Bought some brakes

[Handruin]

It took the better part of 4 months to get here, but I got me some two-piece front rotors for extreme cooling. They're totally uncalled for, but they were still cheaper than going through the stealership with stock Brembo rotors and pads. I plan to install them myself (again). I'm still waiting for the rear rotors to get here and they did send me a couple wrong brake pads, but in all I'm excited to get these installed to replace my brakes with 62K miles on them.

RacingBrake 2-piece open slot rotors.

Rear pads ET300

Front pads ET300

 

[ddrueding]

Very cool. Looking at new brakes for my 09 A3 (60k miles, wife blamed brakes for minor rear-ender)

 

[Handruin]

I checked to see if they made some for your A3 but it doesn't look like it. What kind of brakes would you get to replace the stock? Would you go with an OEM-fit or a big brake kit. A bbk seems kinda crazy/overkill for your wife...hell even the brakes I've posted probably are...they're overkill for me!

The two-piece should help reduce rotational mass and also help (albeit slightly) for suspension, due to reduced unsprung weight. These weigh about 15 Lb per tire where as the originals are somewhere around 20lb+ each.

 

[mubs]

The quality is evident! I also liked the "stealership" part - very apt :razz:

 

[Handruin]

I hope they end up being good quality. There was a piece of paper slipped in the plastic bag of each rotor that said some units will have small dimples pressed into the surface due to quality checks for proper hardness. Both of mine must have been a quality check unit as they both have small dimples pressed into the surface.

 

[Stereodude]

Nice brakes. I never had the guts to put such nice brakes on my Maxima. I've replaced the pads and rotors enough that maybe I should have.

 

[time]

My brakes don't wear out.

 

[BingBangBop]

I don't want to be personal but how much did they cost?

I've always thought that putting high end specialty parts on a stock car use for normal use as to be excessively expensive. But that is just my biased assumption.

I liked the do-it-yourself NAV system repair story here using Alpine rather than through the dealership. I wouldn't have ever considered it as an option without knowing the costs involved. I think this is in the same category.

 

[CougTek]

Looking at new brakes for my 09 A3 (60k miles, wife blamed brakes for minor rear-ender)

And you believe her? IMO, what must have caused it is not the delay between the breaking pads and the wheels, it's the delay between the brain and the pedal. Like it almost always is.

I changed my front brake pads after 123000Km on my current car (I still haven't changed my rear pads and I'm almost at 200000Km). I break for nobody!

 

[Handruin]

I don't want to be personal but how much did they cost?

I've always thought that putting high end specialty parts on a stock car use for normal use as to be excessively expensive. But that is just my biased assumption.

I liked the do-it-yourself NAV system repair story here using Alpine rather than through the dealership. I wouldn't have ever considered it as an option without knowing the costs involved. I think this is in the same category.

They are expensive, and I admittedly went a bit over the top on this one. I figured since my car is stock, yet it has higher grade calipers with 4-pistons (Brembo) they were at least worthy of having decent rotors. Having excessive braking capacity isn't really a bad thing except for the wallet. The stock pads are actually really good from all I've ready, but I went with a different pad to match the rotors.

I paid a little below $850 for the parts which included the two 2-piece open slot front rotors (which was most of the cost), 2 single piece closed slot rear rotors, two front brake pads and two rear brake pads. The price also included shipping, which may at first seem silly to mention, but we're talking about 50+lb of product to ship from california to mass.

When I went to the dealership several months back and asked for a quote to replace my brakes, they quoted me over $1000 which did not include new rotors, that was only resurfacing my stock rotors. With new rotors (stock) was over $1200.

I could have bought the stock parts (which are by Brembo) and also done this myself. I probably would have paid around $500 for the stock parts and maybe $50 for shipping? I'm taking a chance and I hope that these are the last rotors I buy for the car. I'll likely have several more sets of pads to replace, but that's normal over time.

I would have taken my car to the track this past summer, but I've waited a long time for the brakes and I didn't want to try the track with my brakes being so worn at that time. I've actually put in a set of temporary front pads from autozone ($19) while I waited for these parts. Those pads have a crappy feel to them, but they can stop the car. The down side is they fade easily after two hard stops.

