celicacobalt

took my car to the dealer again yesterday about my paint chipping and my brakes shuddering for the 2nd time in 4 months. they looked at my tires and said they were getting bald in the middle which is from excess speeds and my brakes turned blue or something which is from too much heat meaning that im driving the car too hard. they fixed my brakes this 1 last time by shaving them down but said they wont do it a 3rd time. well in my opinon i dont drive the car that hard on a daily basis and i think the brakes just arnt well suited to the car or they are defective. so now i guess when it starts happening again im gonna have to fully upgrade my brake system which will probably cost upwards of $500. on a side note they didnt even fix my paint on my trunk that was chipping they just touched it up and i can still tell the chip was there...

SoloSK71

Any paint issues where the paint is peeling (not chips but actually coming off the grey primer underneath) and the dealer should be repainting the entire part.

Bald in the middle is over inflation which *might* be possible from too high a speed for to long a time, but is more than likely from over inflation.

The blue color from overheating can also happen from slowing down suddenly after a prolonged high speed run (talking hour+ here) which can then cause the very hot rotor to warp. My Cavalier did this.

I do not know about the front but the rear brakes for sure are not suited to the car. 10" by 0.55" on this car is way too small. I went for a big brake kit front and rear right from the start to avoid this.

- Solo

DWK5150

Bald in the middle is from over inflation.

alleycat58

You guys beat me to it on the overinflation thing.

As for the brakes, it's mostly been mentioned...slowing too quickly, lots of hard braking, dragging the brakes for a very prolonged period, and setting the e-brake when your rotors are too hot can also cause warping.

celicacobalt

well, if i put on ebc brake pads, which ones should i get? im thinking the green pads for street use, but if im heating them up so bad then maybe the track red pads would be more suited to me? or is this not the pads fault and i would need to get slotted rotors? if i do both of those things im gonna just throw some stainless steel lines on there as well to finish it off.

celicacobalt

my tires were at 50 psi for a while since i was not aware that the psi stated on the tire was not correct, they are now at 30 psi

YoAdrian

That sucks.

iso

50 PSI DAMN.

as for the ebc pads... they are still in the process of being developed according to TTR and there is no eta on when they will be shipping.

codyss

Guys the brakes on this car are excellent, they are by no means to small for a car that weighs less than 3000lbs.

My 2003 Mustang GT had smaller brakes F/R, my LT1's had smaller brakes.

Improper lug nut torque warped my rotors, hell from the factory some were at 40ftlbs others at 110ftlbs.

I am not saying this about you directly celicacobalt but most brakes get burned up or warped due to really smart people going way to fast then hitting the brakes.

If you must go really fast leave enough room to slow down.

Tomtwtwtw

Does it really say 50 on the tires? I know on the inside of the driver's door it gives you the recommended pressure. 32, I believe it is, but I'm too tired and it's too hot outside for me to go check.

alleycat58

Yes, it is in fact 32psi.

bluedev1l

It probably says 50 PSI MAX on the tires.

Cobalt_Supercharged

Exactly.

If it was from high speeds, the tires would be pressed harder against the ground making them wear the outsides of the tire as it were under inflated. The SS S/C manual says to raise the PSI from 32 to 35 if driving for extended periods at 100+ mph.

Talk to Uneek about a set of cross drilled and slotted rotors and a set of pads. ExHondaMan bought a set and they have worn much better than the stock rotors.

Cooter

Here's some rotors for the 5x110 bolt pattern. He also has pads. Will not fit the ss.
Just look at the bottom of the page.
http://www.socalhhr.citymax.com/products.html

Cobalt_Supercharged

I don't see why GM would use different calipers for the HHR than the SS. They are the same platform.

celicacobalt

well, i have driven all of my other cars like this and never ran into this problem, on my celica i had TRD brake pads and stock rotors for a year and a half under the same driving conditions, so i think the stock brakes suck alot to have been giving me problems at 500 miles

codyss

I just think people confuse parts quality vs brake system quality.

The braking system is excellent and stops the SS/SC with ease and in very short distances. But the materials used in the manufacturing of the rotors could have been better.

As for the brake pads they are nice but seem to be way to hard.

celicacobalt

yeah i can agree with you on that so i guess new parts will be coming after these brakes are totally worn out, hopefully for about $500 i can get ebc pads, slotted rotors and ss brake lines all at once

alleycat58

What good would those do if they were 5x110 but didn't fit the SS???? Wouldn't they then be essentially useless on Cobalts since no other model has 5x110 except the SS's????

Fayzer

i spoke to a gentleman for a set of rotors and i want to say he quoted me like 250 for the works cross dilled, slotted, and cryo treated, plust the pads themselvs, but im not sure if it was a "deal" or not what yall think?

iso

i paid 300 for just all four rotors. they're powerslots and that doesn't include pads. imho, unless you're getting rotors that aren't post drilled it's not worth it to get drilled rotors. they crack easier, and you want see much of a benefit until really high speeds.

celicacobalt

i just want simple slotted rotors and perormance brake pads and ss lines

97cavie24ls

hhr's also got rear drum brakes , while the ss and ss/sc got rear disk

Shanman

or downshift right? sometimes i barely tap mine then go ahead to 3rd then so on

Boosted_SS

if you had read the whole thing it said 50 PSI max on the sidewall