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For my first brake job, I bought Raybestos Red Box rotors and pads;
(For those unaware, the GM premium line replacement brakes are simply reboxed Raybestos Red Box parts.)
My experience with non-OE brakes on my car are abysmal;
Those rotors warped maybe just over a week in.
Now, I don't tend to drive or brake aggresively, so I chalked it up as a learning experience, and my takeaway was: "only buy OEM brake parts for this car".
What I have done since (because of the high cost of our brakes) is buy parts here and there after doing brakes, so that I always have the stuff on hand for when a brake job is needed - that way I don't have to buy it all at once.
I t was evident that I needed to do my brakes in the spring of 2020 right around the time a local "work from home" order was made, but I didn't have all the parts at that time so I intentionally drove ma car infrequently while getting the rest of the parts.
I have opted (because I had the choice) to work from home ever since. Working from home means that instead of driving 100km/day (aprox 60 miles/day) I have maybe done 100 km over several months - so I am only now getting around to doing my brakes, because now they REALLY need it.
lol
I have started replacing my brakes (at this time the fronts are done), and because of that I am also now looking at buying parts for my next brake job.
To my shock, at this time everywhere seems to be wanting $200(cnd) or more per rotor;
I looked it up, and when I bought my front rotors in 2019, they were just under $90(cnd) each. They are more than double the price!?!
Has anyone here noticed the same price jump in these rotors?
Does anyone know if we have the ability to buy the exact same part in a non-GM box?
(In order to get a discount)
Also the cobalt ss tc rotors are crossed referenced with the hhr ss and the rear and front rotors are listed there as well. Definitely cheaper than Amazon prices and shipping isn't bad. If you need a 5% coupon let me know and I can give you one of those also. Every little bit of savings helps when you are buying car parts lol.
You are correct, at this time Rockauto IS cheaper than amazon, but I am willing to bet any cost savings will be eradicated by shipping;
I have a prime membership so shipping is free.
But, even Rockauto's lower price is still up over 50% from the last time I bought these rotors - and that's what I 'm trying to point out.
I just realized that the GM boxed struts for these cars are discontinued and no longer available, but I believe I found that they were a reboxed Sachs part - so I can buy those at a deep discount from the (discontinued) GM price;
I have yet to find out who is the manufacturer of these rotors, so that I am able to buy the exact part in a non-GM box.
You are correct, at this time Rockauto IS cheaper than amazon, but I am willing to bet any cost savings will be eradicated by shipping;
I have a prime membership so shipping is free.
But, even Rockauto's lower price is still up over 50% from the last time I bought these rotors - and that's what I 'm trying to point out.
I just realized that the GM boxed struts for these cars are discontinued and no longer available, but I believe I found that they were a reboxed Sachs part - so I can buy those at a deep discount from the (discontinued) GM price;
I have yet to find out who is the manufacturer of these rotors, so that I am able to buy the exact part in a non-GM box.
Yes I feel your pain on that as a fellow canuck lol. I have free Amazon prime also but there are still times where Rock beats Amazon in prices even with free shipping. And yes the struts are rebadges sachs brand I bought mine through rockauto last year when I rebuilt my suspension for my 07 G5 gt and wanted to upgrade to stock SS/TC struts. KYB Excels are another good choice. What springs are you running? YYZ'S?
Yes I feel your pain on that as a fellow canuck lol. I have free Amazon prime also but there are still times where Rock beats Amazon in prices even with free shipping. And yes the struts are rebadges sachs brand I bought mine through rockauto last year when I rebuilt my suspension for my 07 G5 gt and wanted to upgrade to stock SS/TC struts. KYB Excels are another good choice. What springs are you running? YYZ'S?
I daily drive my car, so I am running the OEM struts and springs.
I was looking into the struts, not because mine are showing any signs of being worn out, but rather they are RUSTY - I just redid my front brakes, and was astonished at how rusty they were.
I may very well be the last guy on here still running stock, original, or OEM suspension and brake parts - I know the locals who had SS/TC's all went to cheaper aftermarket parts when redoing their brakes - and that was years ago, last I checked, all of those guys had either moved on, or had their SS/TC written off.
egads - this is bonkers - check out the rockauto shipping quote!!!
So much for Rockauto being cheaper!?!
