Brake Buying advice

[ladorn45]

Hey Guys,

So I finally bought a house with a garage. So now I can do more work on my car rather then take it to a mechanic. I noticed my rear brakes making the grinding noise so it is time for new breaks possibly new rotors as well. My question here is it worth spending a little extra on better rotors like brands powerstop or will anything from autozone or pepboys be enough. I am willing to spend the extra money on better parts if it is worth it. Any advice would be appreciated. Also if anyone has recommendations of pads and rotors that would be awesome as well. As always thank you for all your help guys. 2001 tahoe with stock 16s

 

[HiHoeSilver]

Hey Guys,

So I finally bought a house with a garage. So now I can do more work on my car rather then take it to a mechanic. I noticed my rear brakes making the grinding noise so it is time for new breaks possibly new rotors as well. My question here is it worth spending a little extra on better rotors like brands powerstop or will anything from autozone or pepboys be enough. I am willing to spend the extra money on better parts if it is worth it. Any advice would be appreciated. Also if anyone has recommendations of pads and rotors that would be awesome as well. As always thank you for all your help guys. 2001 tahoe with stock 16s

If you had 17" or bigger wheels, you can bolt on the fronts from the NNBS with a 13" rotor and two poison caliper. As for the rears, yours are already better than the NNBS, so stick with stock sizes for those.

Powerstop gets mostly good reviews here. There are a couple threads complaining about them. Another popular brand is R1 Concepts. Usually the argument for upgrading rotors is to avoid the "warping" issues of the cheaper ones. It's not really warping, and there are many discussions on here regarding that as well. Some guys swear by the high end NAPAs. Whichever route you go, the bedding process is key to longevity.

 

[ladorn45]

Thanks I was reading about the NNBS upgrade but going to hold off on those until i need new tires and end up getting bigger rims. For now I just wanted to see what people are suggesting for stock setup.

 

[Scottydoggs]

i run nothing but R1 eline drilled and slotted with their ceramic scorched pads. put em on the hoe and they stop way better then when new. been running them for like 5-6 years on my regal too. best brand i ever used. best part is they only cost ya about 200 shipped on their ebay store for all 4 corner's, they sell full kits, or fronts or rears. best to do all 4 cause theres a break in for them, id hate to do it to old pads cause you only did one axle.

just put a set on my friends 300c. hes like i need to watch i dont take my teeth out on the steering wheel. so made another fan of them for sure lol

 

[ladorn45]

I am most likely going to swap out all four rotors and pads, and hopefully the calipers are still good. Do you have the link to the r1 concepts?

 

[HiHoeSilver]

I am most likely going to swap out all four rotors and pads, and hopefully the calipers are still good. Do you have the link to the r1 concepts?

If you're doing a full stock kit, their eBay store is good. I just called them to build my Frankenstein kit and sales on the phone was outstanding.

 

[Scottydoggs]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-2000-C...h=item5b1c9fc748:g:0DcAAOSwB3BaJfrO:rk:9:pf:0 this looks to be just the rotors, but if you look around harder than i did real fas you'll find a kit. or just buy the pads as well if you dont find the full pad and rotor kit. pads are silly cheap from them when the time comes too.

 

[ladorn45]

Thanks. I saw that link but they where so much cheaper then the companies site that I thought those might be the knock offs. Once again thanks for all your advice

 

[adriver]

IMO compare prices/options on rockauto.com (which will probably have the most options in one place), r1 concepts, and autozone/ whatever your local parts store you like to use. I would bet rockauto or r1 concepts is probably cheaper, (at least before you add in shipping costs). Rockauto is a vendor, and usually posts a discount code in there forum for 5% off.

You have to consider how you drive for what you want to upgrade too. Blanks have slightly more surface area and are best for "country style driving", where you're not on the brakes often, and its more important to have that one, slam-on-the-brakes stop such as when an animal jumps in front of you where those several feet could make a big difference. For most people they drive city-style: stop and go traffic, rush hour where you try be a little more "on top of it", lots of quick brakes without giving your brakes plenty of time to cool off every time. If this is how you drive, slotted keeps more rotor surface while allowing heat to escape through the slots, or drilled rotors allow heat and gasses to dissipate through the holes into the vented center of the rotor to help stay cooler. Cooler brake rotors and pads won't fade (as quick) or even worse, get cracked pads or warped rotors (like my stocks did). The Tahoe is a heavy vehicle, and if you drive even "semi-aggressive with stop and go traffic", you probably do want to upgrade to better suit your driving style.

Just cause I like to hear my self talk, while were at it, make sure your fluid is good or plan on changing that too if it hasn't been done in a couple years. You can take a quick look... it started out clear. Last, not a big deal if you don't, but its not much more to do your parking brake while you are in there. If its not holding well, its only the difference in having the rotor off as long as you're there. Its just something else to throw at you for you to consider to be prepared.

 

[SnowDrifter]

I'm using the napa epoxy coated rotors and akebono ceramic pads on mine. Hydroboost brakes.

NNBS front rotors/calipers, though these only just clear 17" wheels.

Can do 5-6 stops from freeway speed without fade. Or 1 from full speed on a slight down hill (fades slightly right before the stop). They're pretty heat soaked after that.

Plenty enough for daily driving. But it would leave a lot to be desired for track or high HP use.


I can't comment too much on longevity. Only have 25k on my set