for the money most will say you cant go wrong with the Hawks...I plan on trying out the racingbrake 500-700 series this summer.

 

I read this entire thread, and now I need to go poke myself in the eye to feel better.

I will be replacing pads on all four corners soon and plan only to inspect the parts. From what I can see rotors look fine but I'll look and feel very closely front and back when I get the old pads off. I may buy/borrow a mic and check the rotor thickness since I bought the car used and don't know if they've been turned previously, I highly doubt it. May check runout if I'm feeling very ****-retentive that day. If I feel it's necessary, I'll de-glaze with some emery, otherwise the new ones go on, bleed the lines, and off I go.

 

is it expected to have rotors last at least 2x longer than pads? the way people talk here you're damned if you do, damned if you don't change them everytime with pads. my rotors have 33k miles on them and i'm considering keeping them for one pad change. isn't this what they used to do in the "old" days? you know, when people changed their own oil in their own garage and did their own car maintenance? lol i guess it boils down to how much money you want to spend for peace of mind. i guess it can't hurt to change rotors on a performance vehicle.

 

Easy way to know is to just measure the thickness of the rotor with a micrometer

 

My rear rotors had only light scoring and the mech did a resurface so the new pads would seat well. He installed Akebonos I bought online at tirerack.
The mech is a tirerack recommended installer.
The fronts were replaced by the dealer under the 03-04 problem warranty, rotors and pads.
When they go again, will likely do the Akebonos at the front with new rotors.. probably cryos..this should do fine for replacing OEM.

 

just curious, why do you plan on bleeding the brakes?

 

is that an expensive tool or can it be borrowed from a parts store ?

 

A decent one can be purchased for less than $20 online, or they go up to thousands depending on how accurate you want them to read

 

Looks like it all depends on how ppl drive and brake

I get insane vibrations from my rotors when it gets close to changing my pads.

So I do turn my rotors every time.

Some of you might not drive as aggressively as I do so your case might be diff.

My OEM rotors I had to turn twice on same pads. Cuz they kept on overheating.

 

Finally got my oem brake pads from everythingg35 and installed them today. I didnt notice any pulses when I test drove it. So far so good.

 

Just had a set of rear rotors turned today on a 05 G35 Sedan. After 39,000 miles, and even with some DTV, the rotors measured at 0.615" AFTER resurfacing. 0.551" is the minimum thickness.

It appears that the OEM pads deliver very low rotor wear. I put a non-directional finish on the rotors (after resurfacing) and installed a new set of OE pads.

 

the fun thing is they will only be more prone to overheating every time you turn them.

 

It seems to be a common (and logical) argument in the aftermarket, but OEMs have not found that to be true based on their own testing.

 

OEM tests? Wow I'd like to see that. But IMHO, if you warp your oem rotors, turning them would only make them more prone. Less material, less mass to absorb/dissapate heat in a controlled manner = more prone to warp again.

 

Not sure, but many OEMs (Infiniti included) say in the service manual to resurface the rotor if the rotor exceeds the listed specifications for lateral runout and disc thickness variation. I'm sure Infiniti would love to sell us new rotors as it means more profits to them, but they do not.

In addition, Chrysler has said during their conference that the main cause of pedal pulsation is not rotor warp, but uneven wear. In their opinion, it takes a lot of heat (e.g. turning the rotors cherry red) to warp the rotors. Most disc thickness variation problems (leading to pedal pulsation) is caused by uneven wear due to the type of friction material and excessive runout caused by poor installation practices.