Great source for rotors! (and cracking rotors problem solved!)

[dquarasr2]

I had had some problems with my rotors cracking. Long story short:

Was having uneven brake wear on all four corners. Talked to a few people,Oster at 1st Class Automotive, Orlando, FL included. Oster thought maybe the calipers were binding. He recommended I take a look at that.

I did so. A few weekends ago I removed the caliper slide pins and re-re-lubricated. I did find that despite having lubed them with wheel bearing grease, they must have had some overheating in the past. The grease, if that's what you want to call it, was a sticky goo. The grease had been turned into rather than a lubricant, quite the opposite. I cleaned out the calipers as best I could and lubricated with 580-degree Lucas Oil synthetic grease.

In the meantime, I scored new OEM-equivalent rotors. Get this: I found a price of $44 and change for TWO FRONT ROTORS. The shipping was a little expensive, but I ended up with both for something like $80. This compared to Tire Rack (which I think is a good reputable vendor) Brembo OEM-equivalents, which were about $90 each, plush shipping.

Anyways, with the new Hawk HPS, new rotors all 'round, and newly-lubed calipers, I am happy to report that the rotors now are exhibiting normal wear, no cracking after today's event at Miami-Homestead road course, and consistent braking (after the new pads were heat cycled a few times).

I poked around the website and found some very, very reasonable prices for brake stuff. I have no affiliation with this company except that I tried their OEM-equivalent rotors and found them to be at least as good as the Brembo OEM-equivalents. Check it out: www.r1concepts.com. Great prices! Assuming I'm not violating Prime rules, I highly recommend them.

Anyways, I'm much happier after today's playing. Tomorrow I think I'll take out the Miata and have some fun in it.

BTW, my student today was a 747 pilot with a '94 NSX: Tein, ported/polished motor, very responsive NA car. Spun twice (once at T10 at about 90 MPH , didn't hit anything, thankfully ), but I'll tell you, he picked up stuff extremely quickly and in the last session was pretty much flying.

All in all, a pretty good day. :biggrin:

 

[docjohn]

Glad to hear you have worked out the gremlins.Say hello to the Hicks and Wei-Shen for me.

 

[rsevo6]

What I aways am amazed with, is that rotors for the '97-'05 are soo difficult to get (lots of aftermarket company's don't have them):frown: and why (with this vendor too) they are more than double the price of '91-'96 rotors

 

[nsxtasy]

why (with this vendor too) they are more than double the price of '91-'96 rotors

Rotor prices are heavily influenced by demand. Rotors which have a lot of cars they fit (either higher volume, or interchangeable with multiple models) are very often less expensive than rotors for a specific, low-volume model. AFAIK NSX rotors aren't interchangeable with any other models, and there are about three times as many '91-96 cars as there are '97-05.

 

[Malibu Rapper]

They sell on eBay. I have a friend that purchased and picked up drilled rotors from them here in SoCal.

 

[Red]

Personally, I'm against drilled or slotted rotors.

My 951 has the 928 GT 4S on it (biggest Porsche brakes aka Big Blacks) and I use the stock rotors. I wear them down like crazy (you can see I'm 2mm into the material) and i only have minor cracks, vs my buddy who bought cross drilled and needed to do brakes and pads before the season was out.

The increase in cooling from cross drilled is marginal compared to good brake ducting but there is no question that the holes make the rotor weaker and provide for uneven expansion when heated.

Look at LMP, F1, Daytona Prototypes, etc cars - they don't use drilled rotors - you'd think there is a reason (old F1, etc. not ceramic)

 

[baynsac]

I had had some problems with my rotors cracking. Long story short:

Was having uneven brake wear on all four corners. Talked to a few people,Oster at 1st Class Automotive, Orlando, FL included. Oster thought maybe the calipers were binding. He recommended I take a look at that.

I did so. A few weekends ago I removed the caliper slide pins and re-re-lubricated. I did find that despite having lubed them with wheel bearing grease, they must have had some overheating in the past. The grease, if that's what you want to call it, was a sticky goo. The grease had been turned into rather than a lubricant, quite the opposite. I cleaned out the calipers as best I could and lubricated with 580-degree Lucas Oil synthetic grease.

In the meantime, I scored new OEM-equivalent rotors. Get this: I found a price of $44 and change for TWO FRONT ROTORS. The shipping was a little expensive, but I ended up with both for something like $80. This compared to Tire Rack (which I think is a good reputable vendor) Brembo OEM-equivalents, which were about $90 each, plush shipping.

Anyways, with the new Hawk HPS, new rotors all 'round, and newly-lubed calipers, I am happy to report that the rotors now are exhibiting normal wear, no cracking after today's event at Miami-Homestead road course, and consistent braking (after the new pads were heat cycled a few times).

I poked around the website and found some very, very reasonable prices for brake stuff. I have no affiliation with this company except that I tried their OEM-equivalent rotors and found them to be at least as good as the Brembo OEM-equivalents. Check it out: www.r1concepts.com. Great prices! Assuming I'm not violating Prime rules, I highly recommend them.

Anyways, I'm much happier after today's playing. Tomorrow I think I'll take out the Miata and have some fun in it.

BTW, my student today was a 747 pilot with a '94 NSX: Tein, ported/polished motor, very responsive NA car. Spun twice (once at T10 at about 90 MPH , didn't hit anything, thankfully ), but I'll tell you, he picked up stuff extremely quickly and in the last session was pretty much flying.

