Plugs and brakes...ugh

Greetings everyone. I have an 02 Intrigue with the 3.5L. I made the mistake of replacing the factory plugs with Bosch Platinums, and now need to do them again. I have read the threads about using AC or NKG plugs and will pick them up this weekend. But with 93k on the car, should I do the boots too? If so, any tips on picking those out at the parts store (probably Autozone or Napa)?

Which brings me to my never ending problem with brakes. I drive fairly aggressively (as aggressively as you can in an Intrigue). My rotors warp in no time whatsoever. I need to buy new rotors and pads and am looking for a reliable source for good rotors that will hold up better. Napa? Autozone? Brembo online? What about the 12" rotor conversion I remember seeing on here at one time?

I am hoping that littlehoov replies, since he was so helpful for me with my wheelhub change. Any other replies/suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Youre welcome to try the auto parts stores, but I would almost guarantee they are a dealer only part.

Part # for the boots is 12165490. They are 2.71 a piece from GMPD, with 10.95 S&H for just 1 of them for me. GEEZ.

As for the brakes yes you can go to 12" rotors pretty easily.
http://clubgp.com/cgi-asp/mods.asp?modid=3
That write up shows the gist of it, I do not know if those part #s are still current, but with a little looking around they should be easy to find.

I warped a set of 12 inch rotors as well, but they were thinner than stock, because I got them at the junkyard and had them turned. Ive got a set of lifetime warranty rotors on now and havent had any problems so far. If you got some performance rotors you would probably do even better. I would recommend slotted rotors for a street application. Avoid the cheapy drilled rotors.

You can also upgrade to twin-piston calipers from an F-body if you so choose. You once again need the caliper brackets from any 98-02 F-body, and you will have to have the holes drilled out to a larger size, the exact size escapes me, but once again with some googling you should find the information. Or if you want I can look around. You would also need the calipers from an F-body as well, and you can still use 12 inch rotors.

I cannot guarantee the F-body calipers will fit inside stock wheels, Ive never known of anyone that has done so successfully, but I dont know of anyone that has tried either. I do know that the basic 12" rotors using stock calipers will fit stock wheels regardless of which style they are. There are only 2 styles of wheels, one is the style that the Autobahn Intrigues came with anyway, the other is the style I have and mine fit fine.

Your spare tire will no longer fit on the front if you do either of these. I currently have a spare tire from a Firebird tucked in my trunk. It will still fit inside the hole, but the cover does not fit as flush as it used too.

Any questions post back here, or PM me.

I'm with you on the damn rotors warping. Mine had 10k miles on them and were already feeling warped. Now with 25k miles on the rotors, they feel horrible. If they are too worn to pass inspection, I'm going to try Brembo's and see if they help prevent warping. I wonder if the ceramic pads have something to do with the rotors warping so early?

I'm with you on the damn rotors warping. Mine had 10k miles on them and were already feeling warped. Now with 25k miles on the rotors, they feel horrible. If they are too worn to pass inspection, I'm going to try Brembo's and see if they help prevent warping. I wonder if the ceramic pads have something to do with the rotors warping so early?


Do you have 11 or 12 inch rotors? If you have 11 inch rotors, then they will almost always warp no matter what. 11 inch rotors are undersized for a car this large.

There are many, many factors influencing rotor warpage. A big one is lug nut torque, and the evenness of your torquing. They need to be tightened to the proper spec, and as evenly as possible. Rotor quality is also important.

In all reality, even the 12 inch rotors arent exactly super, but theyre better than the 11's. My advice would be to invest in a set of lifetime warranty rotors. I got a set of Wagner rotors from O'reilly that have a lifetime warranty that even covers warpage. So if mine warp, I can just take them up there and get a new set.

I'll check around for the lifetime rotors. Sounds like it is worth the extra cash spent, as they are super easy to change. I would think that drilled ones would have a lower chance of warping, but only if they are drilled right. I see Brembo ones that are drilled on ebay and was considering those, but I think a more local source would be a better idea. And I'll stick with the ceramic pads unless someone has a better suggestion. I think the 12" conversion is out of my comfort range, especially if the spare won't fit. It also sounds like if I make those mods, I am stuck with them (drilling bigger holes).

I'll also check on the plug boots at the former Olds dealer down the street. Otherwise the online source will have to do. And if I decide to actually do them, I am going to do all six and not worry about them for another 90k (god forbid I have it that long).

Thanks for the pointers, and wish me luck! Too bad you don't live in the Twin Cities littlehoov.

Cheap drilled rotors are simply regular rotors with holes drilled in them. Duh right? Well think of this, when you take a solid object and drill it full of holes, it will become weaker correct? This often happens with cheap rotors, they become cracked and weak. You also give up a lot of braking surface area when you go to drilled rotors. There is always a fair amount of area that your brake pad is not touching. Think about the brake pad covering the rotor, how many holes does it go over? Quite a few, and if you add them all together thats a fair amount of surface area lost, especially when you think about how small the brake pads are to begin with. The expensive drilled rotors have the holes cast into them instead of drilled, so the strength is much higher, but so is the price. Companies like Brembo and Baer are an example.

If you go to simply the 12 inch rotors you wont have to make any changes that cant be undone. You could keep the stock caliper brackets and rotors and go back to them any time you chose.

The F-body calipers would be the same way, you arent drilling anything on your car, you have to drill out the F-body caliper brackets to make them bigger to accomodate the bolts your car uses. Another benefit of the F-body mod is that the brake used with the twin-piston caliper are about twice the size of those used with the single piston.

Any of the brake mods can be undone anytime you choose, as long as you keep your old stuff on hand. The basic 12 inch rotors still use your original calipers and pads.

It does suck that the spare doesnt fit, I got one from the junkyard, new spares are ridiculously expensive. The only other solution would be if you did have a flat on the front, would be to move a rear tire up to the front and put your spare on the back, which is more preferable anyway, but it would take a fair amount of time....not too mention the cursing involved haha.

If you get some used parts, with the exception of the rotors I would say, then the modding can be done pretty cheap. If you buy them new, things get expensive though.