 

[ddrueding]

I would be looking for lower unsprung weight primarily, with stopping power at least as good as OEM. Tiny carbon-ceramic would be ideal

 

[ddrueding]

My brakes don't wear out.

On my last car (VW Golf) the stock pads lasted 80k miles, and the stock rotors lasted 165k. Considering how much wide-open highway driving I was doing, this wasn't much of a surprise.

 

[time]

They are expensive, and I admittedly went a bit over the top on this one.

Not really. That's only a month's depreciation for Ddrueding. :alb:

 

[paugie]

My brakes don't wear out.

My car doesn't wear out.

Oh wait, I have a bicycle.

 

[time]

That's the spirit Paugie. Cyclists hate to use their brakes because they lose momentum. Some people adopt the same principles when driving a car.

 

[Pradeep]

My car doesn't wear out.

Oh wait, I have a bicycle.

I've been riding a bicycle to the bar. Easier on the way there than back again, but no worries about DUI. I can up the intake from 2-3 drinks which is what driving limits me to.

 

[Pradeep]

Lots of probs with warping rotors here in NY for me, I wonder if it's to do with freezing temperatures/snow/slush and the sudden heat of braking.

 

[Handruin]

Lots of probs with warping rotors here in NY for me, I wonder if it's to do with freezing temperatures/snow/slush and the sudden heat of braking.

Often times it can be a combination of things. If the material is too thin, it'll warp easier...so if you've resurfaced the rotors a few times, this can contribute to it. Your rotors can also warp if whoever last tightened the lug nuts over-torqued them with an impact wrench. Having better materials makes all the difference. In my last car, the stock rotors warped constantly. When I put in the similar RacingBrake rotors (one-piece), it went away completely. When I got my current car, the stock rotors are made by Brembo and they've lasted 60K miles before what now feels like a very slight warp until hard stops. This could be due to the crappy pads I installed as a temporary measure until my new brakes are installed. I get similar freezing temps with snow and slush just like you, so I don't think that is the absolute cause to the issue, but it may contribute.

You'll also get the sensation of warping if you performed a very hard stop and then sat still with your foot on the brake. This can leave a very fine impression of the brake pad on the rotor because the brakes were very hot from the panic stop. If I've stopped hard and cannot continue to move forward, I try not to hold the brake pedal or hold it light while the car rolls slightly.

 

[timwhit]

I've been riding a bicycle to the bar. Easier on the way there than back again, but no worries about DUI. I can up the intake from 2-3 drinks which is what driving limits me to.

Careful about that, you can get a DUI on a bicycle in some states.

 

[Handruin]

Careful about that, you can get a DUI on a bicycle in some states.

Does it count against your driver's license if you get the DUI on a bicycle?

 

[timwhit]

Does it count against your driver's license if you get the DUI on a bicycle?

It sounds like it.
http://www.wisegeek.com/can-you-really-get-a-dui-on-a-horse-or-bicycle.htm

 

[jtr1962]

Careful about that, you can get a DUI on a bicycle in some states.

Bicycling under the influence is not explicitly illegal in New York. However, a drunk cyclist can be charged with reckless endangerment or public intoxication, just as a pedestrian can.

All that said, I'm not sure I would bike drunk given how it affects both coordination and judgement. The flip side of that is if someone is going to pilot a vehicle drunk regardless, it's better for all by far if that vehicle is a bicycle instead of a car. At least if you screw up drunk on a bike, chances are good you're the only one getting hurt.

Being that Pradeep is upstate, I'm less concerned about him biking while drinking than if he was in NYC. In the city it's hard enough staying alive sober with everything a cyclist needs to watch out for. Often, quick reflexes are the difference between life and death. Now if those reflexes are deadened by drink....

And by the way, since this is the Internet, the proper spelling is "breaks", not "brakes".

 

[timwhit]

And by the way, since this is the Internet, the proper spelling is "breaks", not "brakes".

