It's come time for me to replace my front rotors as they are cracking badly. I started noticing a vibration above 80mph a few weeks ago but didn't think much of it. Turns out that my drilled & slotted rotors are cracking at every drilled hole. When I first noticed the cracks I was a bit aggravated as they are Brakemotive's and are a little less than 3 years old ... then I did the mental arithmetic and realized they have over 60,000 miles on them. HARD miles (80mph when I noticed the vibration, remember?). I've run countless emergency calls up and down the mountains here in central PA... and salt, oh my god the salt...
So, I can't really complain about their longevity - the rotors that is. I did have to replace the included pads once as one of them sheared completely off coming off the mountain. I went with some parts store brand before I realized I should contact Brakemotive for a replacement. They were willing to replace them, but by that time I had already done the job. They were the included pads and I really didn't expect much out of them, so no harm no foul as they say.
Now, I'm ready to order new rotors & pads, all around. I'm pulling the trigger tonight on a "Max Brakes" "Supreme" kit, black "elite" coated rotors and their "supreme" pads. The pads look VERY interesting. Once I've got something useful to report, I'll try and add a followup to this thread. I may even do pictures when I do the install depending on how I'm feeling at the time.
In the meantime, if anyone has anything to offer on "Max Brakes", I'm all ears. I hadn't heard of them before today. I'm digging the black coating and the pads look very intriguing. I would've ordered replacement Brakemotives, but this would be my third (or fourth, can't remember) set of fronts from them... I figured I'd try something new.
This car eats brakes almost as bad as my 1982 Chevette with non-vented rotors - one trip up and down the hill and the rotors were warped beyond belief. I used to install rotors, warp them, and have them turned all in the same day. That seemed to give me the best longevity... a few months at least. And what a PITA that was with the bearings residing inside the rotor. If you got the rotor hot enough to warp, you probably cooked the wheel bearing grease, too. I usually ended up repacking the bearings altogether, every time. I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore...
So, I can't really complain about their longevity - the rotors that is. I did have to replace the included pads once as one of them sheared completely off coming off the mountain. I went with some parts store brand before I realized I should contact Brakemotive for a replacement. They were willing to replace them, but by that time I had already done the job. They were the included pads and I really didn't expect much out of them, so no harm no foul as they say.
Now, I'm ready to order new rotors & pads, all around. I'm pulling the trigger tonight on a "Max Brakes" "Supreme" kit, black "elite" coated rotors and their "supreme" pads. The pads look VERY interesting. Once I've got something useful to report, I'll try and add a followup to this thread. I may even do pictures when I do the install depending on how I'm feeling at the time.
In the meantime, if anyone has anything to offer on "Max Brakes", I'm all ears. I hadn't heard of them before today. I'm digging the black coating and the pads look very intriguing. I would've ordered replacement Brakemotives, but this would be my third (or fourth, can't remember) set of fronts from them... I figured I'd try something new.
This car eats brakes almost as bad as my 1982 Chevette with non-vented rotors - one trip up and down the hill and the rotors were warped beyond belief. I used to install rotors, warp them, and have them turned all in the same day. That seemed to give me the best longevity... a few months at least. And what a PITA that was with the bearings residing inside the rotor. If you got the rotor hot enough to warp, you probably cooked the wheel bearing grease, too. I usually ended up repacking the bearings altogether, every time. I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore...