well i hear this grinding sound on my ride when i come to a stop so i went out and sure enough my drivers rear break pads had worn thro and are now damaging the outer portion of my rotor (sp) i donno if that what its called, but anywho i told my friend and he said i could go down to 'auto parts company' or 'napa' and they could machine them and recoat them for 10-15 bucks... is that the right thing to do? i always thought u had to buy a new rotor

 

If you are to the point of grinding metal, they may be too far gone to machine them. There is a minimum thickness for the rotor and if there is not enough metal left, you will need to buy new ones.

 

yeah man. just for piece of mind i would just replace them.

 

how much do roters cost?

and where would one go about getting them... and while were on the subject would it be better to upgrade to ls1 breaks or z06 breaks or something or is there not much difference and not worth the cost?

 

Dude...the proper spelling is brakes! Just go down to your local auto parts store and pick up a new BRAKE rotor and a new set of BRAKE pads.

 

Don't forget the break cleaner

 

what is this? or are u making fun of me
when i did my front brakes i put some kinda glue stuff or something on the brake pads is that stuff really work it was supposed to make it so it didnt squeel

 

Just go down to AutoZone and pick up a set of Performance Friction pads, and AutoZone rotors. Pads are about $50 for the fronts/$50 for the rears, rotors about $20 a piece. Also pick up some orange goo for the back of the pads, and some hi-temp silicone lubricant for the caliper pins. You might also want to pick up some of the rubber tubes for the front caliper pins if you don't know the last time those were changed.

The Performance Friction pads are good street pads with a lifetime warranty. After properly breaking them in, they will wear very well, and perform very well.

If your brake fluid is dark and you don't know the last time it was flushed, it is a good idea to do that as well ... 4 pints is more than enough to flush the brake system. You'll need a friend to help, but it's not hard.

Brake cleaner is good to use after you've got everything back together to clean off the rotor. The rotor surface need to be clean of any oils.

The rotors from Autozone are not coated, so if you want the centers painted, pick up some engine primer and paint.

 

rotors are only 20 bucks?

so why if u have someone else do it its like $500+?

i thought those were really expensive and thats why u would preffer a brake pad to wear and not the rotor

 

I think you answered your own question. Disc brakes aren't that hard to repair, but most people don't have the interest.

And yes, you would rather the pad wear than the rotor generally speaking. In many instances, the brake shops may put a lifetime on the pads, but nothing on the rotors, because the pads are so hard, they know you'll be getting rotors next time around. You also have to remember, a brake shop probably isn't going to sell you the rotor for $20 either, even though it's probably the same AIMCO part.

I was surprised the LT1 rotors were so cheap too, but compared to other sports cars, like the Corvette, there are a ton of Camaros out there, so parts are cheaper ... supply/demand. Plus, in all likelihood, the LT1 brakes are probably shared with other GM cars. Its a fixed single piston caliper, not a floating two piston like the Corvette (LS1 Camaro changed to a caliper setup more similar to the Corvette though, so you hear about a lot of LT1 Camaros being upgraded to LS1 brakes).

Even "Brembo" blanks (not crossdrilled or slotted) are only about $60 a piece from TireRack. The cheapo rotors are just fine though.

The key to pad life is "bedding." Basically, go light on the brakes for a couple of weeks ... no really hard stops. What I do is a series of light stops from 20mph, then 30 mph, then 40 mph after changing the brakes. Then I was light on the pedal for a week or so. I did my first track day a couple of months back and this set up performed well.

Flushing brake fluid helps quite a bit for braking performance too.

 

I got powerslot rotors and hawk pads from speed inc and i forget how much exactly i paid for them but i know they cost a little more than the stock replacements but for the extra money i figured why not do it. Plus if you do them yourself you save a ton of money. I did all four and pads in about 2 hours that included beer brakes.

 

The brake cleaner is to make sure everything is clean, cause sometimes dirt can cause the brakes to make that loud squeal sound. If it does squeal for a bit it will usually go away after some driving.