Just curious for those of you who had the issue of your rear brakes grinding from the factory, and have replaced them with aftermarket pads and rotors... Has the issue returned? Im just wondering if its a problem with the stock rotors/pads or if there is an issue with the stock calipers.

I just got some pads/rotors through the shop I used to work at, and Im going to install them when I get a chance. Obviously when I install Ill check the calipers to make sure theyre moving freely and I'll lube everything up, but Im just curious what you guys have experienced.

Thanks

 

i got my rotors replaced under warrenty 3 times and on the third time i used a softer hawk pad and the grinding stopped very annoying every 10k my rotors were shot on my 08

 

Yup, thats basically been my story... although they only replaced them once, and they only replaced the pads and turned the rotors

I went with some nice Centrix rotors and Ceramic pads, Im hoping theyll do the trick.

 

Machined my rear rotors and installed Hawk HPS pads with only 2000 kms on the car. My SS now has 40,000 kms and havn't had any problems at all. Love the way they feel.

Stu

 

ya such a pain in the ass the last ones ended up beeing saab rotors tho dont know if that help a lil bit but they only put those on because i was waiting 3 weeks on back order for cobalt rotors its good to have family in the dealership

 

Yeah I got Saab pads because I told them to get them rather than wait for the backordered balt pads. They would only turn the rotors, they wouldn't replace them...

 

The stock pads are very aggressive, and if not treated hard, will not leave a film or bed the rotors. This causes the stock pads to machine the rotors down over time grooving them.

Another issue many of us have had is that the caliper slide pins lack lube so the caliper won't float properly increasing wear.

I put Hawk HPS rear pads on at 9k with new stock rotors and never had another issue.

I recently replaced the HPS pads at 55k, barely 1/3 worn but did it when I installed the R1 Concepts Premium Drilled & Slotted rotors to start fresh.

The HPS pads dust a lot less but the high speed stopping power is somewhat less than the stock pads.

Everything is a tradeoff. The drilled & slotted rotors help initial braking in the rain where I used to have a dead pedal for a few seconds until the water stripped off.

 

Dealer replaced my rear pads and rotors and greased the sliders at 13k. I'm now at 31k and had the car at the dealer this morning. While I was there they looked at the brakes and lubed the sliders again. No grooves in the rotors at all, plenty of life left on the brakes. No problems or squealing since the replacement at 13k. Keeping the sliders lubed took care of the dragging problem completely.

 

Yeah, it's definitely the stock pads. What is funny is that the dealer was telling me this all along and I wouldn't listen. I kept thinking it was the caliper sliders, but that issue is the sticking emergency brake issue, not the issue with the grooving rotors. I was thinking it was all the same problem, but it wasn't. The stock rear pads make your rotors disposable.

 

stocks are fine to use, but use lube!!

 

Same here. Got them replaced and lubed at 22k miles for grooving. Got 46k miles now with no grooving or grinding since. Give them a good hard stop or 2 every few days too.

 

ack ya, I have 14k miles and they are starting to groove. I'll have to have them grinded and get new pads :/ the rotors are @#$@#$ expensive, $90 a piece...they are really good...just bad install from factory.

 

Dealer warrantied mine no questions asked. Told them my brakes were grinding and the inside of the rotor was grooved. They took 1 look and said they would take care of it.

 

how many miles on it? Its all up to the dealer as well...I can just see them blaming my oz ultraleggeras on the brakes grooving

 

To all that got them replaced under dealer warranty you got further than I got with my LSJ. I had the same problem with my front rotors forming bad grooves even after about 8-10 thousand miles and they wouldn't do anything about it. I even went to multiple dealerships (in FL) and they still wouldn't help me out. Long story short, I ended up getting Power Slot rotors and a set of Power Stop pads from ZZPerformance. Never had any problems again and I now have over 67K+ miles on the car. Bottom line is that Chevy has been bad about putting ineffective brake parts on their Cobalts for quite some time now (I have an 07 SS model). I figured by now they would do something about it but apparently not. Rather than getting your rotors turned and new brake pads from the Stealership, I suggest saving the aggravation and just getting after market brake parts when possible. Just my opinion though to save you some trouble and learn from my experience rather than reliving it. I'm glad they wouldn't replace my brake rotors or pads now because I know that I would have just been returning the car to them less than 10k miles later. Trust me, it's worth doing the brake job yourself and if your not comfortable working on brakes get a friend to help you that knows how to work on brakes. I won't let any shops work on my car and I'm sure most other seasoned Cobalt owners are the same.

 

I can't remember when I had to change mine out but it seemed like I only had the care for a year and a half or so before they needed to be replace. I got some R1 concepts rotors and Hank HPS pads that seem to be working a whole lot better. My brakes still sing but now they only sing depending on the temperature. If my dash reads under 60 F I can count on hearing them, but thats my only problem

 

about 22k when they did it. it was obvious something wasn't right when the inside of both rotors was trashed and the outsides were fine. oddly enough mine were worn evenly. most of them had pretty much brand new looking outer pads and the insides were down to metal. mine were all about 50% left.

 

my rears lasted about 15k miles and it was down to bare metal

then I got R1 slotted rotors and hawk pads and had no problems with plenty of pad life after the next 20k miles before I wrecked it

 

It's the rear pads. Some will say the calipers need lubing, but I'm convinced it's the stock pads. I found that Volvo calipers (same as ours) aren't lubed (see pic below) and we don't hear of them having this problem..same with Mazda3s, although I can't confirm the lubing on those. Mine went out at 17K miles AFTER I LUBED THE PINS about 4 K miles earlier! You really need to replace the rotors, because they get hammered. Do that, and you're good to go. I did.

Volvo Caliper...same as ours. Do these pins look lubed?

 

My new Duralast stuff should be delivered today (Although, those bastards at FedEx initially had a delivery date of the 11th ). My rears are now metal on metal and I'm at about 29xxx miles. Stock pads are...well...not designed for light duty DD use I suppose is the best way to descirbe them. The new stuff I bought won't be as aggressive and should last substantially longer

 

same for me, once the issue was fixed properly, no dust and plenty of pad left. The pads were replaced at 12k now has 26K.

 

Back from the dead...

I just ordered Hawk HPS pads all around and new rotors for the rear.

Anyone know how difficult it is to replace the Rotors? Is it just one big nut in the middle... like a... 30mm or something like that?

 

They just pop off, no nut. You will have some ring clips to cut on the lug studs if they have never been off. Might have to Kroil 'em around the hub and pop 'em with a rubber mallet to break them free.

 

Eh it's a pretty straight forward job. Other than those little ring clips, you shouldn't have any problems. So far, the new brakes are fantastic We'll see how long that lasts, though.

 

there is a sticky on this:

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/08-1...recall-187787/