OEM vs aftermarket brake rotors

[jblackburn]

^Same goes for tires for me. I'd rather pay money for good tires that get decent traction in rain/braking/corners then have a soft, floaty ride and tires that won't grip for crap to help me avoid an accident when I need them to.

[MoVolvos]

This is just my opinion, but buying cheap brakes makes about as much sense as buying a cheap helmet.
Or, as the ad in Dirt Bike magazine used to read: "Got a 10 dollar head? Buy a 10 dollar helmet".
Of course, that's just me...

Cheap could mean inexpensive or junk. When I worked at Acura in 1995 for 6 months the new Integra's were coming in under warranty for rear brakes at 10,000 miles. My 87 Integra rear pads lasted 70K and wore smoothly and evenly both rotors and pads. The factory caught this and came out ASAP with another set of rear pads to last longer but I am assuming at the cost of rotor wear and potential noise. The Engineers had a concern for brake noise so the overly soft pads. I remember my friend's 83 or 84 240 Turbo Intercooler going through brakes at 20K and rotor wear was not far behind. When he switch to different pads the rotors were eaten up pretty quickly.

The Engineers have to balance between Rotor, Pad wear, noise, dust, braking power and even feel. Price potentially bring down stopping distance but not every driver is going to like the feel or price and there is a threshold where the early onset of ABS on slippery road becomes too unsettling for the average driver. Stopping distance does not equate safety nor true performance as not everyone use the streets for track time when opportunity knocks.

Monroe (some consider junk) sued their Manufacturer for selling directly under another name at half the price and very little warranty. Same product at half the price or more so pricing is not a factor there. Many times the same shoe or helmet comes off the same assembly line under different brand but buying $10 MotoCross Helmet just might equate $10 Brain .

Blessings,
BKM
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[erikv11]

+1

Brakes, tires, suspension, etc. it is very clear from the experiences posted on the forums: the overwhelming majority of the cheap auto parts out there are a waste of your time. And unfortunately, it is only getting worse.

But there are still aftermarket options that work, it pretty much always works for me to just ask a few questions before I buy.

[E Showell]

+1 on the Zimmerman/Akebono combo.

[bguzz]

I think you have the wrong parts being compared in that picture. Even with the cheapy parts, the width of the rotor will be the same...that is clearly not the correct part.

[PDLarson]

I would say Brembo should be granted an exclusion from the "aftermarket" tag. No they are not OEM but they are in a totally different league from the low or mid-grade AutoZone / Pep Boys / O'Reilly Chinese garbage. In my mind they would be an upgrade from Volvo OEM but I cannot say from experience.

Also I cannot prove it but I suspect for some of the products that have a generic or lesser warrantied product made on the same line, maybe the usable rejects go to the generic / 90 hour warranty bin and the better ones go in the name brand / extended warranty bin.

I recently replaced rotors on a '00 Ford Windstar Mommobile, the mid-grade NAPA rotors were missing tapered holes for screws that secure the rotor to the hub. Not essential as lug nuts do the same once the wheel is on but an interesting difference.

I noticed the same difference in thickness. However I would say it is at least possible it is the right part. I think aftermarket rotors could be thinner if still within the tolerance / travel range for the piston / caliper of the vehicle in question. But to me, this is another reason to stay with OEM.

[MoVolvos]

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In 1996 I was asked to help distribute Chinese rotors. Probably was approach for having worked at Pepboys and Acura for about 6 months each. Never got involved as there was a concern for quality. Having been a DYI for many years the only car that absolutely requires OE Brake Rotors are Hondas. Seen too many brand new and a few very low mileage rotors shake and had to re-purchase OE Factory Parts. That being said my mechanic will only use NAPA parts and he gives a two year warranty on the parts and one year labor though I have not seen him in over 4 years so I do not know if he still gives such a good guarantee.

Blessings,
BKM
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[SpeedyPete]

Hola Amigos: I have had 5 different sets of rotors on my car since new. The first 3 sets were all OEM from the dealer replacing them because of warpage and all failing at about 15,000 miles or so. After the third set I was on my own. So on went the Brimbo's. They lasted about 30,000 miles before warpage. I am currently running slotted and dimpled rotors from Break Performance.com and am very happy with them. American made with a life time guarantee against warpage. Check them out. Best Regards, SpeedyPete