Greetings and go easy on the new guy; did a search but couldn't find much on my issue.

My wife's G is burning up OEM rotors about every 15K which is BOGUS (we drive aggressively but sensibly). By my math I could drop $3K on an aftermarket Brembo Gran Turismo BBK with slotted rotors (no interest in drilled rotors' potential to crack) and maybe $$$$$ on some new wheels and tires and be dollars ahead over the life of the car, assuming that a dual-float caliper and a larger rotor diameter will compensate for the manufacturer's possibly under-engineered brakes.

My dealer (will be checking the regional forums for reputable independents) said that the Brembo is no better in terms of longevity but I'm thinking that he (a) wants to keep on selling me rotors (b) might not understand I want to go with a KIT.

I know an aftermarket kit will give me better performance and will look cooler; no more racing, happily married so neither matters. My question to those of you who have are rolling this system is, "ARE YOU GETTING LONGER ROTOR LIFE after switching to the Brembo aftermarket kit, or is there another aftermarket solution that offers the same (or better) performance and safety AND addresses the known rotor life issues?

TIA for any insights...

 

i don't think you need to get a BBK. just get some aftermarket replacement rotors and some hawk pads (or comparable) and that may solve the issue. can't say about longer rotor life, but maybe your calipers may be bad. 15000 and replacing rotors already, that's a lot of hard braking.

 

See my sticky on my Wilwood front BBK install. I experienced the same as you. I got tired of dropping $500+ every 15,000 mles to replace rotors and pads. The Arizona ZCar BBK was a great solution! No regrets here.

 

Are you burning up ALL FOUR ROTORS at the same time? Just the fronts? Just the backs? It may be an equalizing problem. I had that in a Ford F-150, went through 5 sets of front pads and NEVER changed the shoes in the back in 300K. (yes, that's three hundred THOUSAND miles) The front brakes did all the work.

 

Rotor life will depend upon both how the car is run and the Cf of the pad in use. You mention "burning up oem rotors" but say nothing about what pads you're running. You're not telling us the whole story. If they are oem pads then I'd say you are seeing premature wear, but a lot of city driving can sure push that up. If you're running some high zoot pad you read about maybe that's your root problem.

But in the end both pads and rotors are expendable items. Optimum braking performance without using something up is not going to be easy.

Adding the BBK can help but it's also going to depend upon pad choice. Anyone who tells you that you cannot damage a BBK is mistaken. The big benefit of the kit is increased efficiency with the larger rotor- more rotor does the same "work" with less "effort". You've added the leverage of a larger rotor which in turn requires less clamping. In the end; longer rotor life. (in theory)

 

Something is wrong if you're going through rotors in 15K miles, or somebody's lying to you. Have you put a micrometer on the rotor yourself to check the remaining thickness?

My own recommended replacement brake package is plain OE replacement rotors manufactured by Brembo and Hawk HPS pads, all available from Tire Rack for about 300 bucks, self-installed.

The BBKs might give some longer life, I don't know, but you have to factor in a higher replacement cost on those too when they wear out. I very much doubt you'd end up dollars ahead with this approach. But, you would have cool brakes.

 

The 2003 models do eat rotors very quick, I had to replace the front rotors every 30,000 miles and replace the pads every 15,000 miles. This is why I/we won the Infiniti Class action lawsuit! Infiniti paid me $2500 to settle the lawsuit, plus warranty all the rotor replacements up to 45,000 miles.

 

Cato,
Didn't the campaign cover 2004 sedans as well? I never had any problem with rotor consumption on my 04 6MT sedan. In any case, replacing the OEM pieces with the Brembo and Hawk pieces I suggested above would take care of the problem.

 

dont spend the extra $ on bbk if you dont need to. try getting some friendlier pads like hawk and replacing the brembo rotors with an aftermarket brand.

 

Hawk HPS pads, while easier on rotors and longer lasting, don't bite very well. But there are other options out there. Do some searching - this topic comes up daily.

 

+1 on the Hawk HPS pads.

Even with a big brake kit, I've been using this stuff called Squeak Relief after every brake job.

http://www.lubegard.com/automotive/b...eakrelief.html

It seems to make the rotor last a bit longer before you have to turn it. At least it is worth a try for $14 a can. It supposedly leaves a film of some kind of metallic material that somehow fuses into the rotor. I've been consistently getting ~4-6 months longer life on the rotors before it starts shaking.

With two piece rotors. I disassemble the rotor ring from the hat and spray the rotor ring only not to get this stuff on the hat.

 

Thanks all for the replies.

Just to re-state info I may have omitted:

I'm running OEM (Niss/Inf, not the Brembos on the Sport model) all the way around; not an issue with balance/distribution; rears are wearing predictably/consistently (matter of fact, wear trend on the rear pads is one of the factors that dealer service will consider when they consider whether or not to show you love if your rotors come in cooked. (even funnier, TexasScout, there's a 300K+ '89 F-150 (on its first drivetrain) parked next to my wife's G35).

I haven't put a micrometer to the rotors in past replacements, which were treated as warranty repairs. I did the research, found this forum, and learned of the '03/'04 G's tendency to cook rotors because I'm 60K in and waay out of warranty (my dealer feels it's time to put me into a new Infiniti LOL), but both the dealer service facilities we've used have seemed honest, ethical and willing to bill factory for a couple other past issues.

Not expecting to get 100K out of my rotors (like I do on my ungainly over-built F-150) but 15-17K seems, uh, weak, kind of stands out on a car that in virtually every other respect has been stellar, and violates the old axiom that rotors should last through 2 or 3 sets of pads.

Thanks, cato, for the rec on the Wilwood; will definitely look into that; I got great service out of one of their rear disc brake conversion kits on the Chevy Monza with the narrowed Camaro diff I wrenched on during my misspent youth.

Thanks again, keep it coming...

 

Before my Rotora 12pot 15" kit I ran the RacingBrake 13" 4-pot kit with Hawk HPS pads for a long time. There was still a lot of pad left and the rotors were in great shape.