Are you sure about that? http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brake

 

[jtr1962]

Are you sure about that? http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brake

Yes, I know the proper spelling. I was just making a joke since I always see "brakes" mispelled as "breaks" all over the Internet. It's actually one of my pet peeves.

 

[Handruin]

I sometimes forget and almost write breaks instead of brakes...I do catch myself on this often.

 

[Pradeep]

Careful about that, you can get a DUI on a bicycle in some states.

In New York, bicycle is OK. We arn't talking catatonic type levels of impairment, but enough that you can feel that 2500lbs of steel is not the best transport option.

Horse can get you DUI here tho. Also snowmobile/ATV.

 

[Pradeep]

Bicycling under the influence is not explicitly illegal in New York. However, a drunk cyclist can be charged with reckless endangerment or public intoxication, just as a pedestrian can.

All that said, I'm not sure I would bike drunk given how it affects both coordination and judgement. The flip side of that is if someone is going to pilot a vehicle drunk regardless, it's better for all by far if that vehicle is a bicycle instead of a car. At least if you screw up drunk on a bike, chances are good you're the only one getting hurt.

Being that Pradeep is upstate, I'm less concerned about him biking while drinking than if he was in NYC. In the city it's hard enough staying alive sober with everything a cyclist needs to watch out for. Often, quick reflexes are the difference between life and death. Now if those reflexes are deadened by drink....

And by the way, since this is the Internet, the proper spelling is "breaks", not "brakes".

Yeah, it's surburban tree lined sidewalks I'm rotating on, trusty stack hat on. 0 risk to others, personal responsibility for myself. NYC I wouldn't try fully sober (or perhaps you need a hot toddy to take the edge off?).

 

[ddrueding]

Careful about that, you can get a DUI on a bicycle in some states.

Buddy got a DUI here for walking his bike on a bike lane. Cops in tourist towns can be dicks.

 

[MaxBurn]

On the warping thing I think a lot of it is related to rust, they never rust evenly, then you get hot spots etc. Now I always paint the inside vanes of the rotors on new ones to put it off a bit more. Generally the way they build rotors now with as little extra metal as possible they are under thickness after the pads wear out anyway so you are into pads and rotors now most of the time anyway.

 

[Handruin]

I finally got around to getting my brakes done and there were some problems. Since the parts took so long to come in, I decided to just take my car to a local trustworthy garage this time to get a bunch of stuff done and also get my new rotors and pads installed.

They've been working on my car all day and when they finally got to the driver's side front caliper to take it off so that they could install the new parts, it was discovered that the two bolts holding on the caliper were cross threaded from the factory when it was installed. Due to the design, the caliper is the part where the threads matter because this is where the bolts torque into in order to hold it on. This is the first time any brake work has been done on the car, so I don't suspect the garage caused the issue with both bolts while taking off the caliper. I've also read another person with my same car, but one year newer having the same issue on the same side.

Anyway, so the garage has been working on my car all day today while I'm at work. They close around 5 and they can't fix this issue with redrilling the hole and re-tapping because the bolt required is far too large. Long story short, my last option is a new caliper. My car uses the 4-piston Brembo calipers, so of course they aren't cheap. The part is $355 for one caliper and functionally there was nothing wrong with the original except the stupid bolt holes are cross threaded really badly.

Now my car is stuck at the garage until Monday because they can't get the part in due to all the weather we've been having. Just a pain in the ass situation, but I know it could be worse...just venting. This could have been worse because I was debating doing the brakes myself. I'm happier that I took it in to the garage, otherwise I'd have to be arranging a flatbed or tow truck to get it fixed. :rant:

 

[ddrueding]

Wow, that does suck. There wasn't any brake-related complementary services by the dealership? Already out of warranty?

 

[Handruin]

None that I've needed, and none that I think they would give. Yeah I'm out of warranty, it's 4 years old and 65K miles.

 

[Pradeep]

Bummer. Just had the wifes car in, tranny flush was $99 (shifts much quicker into overdrive now), and then new rotors and pads for the front axle, $350 installed.