All in all, a pretty good day. :biggrin:

I just had the r1 concepts and they look good and preform pretty good but eventually I had warped them also. If this happens to you try this company called brakeplanet.com and they are on ebay also. The say they have a warranty against this. I just got them so I can't say how good they are yet but they basically the same thing as r1 rotors and have a lifetime warranty.

 

[nsxtasy]

Personally, I'm against drilled or slotted rotors.

My 951 has the 928 GT 4S on it (biggest Porsche brakes aka Big Blacks) and I use the stock rotors. I wear them down like crazy (you can see I'm 2mm into the material) and i only have minor cracks, vs my buddy who bought cross drilled and needed to do brakes and pads before the season was out.

The increase in cooling from cross drilled is marginal compared to good brake ducting but there is no question that the holes make the rotor weaker and provide for uneven expansion when heated.

On my heavily-tracked NSX, I've used drilled rotors, slotted rotors, combo (drilled/slotted) rotors, and solid-faced rotors. I have observed ZERO difference between types in the longevity of the rotors or in the longevity of the pads. The only difference I have observed is that two-piece rotors last longer before cracking. All based on personal experience on the same car with the exact same usage.

 

[fourringpilot]

In the meantime, I scored new OEM-equivalent rotors. Get this: I found a price of $44 and change for TWO FRONT ROTORS. The shipping was a little expensive, but I ended up with both for something like $80. This compared to Tire Rack (which I think is a good reputable vendor) Brembo OEM-equivalents, which were about $90 each, plush shipping.

Most rotors costs between $2-$4 for material needed in production. When you add in paying somebody to make them, shipping from production shop, distribution markup (middleman), and final vendor retail price that really is a great deal on rotors. That is probably why shipping is so much - they have to make the profit somewhere.

 

[rsevo6]

On my heavily-tracked NSX, I've used drilled rotors, slotted rotors, combo (drilled/slotted) rotors, and solid-faced rotors. I have observed ZERO difference between types in the longevity of the rotors or in the longevity of the pads. The only difference I have observed is that two-piece rotors last longer before cracking. All based on personal experience on the same car with the exact same usage.

Most rotors with holes in them are drilled, simpel material stress knowledge will learn that this process will cause uneven material stress around the holes during temp variations (like when using the brakes ).

I will definately not use these on a track EVER!!
I have personally had a drilled rotor crack once after a trackday (luckily it happend at the end of the day when the rotor cooled down during runout lap).
If something like that happens during racing, there is a real danger of part of the disc flying off, taking brakeline, rim, fender with it. I have seen pics of the result, you don't ever want that to happen to you!!

Only discs with holes in them that I would (and have done so) use on track are with the holes cast in them during production like Porsche uses. These will also develop lots of fine hairline fractures around all the holes over time (they will all do so, look at any Porsche with these discs) but they will not crack.

All serious brakedisc vendors will tel you NOT to use drilled discs on the track.

 

[nsxtasy]

Most rotors with holes in them are drilled, simpel material stress knowledge will learn that this process will cause uneven material stress around the holes during temp variations (like when using the brakes ).

Like I said, this is based on my ACTUAL EXPERIENCE. And in my ACTUAL EXPERIENCE, the advice posted above, claiming that cross-drilled rotors behave differently, is inaccurate and just plain wrong. Based on my ACTUAL EXPERIENCE, cross-drilled rotors behave EXACTLY THE SAME as rotors which are not drilled. They brake well, but over time with track use, they start to develop small spiderweb type cracks. With continued track use, the cracks will start to get larger, forming cracks in a radial direction. With cross-drilled rotors, they form around the holes, but with other rotors, they form, too - EXACTLY THE SAME. They don't happen instantly, and all you need to do is to check your rotors frequently, and replace them when the cracks are significant enough. (I replace them when the cracks are roughly a half inch in length, which is also about the same time as you can feel them with the edge of your fingernail - don't try this when the rotors are hot. :wink: ) IN MY EXPERIENCE drilled rotors last just as long as non-drilled rotors. IN MY EXPERIENCE non-drilled rotors are just as susceptible to cracking as drilled rotors are, and don't last any longer before cracking. You need to check your rotors frequently REGARDLESS OF WHICH ROTORS YOU USE.

Only discs with holes in them that I would (and have done so) use on track are with the holes cast in them during production like Porsche uses. These will also develop lots of fine hairline fractures around all the holes over time (they will all do so, look at any Porsche with these discs) but they will not crack.

Absolutely NOT true. With track use, they will eventually crack, just like all rotors do.

All serious brakedisc vendors will tel you NOT to use drilled discs on the track.

Also absolutely NOT true.

Again, I HAVE ACTUALLY USED ALL OF THESE VARIOUS KINDS OF ROTORS, with the same usage on the same car, and have found that non-drilled rotors don't last any longer than drilled rotors and are just as susceptible to cracking as drilled rotors.

However, I also haven't noticed any advantages with drilled rotors, either!

 

[Swift]

I just wanted to add that i have seen not only my set of R1 rotors but another set made for...believe it or not...an AVEO. Installed all myself and the quality was the same between them both on surface. I inspected the aveo rotors and where the too pieces come together(internal vanes)...the vanes were not a solid casting on this design which meant that the one face under extreme pressure and heat MAY come apart because i could see the seperation "crack" quite clearly on the vanes. Now since this was on an aveo...meh...didnt care.

But for the price they seem great as far as my rotors. However i only wanted slotted! arg


I HIGHLY recommend RacingBrake rotors for you guys in the front and there OEM 300mm kit as well! can use on 16in rims..

just my 1 cent.