Here we go. 35k miles and I need new brakes. The stockers were in pretty bad shape. They were squeaking a lot, but not only stopping, at speed too. High pitched squeal as the brake pads themselves were warped. Since I took so many pictures, I might have just done a How-To.

First, a shot of the new brakes. They are RotorPros brake rotors with PosiQuiet pads. (They sent the wrong pads, was supposed to get Hawk HPS, but we'll worry about that later.) Rotorpros uses Centric rotors. The rotors are cross drilled and slotted, and come with a 1 year warranty against cracking and warping. (You may or may not have heard horror stories about the hundreds of choices of cross drilled brakes on eBay cracking under abuse)



Now to put them on, jack up the car, and take off the wheel of which ever wheel you're working on, using a 19mm socket or your lugwrench.





Next take the rotor retaining pins off. There are 2 per wheel, and they need some convincing to come off. Just use a flathead screwdriver and get them started, then "unscrew" them.



Take off the bolts holding the floating piston to the fixed caliper using a 14mm socket. (Front and rear are both 14mm)

It should come off fairly easily. After that, remove the pads and then proceed to take off the bolts holding the fixed part of the caliper, the one that holds the pads themselves. On the rear, it will be an 18mm socket needed. On the front it will be 15mm.




For those of you who are paying attention, you will notice I did this in reverse order - taking off the fixed caliper bolts first. It really does not matter, as both parts will have to come off to put the new rotors on.

Next, take your rotor off, kick your 3 year old out of the way, and set it down to compare the old vs new pads and rotors.







As you can see, the rears weren't in too bad of shape. The fronts were the ones that were taking a ****.

Now put the new rotor on. There may be some discussion on which direction the slots should be. According to the sales representative, they should be slanting towards the rear, as shown. Higher end brakes say the opposite. I really don't have a preference, but I have heard that either way is fine. Also have heard that you get less brakes dust facing them this way. I don't know.



For the rears only, you need a funny looking tool to reset the piston inside the caliper. It looks like this :



It is placed with the two points on either side of the piston slots. Turn it slightly and the piston will start to reset itself. Make sure it is all the way back in the caliper. I am sorry as I forgot to get a picture of this.

Next, reposition the fixed pad holder portion of the caliper and put in the new brake pads. Reposition the piston itself and bolt everything down.



IF you didn't take off the brake line itself (like I did for some reason) then you should have no reason at all to bleed the brakes. Put your wheel back on and torque it down, should be around 80-85 lb-ft.



And a before picture for comparison (the other side) :



The front brakes are slightly different, but after you do one wheel, you will find it goes pretty quick. The only real differences are the different bolt size to take off the fixed caliper (15/18mm front/rear) and the need for a traditional piston compressor tool.

The front brake pads old vs new :




Front brake finished :



Here is the finished product.

 

nice write up... where do you get the piston compressor tool? any car parts store? and how much did it run ya?

 

Yep, pretty much any auto parts store will have them. Usually find them for around $10. The funny cube shape tool is also available, but you may have to look a little bit more for it. Also should be around $10-15.

Pics of the piston compressor tool :

 

subscribed, my front pasenger brake JUST started squeeling so this write-up came JUST in time

 

No prob bud. I had that psychic feeling someone might need this.

 

The rotor retaining pins (as you call them), the ones that look like lock washers on the studs.. do those need to go back on or does it really matter?

 

you can use a c-clamp also with like a peice of flat metal

 

Looks sweet, I was so happy when I got mine done, brake dust no more. And as for the rear caliper tool, I used some channel locks with rubber over serts to protect from scratches.

 

so how did the book drive go?

 

I left mine off and it realy doesn't matter, I had a hell of a time getting them off and messed one up so I said F*K it...

 

wheel torque is 100 ft lbs

 

Now THIS I was waiting for LOL

 

lol.. I knew those boxes would come in handy at some point.

that's what i get for not having a garage OR a cement driveway

 

So how long have you had your rotors for, and how are they holding up??? I just installed mine today???

 

I cant get the bolt off that the socket is on in the 6th pic for the rear rotor. Took forever to get the bottom one off. I have to use an extension on top of the socket to get the impact gun in there.

i have tried 2 impact guns and a ratchet. How do u get the spring out? If I take out the spring I can get the impact gun in there without an extension.


edit: if you can't get the bolts out just take the bottom bolt out out the shock to relieve the compression on the spring. Then move the spring out of the way to fit your rachet/imoact gun. (remember u will probaly need the jack to compress the spring to get the shock bolt back in.)

 

Nice write up man. I'll be needing this soon.

 

Well, they've been on for about 3 weeks now and I can honestly say this buy was well worth the money. They have virtually no brake dust. They stop SOOO much better and quieter than stock and they look a helluva lot cooler too. They are cheaper than the stock replacements and have a 1 year warranty against warping and cracking. Absolutely no complaints at all.

Cliffnotes - great, high-quality brake pads and rotors for great price

 

Do you notice any noise with these rotors while driving. I know mine make a noise as im driving, i dont even have to use the brakes for it to make the noise. Alot of people told me its normal due to the slots in the rotors. Are you experiencing the same thing??

 

No, I do not have any noise whatsoever during any kind of stopping or other cruising/accelerating.

 

YEAH I HAVE THE SAME BRAKE SET UP
I LIKE HOW IT LOOKS :thumbsup:

 

Not even during the break in period..

 

There is essentially no break in period with the PosiQuiet pads that came with the kit. The rotors themselves don't need one either.

 

subscribed

 

I am experiencing the same thing.

One thing I noticed about this write up is that you did not remove clean, and re grease the slider pins, this should be done any time you replace brakes.

ALSO is there anybody out there that have had problems with the rubber bushings on the end of the slider pins. The bushings on mine seem to be swelling and stopping the pin from sliding properly.

 

I have had this problem. The grease was all dried up too. I had to get the pin out (PITA) and clean it up with some steel wool.