Civic brake rotor options

[1kickbuttranger]

Greetings,
I'm going to be doing a brake job on the GF's 02 Civic next weekend, and I went to an awesome little import auto parts store that we have locally.

I got the Akebono Pro Act pads and the hardware clips for a fairly good price. (based on suggestions here on BITOG)

As far as rotors go, (I prefer to get them locally) this store has Brembo rotors that are made in Italy for about $52 each.

I can also go to Oreilly and get their Brake Best Select rotors for $35 each which I assume are China, or they have Bosch Quietcast for $43 each (I have no clue where they are made or the quality of them)

Anyone have any advice? I don't have to much knowledge of imports and what brands are ok. Price isn't the biggest deal breaker, but I'm ok with having to eat top ramen for a week if I have to spend a couple extra bucks.

Other options can be Napa, Car Quest, AZ.

I just don't want any rotor warpage. Her current ones are smooth and they may be original.

The car is a just a daily driver, but she can be a bit hard on the brakes at times. I would say the driving she does is a bit harder than most due to the city conditions.

TIA.

 

[gregk24]

Centric Rotors from Amazon.

 

[Donald]

I feel money should be spent on pads and just get decent rotors. Have you considered just doing pads and re-use the rotors?

I do not think you need to spend $52 on a rotor? NAPA has decent rotors. You can find decent rotors for $35 I would think.

Tell GF to go easy on brakes for first 100 miles. Then to not brake like a crazy woman for the next 50,000 miles.

 

[spasm3]

I'll echo Donalds post. I use premium pads with good decent rotors. i've used advance, autozone brands etc and never had a problem. "rotor warping" is usually not the rotors, its the poor quality pads welding deposits onto the rotor surface, causing brake pedal pulsation.

 

[CharBaby]

+2 for reusing your existing rotors if at all possible!

But, I have used the exact Akebono Pro ACT W/ BREMBO rotors and, I must say that it was the best aftermarket combo I have ever used on a vehicle(Lexus in my sig)!

Other combo's have come close over the years(on said car) but, not quite in terms of brake smoothness AND bite along with longevity.

 

[1kickbuttranger]

Originally Posted By: Donald
I feel money should be spent on pads and just get decent rotors. Have you considered just doing pads and re-use the rotors?

I do not think you need to spend $52 on a rotor? NAPA has decent rotors. You can find decent rotors for $35 I would think.

Tell GF to go easy on brakes for first 100 miles. Then to not brake like a crazy woman for the next 50,000 miles.


Yeah right!!!

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
+2 for reusing your existing rotors if at all possible!

But, I have used the exact Akebono Pro ACT W/ BREMBO rotors and, I must say that it was the best aftermarket combo I have ever used on a vehicle(Lexus in my sig)!

Other combo's have come close over the years(on said car) but, not quite in terms of brake smoothness AND bite along with longevity.





She had someone put some 1 yr Napa pads on a few years ago and I'm not sure if they resurfaced the rotors or not, but odds are that they'll need replacing. The car may have had a brake job before as well. Not sure.

I do have a $15 off $75 coupon at Oreilly's, so the Bosch are tempting, I may go that route. I'll have to go and look at them.

 

[Donald]

Also we should tell (warn) that doing your GF's vehciles brakes may or may not be a wise move. You of course will get blamed for anything that goes wrong, even 10K miles from now. If a serious relationship then yes, if just dating probably no. If trying to get points, probably not.

Are you prepared to replace caliper? The piston might not go back in properly or you snap the bleeder screw.

A brake job can get costly quickly when calipers need to be replaced.

 

[1kickbuttranger]

Over 5 years with her, but yup, I do hate working on other peoples cars. I was very hesitant to do her transmission fluid change as it fireflies sometimes, but it's been a couple years and it is still chugging along. I dished out a ton of cash for her to get the HG done a few years ago- no way I was going to tackle that one.

 

[tommygunn]

Akebono pads with VGX Platinum rotors.

VGX Platinum aka Fremax are the only non-Chinese rotors that aren't expensive drilled [censored]. They are made in Brazil. Find your part number at vgxbrakes.com and/or search "autopartsource rotors 2002 civic" on eBay

 

[nthach]

Bosch rotors are made in China. If the OEM rotors have meat left, turn them - Honda makes them in-house at their engine foundry. Otherwise, I'd get the Brembo/Bradi rotors, I've had luck with both of them and I'm running Brembo blanks with Wagner ThermoQuiets. So far, so good.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: tommygunn
Akebono pads with VGX Platinum rotors.

VGX Platinum aka Fremax are the only non-Chinese rotors that aren't expensive drilled [censored]. They are made in Brazil. Find your part number at vgxbrakes.com and/or search "autopartsource rotors 2002 civic" on eBay

I think Beck/Arnley also gets their rotors from Fremax, but I am not entirely sure. Sometimes they come from the same company that built the OEM brakes on your car.

 

[tommygunn]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
I think Beck/Arnley also gets their rotors from Fremax, but I am not entirely sure. Sometimes they come from the same company that built the OEM brakes on your car.


One way to check this is to search for the B/A part number on eBay. Some listings include the country of origin; if it says BR or Brazil then it's a Fremax. The listings more likely to have that information are the ones that say "Disc Brake rotor [front or rear] BECK/ARNLEY [part number]" (with BECK/ARNLEY in caps)

I checked the 083-2252 and it is Chinese

However, more than 99% of all rotors are Chinese, including expensive premium names like Brembo.

B/A has gone way down in quality over the past few years, adding more and more cheap Chinese [censored] to their inventory. They used to almost always rebox the OE parts.

 

[camrydriver111]

I know China generally doesn't have great reputation for quality, but you can get quality things made in China as well, if you are willing to pay more for them.

I wouldn't focus too much on where it's made but the quality of the part.

 

[HangFire]

There are quantifiable ways to select quality brake parts.

Only purchase brake pads with a FSMI rating of FF or better, avoid cheap EE, EF, or FE pads. The rating is usually printed on the pad or the shrink-wrap, so even if the counter guy doesn't have a clue, you can look and see for yourself.

Only purchase rotors with a guarantee of .004" or less runout. Then, measure the runout on the vehicle, try indexing the mounting if possible to correct. Return for refund and buy better if it comes in over .004". A magnetic stand and a dial indicator cost about $30-$35, you don't need Starrett quality.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002YPHT76

Rock Auto gives runout specs on their better rotor brands. Unfortunately at the local auto parts store you'll get the deer-in-the-headlights look when you ask that question. Look at the manufacturer web site or give them a call.

 

[1kickbuttranger]

Thanks for the advice. Still haven't decided. I may end up getting the Bosch with my $15 off coupon.
I didn't know Honda made their rotors in house.

But man, those Italian Brembos sure are tempting. I do have to double check the part numbers, and yes ebay can be good when people post close up pics of boxes and labels, so you can see the coo.

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: 1kickbuttranger

But man, those Italian Brembos sure are tempting.


Have you looked at the boxes in person to see if they actually say they're made in Italy? There are lots of posts online saying many current Brembo rotors are made in China.

I bought some old stock Brembo rotors that turned out to be made in Italy, but judging by the boxes they were several years old.

 

[1kickbuttranger]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666


Have you looked at the boxes in person to see if they actually say they're made in Italy? There are lots of posts online saying many current Brembo rotors are made in China.

I bought some old stock Brembo rotors that turned out to be made in Italy, but judging by the boxes they were several years old.


She brought one up to the counter and it said it on the label-it took me a while to find it on the label though. She did have 2 in stock, but I didn't see the other one. She was going to open the box for me so I could see the rotor itself, but I told her it wasn't necessary.