off the car vs on-car lathe- which trues them to the car, very cool

if under 50kmiles you may be able to throw pads in it and call it good for now

if switching to high performance pads, you want to clean the old rotors of old pad material thru manual sanding with 120 grit or turn them on a lathe
Thats good to do when you replace pads again on same rotors- clean and rebed for best results

there is a procedure to exercise the brembo calipers while you are working on the brakes

NOTE: Its time for a brake fluid flush- do it before or as part of the brake job by opening the bleeders to retract pistons- see brake diy

In short- you dont need the dealer to replace brake pads, look in phone book for a small ad with acura listed as part of what they work on regularly
There are much better pad choices than stock too
www.racingbrake.com et300 or the more aggressive et500 pads rock
over 25kmiles on my 300s and 5mm pad left- will change at 3, 2mm is min allowed- the end of the slot cut in the pads is the wear bar

murph145

I have the same car 07 TL-S i found some cross drilled and slotted rotors on E-Bay with pads shipped to my dor all for just about $200.00

I installed them myself took a little effort but you need the right tools mainly a impact gun to get the center rotor lug off and a breaker socket to get the phillips screws lose off the rotor other then that took me like 1.5 hours next time should take me under an hour...

anyways these work great and best thing is these pads leave no brake dust like the OEM ones did... also the cross drilled slotted rotors look sweet!

hit me up if your interested murph145@aol.com

dave_ramkumar

iTrader: (5)

oh thats why i always have alot of dust on my front wheels, theres always this redish brick color dust all over my front rims and i never knew where it came from

nfnsquared

Huh? Who told you that? They're wrong.

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

No dont go with drilled or slotted rotors they wont do anything for you on a street driven Acura. Stick with the OEM brembo rotors they are the best trust me. I DO recommend getting them turned as the pads and rotors sort of bed themselves together and its always good to start with a fresh surface. I had mine turned when I did brakes and they are smoother than ever. Its cheap I had the rotors turned for $7 bucks a piece at pepboys when I brought them in. I went with the Cmax ceramic pads with lifetime replacement for 60 bucks. So yes total front brake job all for $76 bucks!!! Lost only a little brakeing power switching from Brembo pads to the ceramics, but the dusting was reduced BIG TIME. They are perfectly smooth, perfectly quiet, highly recommended!!

Also, dont forget to the proper brake pad/rotor bedding process. 8-10 60 to 10mph hard stops all in a row do not stop during this entire process. After that is done drive at normal highway speed for approx 15 minutes without using brakes if possible. Doing this will get you the smoothest and most quiet brakes as well as most effective stopping power.

James

nfnsquared

Here's my story: Replaced OEM pads at 63K (they still had about 10K left on them) with Racing Brake ET300 pads. The rotors were very smooth and were within servicing (turning) specs, but I chose no to turn them because they were so smooth. I did pull them and lightly sand them with 100 grit sand paper followed by a rinse and dry. There will be a ridge near the outer edge where the pads did not reach. This is not an issue.

The ET300s (heeltoe auto, an AZ vendor) cost 2/3 the price of the OEM pads and I cannot tell a difference in stopping power from the OEM pads. Don't get me wrong, the OEM brembo pads have fantastic stopping power but I wanted to get away from the dust they produce. I was willing to try something different and am very pleased with the ET300s. They do not produce any noticeable dusting.

I made sure to grease the back of the pads (no shims), the retaining pins, and the spring clips where they made contact and performed the appropriate bed in procedures: zero noise from the start. I now have 23K on the ET300 pads and I can hardly tell that they have worn. The rotors are now at 0.925 inch (replace at 0.91 inch), so I will most certainly have to replace them before these pads are even half way worn.

rbgilparra

i'm really not looking to replace the pads with after market yet; i want to do more research first about which ones are best for this car. unfortunately i can't wait too long because my brake pads don't have much left. my main concern is resurfacing the rotors, it seems that some of you think i should and others don't.. huuhm? i do thank you all for your inputs. what about the rest of you guys, should i resurface or not, any bad experience after resurfacing stock rotors?

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

If normal surface wear and no pulsating, never cut the rotors. Done a thousand jobs and only cut them if out of tolerance. Clean the surface and hit with some fine emery cloth, or sandpaper, clean, and you'll be good to go.

1types

My 2007 Type-S has 40k miles and just went to the stealership to change pads and resurfaced the rotors. Cost 500 bux. Never again. My front rotors are at the 23mm service limit AFTER the resurface.

Acurazine Community, should I continue running on the rotors even though they're close to the service limit (is it safe?), or should I have the stealership replace the rotors for me for an additional 300?

Thanks.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Run them until the next pad/rotor change and then do a replacement. It may be quicker than what you might think.

