front Brake Rotors

[macs Windstar]

I need to replace the pads & rotors on my wife's Windstar this weekend.

Looks like NAPA offers 2 different rotors. The cheaper one for ~ $50 each, other for about $95 each.

Has anyone had experience with the cheaper one?

The Ford dealer quoted me $380 for the whole job including rotors & pads & labor which leads me to believe the OEM rotors must be the $50 type.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Mike

[ModMech]

I paid about $135 for two new OE rotors and pads at my local Stealership last month.

OE are DEFINATELY higher quality than most aftermarket ones.

If the NAPA rotors are "United" brand, you should be ok, but I would NOT use anything else (United or OE, of those you mentioned).

[busboy4]

Originally Posted by ModMech

I paid about $135 for two new OE rotors and pads at my local Stealership last month.

OE are DEFINATELY higher quality than most aftermarket ones.

If the NAPA rotors are "United" brand, you should be ok, but I would NOT use anything else (United or OE, of those you mentioned).

I am running the cheap NAPA's with their ceramix pads with no problem. My local guy basically said that cheap is China and expensive is USA. With 100k plus on the vehicle I went with the cheaper.

On a related note: my neighbor imports drums and rotors by the container load from China. He markets them as "brand X" but also has license agreements where much of what he imports is sold/labled as Mopar OEM.
So the quality is either up, or Mopar's standard has gone down.

[road_rascal]

I paid about $85 for Raybestos PG Plus rotors for my '01 and they warped 30K later. I won't buy them again (yes, I broke in the pads and torqued the lugs properly). You can find good deals on OEM parts online. I had also heard that Autozone Duralast Gold brake parts are good (I have them on my '99 Taurus- only have about 2000 miles on the set).

[12Ounce]

Be careful of aftermarket rotors. I'm not saying don't use them ... just be careful.

I currently have about 160k miles on a set of aftermarkets from China. But it took "3 to make 2". One of the first pair I picked up from Advance Auto was so dimensionally incorrect, it locked up the brakes (new pads) when the wheel lugs were torqued. I got out the calipers and found about an .180" error between the mounting surface and the rotor friction surface. The third one from Advance Auto was OK>

[Paul Scanzillo]

I bought the "made in Venezuella" versions from NAPA for my '95 and I am not happy with them. They seem to be a softer composite, wearing quicker and warping easier. But, I've been using Autozone life-time pads which have (what I've been told) more metal in them to allow for longer wear. These might be the culprit...too hard a pad against too soft a rotor. I had the Venezuella pads turned after 5000 miles, replaced the life-time pads and about 2000 miles later, began to experience the pedal pulsating as if the rotors warped again. I've been driving them this way since...fed up with the whole thing. Another thought might be sticking calipers, putting too much pressure against one side of the rotor??

[wiswind]

I have Brembo slotted rotors that I got from www.tirerack.com.
They also have Brembo "OE" rotors without the slots.
I also bought Akebono "Pro Act" ceramic pads.
I have pictures, with the part numbers of the parts that I bought in the pictures that the link in my signature takes you to.

I would recommend the hardware kit and caliper grease as shown in my pictures. I got the Caliper Grease at Autozone, and the hardware kit from www.rockauto.com

NOTE: I did NOT follow the instructions to use the anti-squeal goop between the shim and the back of the brake pad. I had a job done at the dealer....and the person got carried away with the anti-squeal goo.... which ended up getting out onto the rotor surfaces and the lining material.
The result was that my brakes did not work near as well as I felt that I needed.
I decided to upgrade to a quality name slotted rotor.
When I took things apart.....I found that the goo was a major factor.
I am very happy with the performance of the brakes now.

Be careful to torque the lug nuts on those front disk brakes to the correct torque and in a "star" pattern.
Star pattern means, not going around in sequential order like the hands of a clock does....but to skip a bolt as you go around each time. With 5 lug nuts, you will end up doing it correctly.....make sure not to miss any.
A loose lug nut WILL cause your new rotors to warp. Uneven torqued lug nuts will also cause your new rotors to warp.
Once they are warped, time for new ones.
Also, a warped rotor can rub one of the pads on each rotation....causing that pad to wear down....while the others are fine.
I have been down that road...... from dealership being in a hurry.

Regarding rear drum brakes, I bought new drums from Napa for about $50 each. They were made in China. One was fine, the other seemed to be out of ballance. The car shook from 40mph up. Rotated the tires.....and such...... Finally took the new drums off, and put the old ones back on, and the problem was solved.
So I bought Bendix drums from Advance Auto Parts.
I also bought the Bendix Organic Shoes (which is OEM spec.) from the same place.

[garync1]

Wiswind I see its been a year or more on your Akebono "Pro Act" ceramic pads.
What do think about them so far.. I used satisfied pro ceramic and they went out in less than a year. The pads that were on it before going to Satisfied I think came from NAPA and lasted a good while and were not fully done,had a little life left but the Satisfied were gone almost to the metal. I just don't know which NAPA pad they were the dealer put them on before I took the van home. The stopping power from the satisfied pads were great a lot better than the NAPA pads. Right now I have the 39.00 pads from Advanced and they are ok to be honest. Just not sure how long they will hold up. Just would like your ideas on the Akebono Pro ACT ceramic pads. Thanks,Gary

[Jeckler]

I bought Duralast rotors and (Gold) pads from Autozone a few months ago for our '01. Had to get the hardware kit from NAPA, as it wasn't even offered at Advance or Autozone. Taking it all apart I found out what was making the rattling sound for the last 20k miles. 3 of the 4 clips on the passenger side were gone, and 2 of 4 on the driver's side, which also caused the pad to wedge itself in the caliper, bending the backing surface and scoring the rotor. They were warped anyway.
After reassembly I took it out and did 6 hard stops from 60 to 5, then drove around for 20 minutes without stopping to let them cool. They've been great ever since.

[wiswind]

I am very happy with the performance of the Akebono pads....they did a very nice job stopping and wearing.
I had decided to put off the calipers until the next brake job.....and they started intermittently sticking.
When I had a bunch of other work done on the vehicle, I had them go ahead and replace the calipers with "loaded" calipers....and install new rotors.