Oh I know its brutal right now for parts regardless if you buy them from Canada or US. Even with that said I still prefer Rock over some of the other popular parts sites such as Amazon or ebay. But to your point getting anything from the states for us Canadians is going to cost us an arm and a leg lol
I daily drive my car, so I am running the OEM struts and springs.
I was looking into the struts, not because mine are showing any signs of being worn out, but rather they are RUSTY - I just redid my front brakes, and was astonished at how rusty they were.
I may very well be the last guy on here still running stock, original, or OEM suspension and brake parts - I know the locals who had SS/TC's all went to cheaper aftermarket parts when redoing their brakes - and that was years ago, last I checked, all of those guys had either moved on, or had their SS/TC written off.
Yes I agree on that running cheaper replacement parts either it be aftermarket or reg stock replacement parts is a mistake 100 percent. I've only wanted to replace brakes and suspension parts with oem/acdelco parts for that reason you mentioned. However I've owned my car since new when I bought it in 07 and when I decided I wanted to restore my car I wanted to replace all the worn oem parts with new oem parts but also wanted upgrade to high quality aftermarket parts like yyz springs made by Powell Racing and Bilstein shocks in the rear. I ended up replacing every single suspension component to ensure the car felt tight and new. Overall i'm super happy with the results because the performance is well beyond anything GM offered at the time. Another good option for brakes components is hawk pads and stoptech rotors. That's what I'm going with on my car.
I've been shopping for rotors & pads as well. I found a really good deal with r1 concepts drilled & slotted carbon geo-met rotors on Amazon. I got the fronts for $155 + tax/ rears for $122 + tax with free shipping. They also come with pads. R1 concepts even e-mailed me & asked me for my exact year make and model. I sent them that info & they immediately shipped them out. They even switch the optimum pads they came with to semi -metallic. I don't track the car. 2008 Cobalt SS 215,xxx miles/f.b.o. HP tuned. I do canyon carving though in Angeles Crest hwy CA & will chime back in with an update on them. on to tires
Just to be clear;
To date, I have had zero luck with aftermarket front rotors.
To further punctuate this, when I bought our sedan in the summer of 2020 the then owner touted that he just replaced all the brakes with (what I believe were) the same parts mentioned in the last post;
The car sat for over a year while I fixed it, and put it back to stock.
Part of that time is was parked on concrete parking pad beside our garage, and the other part of the time it was inside our garage being worked on.
When I licensed it this past spring, very quickly the rotors became warped;
I'd estimate that those rotors had a couple hundred to five hundred kilometres tops (125 to 310 miles);
When I pulled them off last month, you could see the warping on them - they were that bad.
I have found to this date that only the OE brakes offer the best balance of stopping distance, noise, and life.
The two downsides of the OE brakes are:
1) price
2) brake dust
I am trying the Delco Gold rotors on the black car right now, and I chose a semi metallic pad to go with them (the OE repackaged Brembo front pads are a semi-metallic).
So far (and a road trip that included a two-way windy mountain pass drive) with over two thousand kilometres on these parts, the rotors are doing fine - only the pads are noisy at very low speed stopping.
From day one, members here were touting the merits of aftermarket drilled and slotted rotors;
I don't buy it.
Last edited by soundjunky; 06-06-2022 at 11:53 AM.
I have and used in the past MaxBrakes as they're right here in Mississauga Ontario. Although they do have the rotors/pads for cheaper, they don't coat them (at least for the Cobalt) due to material shortages and what-not since 2020. Never had a set warp on me (although they do have surface rust because I ordered a set not coated).
I'd chalk those NAPA parts up with most of the other aftermarket stuff - but maybe the $180/ea price indicates it's better than most;
At nearly the cost of the OE Brembo reboxed rotors, I'd just buy OE and sleep better.
I'd chalk those NAPA parts up with most of the other aftermarket stuff - but maybe the $180/ea price indicates it's better than most;
At nearly the cost of the OE Brembo reboxed rotors, I'd just buy OE and sleep better.
I bought some oe brembo rotors and akebono pads a few months back along with ottp stainless brake lines. I'll let you guys know how the new setup feels after i get them installed.
I forgot to mention, I paid $300 CAD for front and back rotors and ceramic pads. Was using them on my GT for years prior to the SS/TC. Shipping might be $100, but it's still a good price. The coating is the only issue, but painting the hats would resolve most of that problem.
03-12-2022, 09:42 AM