AckRite5TL

It's really more simple than some of you are making it out to be, which suprises me with all of these experts on here. YOU can buy any brake pads you see fit (I do like the ceramics to cut out brake dust) and take your rotors to any pep, or auto zone, or NAPa, and they'll cut/turn your rotors for about 10-15bucks apiece. Install your new bads and freshly cut rotors, and your done. cutting the rotors is an industry best practice, and I reccomend it. P.S. Never pay anyone especially the dealership to do a brake job. It takes maybe an hour of time and parts are pretty inexspensive.

Izzy-Type-S

iTrader: (1)

I agree! My father-in-law insisted on resurfacing mine & now I have a slight wheel shake when applying the brakes and slowing down. I have the Duralast Gold pads on.

1types

Thanks. I'll probably just suck it up this time and have my rotors replaced. The Acura Guidelines say that the Service Limit for the Brembo front rotors is 23mm and I'm right there. This will be the last time I go to the dealership to get my car serviced.

1fsthatch

do it yourself a toddler could do it

wrxyboy

iTrader: (2)

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

It’s not as easy as you make it seem. How many people that cut the rotor have you ever seen mic the rotor to make certain it’s within factory tolerance? Probably none. Been around a long time and with all the parts stores and mechanics I’ve dealt with, have never seen any mic a rotor. The only person I know that mic’d the rotors to make certain they are within tolerance is me, as I do it with every rotor that needs to be turned. There’s not much meat that can be removed from each surface and still be within tolerance. The parts jockeys could care less, $10/20 a pop and you’ve got the rotor back.

To give you an idea of the service limit on the rotors:
Front A/T 1.10-1.10 thickness, Service limit 1.02 that’s only .04” on each surface, or just slightly more than 1/32”.
Front 6M/T .98-.99 thickness, Service limit .91 same .04
Rear .35-.358 Service limit .30 .029 each surface less than 1/32"

Just about everyone that cuts a rotor will give it back to the customer under the service limit.

S PAW 1

The dealer ALWAYS wants to replace the rotors. They are getting desperate for profit.
I just had my Brembos replaced at 70,000 miles, and the dealership had never seen a set last that long. Normally they expect replacement at about 20K miles.
My rotors were at the limit, and I refused to give in, and made them replace the pads only. 5K miles later, I have no problems. No vibration, etc.

I don't understand why there isn't more of an uproar on this forum against the Brembos.
They dust like no one else's
According to road tests in major magazines, they do not offer superior stopping power or performance when compared to others in the same category.
To need replacement at 20K is a ripoff, and stands alone in the industry. It appears that Acura struck the same deal with Brembo, as it did with Michelin with the POS MXM4 tires.

There will be aftermarket brakes put on my TL-S the next time around. The dealer got me the first time, but not a second time.

What's the saying? Screw me once shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me!

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

i just did mine with cmax gold ceramics from autozone...took all of 20 minutes to do the job, i just did a pad swap as my rotors looked good...for the next brake job, i will put new rotors on as well...

Izzy-Type-S

iTrader: (1)

How many miles are you at on your car? I'm thinking next time around I'll just get new rodors too. I'm at 49k.

nimhet

Hey,

Just wondering what you ended up doing? Did you resurface your rotors? If so, did you have the shaking? I'm about to change pads and in the same boat about whether or not to have the rotors resurfaced.

wraithvr442

I know I am new here but I figured since I have done probably dozens of brake jobs on anything from a Vette, Buick, Acuras, Mazdas, BMWs etc for friends and family, I would offer a little advice.
1. Yes you can cut the rotors and I would do it once or twice before getting new rotors.
2. Rotors do not warp, they get pad material embedded into them which makes the surface no longer true and thats the shake you feel.
3. This surface can be trued back by lightly cutting the rotor within the tolerances usually stamped on the hub of the rotor and anybody who has the machining skills to cut it understands what measurements he/she needs to make to keep them safe.
4. This pad material is being melted onto the rotors unevenly because the pad material is not resistant to the kind of heat that some drivers put into them by abusing them. You find guys with automatics and guys who dont engine brake with a manual who like to hit triple digits and then need to slam on the brakes have chronic brake issues
5. The brake dust issue can also be solved by choosing the correct pads for youor driving style. I recommend carbotech bobcats for street use and panthers for combo track and street use. The bobcats still produce dust but not as bad as the brembo/oem acura pads.
6. Switching pads to aftermarket is the best way to reduce or eliminate the brake shakes but choose pad compound wisely because as you get too aggressive cold stopping distance increase.

You can actually change Brembo style caliper pads without even taking the caliper off the car. Just pull off the retainer clasp, pull out the pads with pliars, use a flat pry tool to gently push the pistons back into the bore and push the new pads in and replace retainer. Some have pins also...havn't done this car yet since the dealer replaced both front rotors and pads before I bought it as part of CPO