Referring to the hydraulic components only, I trust. I haven't done calipers, honestly, I'd just get rebuilt OEM from Erie if I did.cn90 wrote:If you rebuild (overhaul) the entire braking system, stick to ATE and FTE brands only!
I'm absolutely loving the road feel of the Zimmerman cross drilled coated rotors and Akebono ceramic pads from FCP. These are not the same ones as on the website, I called them up and they special-ordered. I've had them on the front for about 1K miles, so, ask me in a year what I still think of them.
To summarize about rotors:
* Any rotor will warp if you don't stop correctly. Always let the car creep forward every few seconds so they cool evenly.
* You can't go wrong with a high quality solid rotor such as OEM or Zimmerman. My indy says he thinks the OE are Zim's.
* Brembo used to be the best but are now made in China. Avoid. Raybestos used to be decent and also now suck, I'm told.
* Cross-drilling and slotting both decrease the total heat capacity of the rotor, but improve its ability to shed heat. Making use of this without premature failure requires paying attention to how much heat you're dumping into them.
* Cross-drilling is not advised for racing use due to tendency to crack when overheated; slotting is questionable for street use due to increased pad wear, dust generation, and loud cop-magnet whirring sound. That said, either will improve stopping ability when wet. I've noticed no noises from the cross-drilled set.
* Cross-drilling is often done by underpaid kids with a drill press in Daddy's garage. If you're going to go this route, only get name-brand rotors from a reputable vendor such as FCP.
* Cross-drilling used to be needed to deal with outgassing from the resins in the pad, despite the tendency to crack. This no longer applies, because better pad materials are used than in the 1960's. The only real reason now is wet weather.
* Coating serves to prevent rust on the non-stopping surfaces. This is 2 parts appearance and 1 part longevity.
To summarize about pads:
* OE's are dusty as hell as are any other organic pad. Anything else except the latest ceramics such as Akebono will squeak like the dickens on the front. I've had reasonable results with PBR Deluxe on the rear, which I believe are semi-metallics.
* If you're using OE rotors, don't use a full metallic racing pad, or you'll kill your rotors. If you're using uprated rotors, don't use the OE or any other fully organic pads or you'll eat them in a few months.
* Proper shimming (rear) and silicone lubrication (both, liberally, back of the pads) are required for quiet operation.
Whatever you do, if you value your nerves, don't buy brake parts from the local AutoZone/Pep/Advance/etc.
Also, be sure to look up the correct bedding-in procedure for your pad/rotor combination. This creates a surface film of pad material on the rotor that helps assure smooth consistent stops and long rotor life. For this reason, always stick with the same pad type, preferably same brand and part number, for the life of the rotor. Some setups need a few deliberate hard stops from a precalculated sequence of speeds, others simply need a light touch for the first 400 miles or so.
Lemforder is OEM.