Car brake components..

Ok, so my beater car I use for work has some nicely warped rotors so I thought I should toss some new stuff on it. Because I use this car for mostly highway miles and I'm easy on it the pads actually look good even after the 110,000 miles I've had it for and who knows when they were last changed out. I'm going to swap it all but I've never bought car rotors and only a few sets of brake pads so I thought I'd get the advice of this fine forum. I have done a little searching around and rotors seem to start about $30 a piece and go up from there. The only thing I care about is having stuff that will last as I drive it about 35,000 miles a year and I don't want to be doing brakes all the time. Do the el cheapo rotors hold up ok? What about pads-what is long lasting or maybe brands I should be going for. This is for a 2005 Pontiac Vibe so basic stuff is all it needs.

How about drums? The rear has drums so I might just change out all that crap while I'm at it too. Never touched drum brakes but I can't imagine they are that tough to figure out.

 

Just get the mid grade stuff for rotors and drums and spend a little extra on the pads so theyre not squealing in five thousand miles. Ive put on a lot of aftermarket rotos and never had any issues. Most important part, torque your wheels.

 

Spend for the rotors, cheap on the pads. Cheap rotors warp and deteriorate bad.

 

rockauto for the parts. :up:

 

Wagner Thermoquiet pads and mid grade rotors. You don't want the cheapest because they could warp causing a pulsation, which is annoying. Leave the drums alone, they are a pain in the ass.

Seriously, if you do the rears do one side at a time so you can use the other side as a reference point for all the springs and shit.

 

Yikes, really? How do you even check to see if they are worn out??

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/brakes/brake-types/drum-brake.htm


Basically you slide or beat the drums off and visually inspect them and the shoes for wear.

 

How long do they normally last? I've never had a car with drums before. Stupid cheap cars.

 

And if you do the rears don't hit yourself in the face if you slip off a spring.

 

They last until they start squeaking.

 

http://www.farmandfleet.com/m/produ...ThpMxHSBb3dqvnrVRFC7_ORcRXk-azfLCwaArRz8P8HAQ

Don't forget these.

 

Ha HA...youngsters...OOh OOh drum brakes...

 

If you do the drums in the back pay attention to the adjuster at the bottom and don't mess it up.

 

The Thermoquiet pads are the best pads I've ever had installed, period. Quiet, supreme stopping power, no brake dust.

Another fan of Rock Auto here, but also check Amazon. When I bought some earlier this year there was a rebate. Net cost for front pads was $15.

 

I was still on the original brake shoes on my 1992 Accord Wagon when I traded it in with 183,000 miles on it. 5 speed stick might have helped.

 

I recently bought rotors off amazon. I picked some that had decent ratings; so far so good. This was on an minivan. It's hard on front brakes.

 

I changed out the brakes on my dually at just over 150k miles. They still had quite a few miles left in them, but wanted to do them while it was down for a transfer case. I agree that a manual tranny helps save brakes.

 

+1 on the ThermoQuiets, I used these when doing brakes on my old Civic and they worked great and very indeed quiet. I've had drums last a long while but have always ended up having my mechanic do those when they were due.

 

I've installed a number of drums and rotors manufactured in a certain very large Asian nation and about half were warped when they came out of the box.

YMMV