Figured I'd share a few more thoughts on brakes.
I had what felt like warped front rotors after 3.5 years of use on my Detroit Axel Slotted and Cross Drilled Rotors. Finally I took the time to look at them off the vehicle. What stood out was first the grooves then a few blueish hot spots. The Pads still had about 5mm remaining. The stopping power was still pretty good considering the pads age.
Had the rotor thickness measured deep in the grooves, and I was able to have them properly machined down just above the minimum acceptable material spec like 30mm (I actually don't like doing this, typically I just replace em) but I have other expensive maintenance items coming soon. My local O'Reilly just got a new brake lathe and I was invited back to check it out. The tech chucked one up, set up the cutters and we both checked out the warp, which was actually very minimal considering. We concluded it was the hot spots giving what felt like a warped rotor as it grabbed and un-grabbed on a high speed stops (the blue hot spots are very "slick"). So we did a fast light cut and the blue went away, a second deeper, slower cut and the rotor was final and looked great.
Two weeks out on the new front rotors and pads and they feel great again, time for the rears now.
My only complaint is the pedal feels soft, no I didn't bleed the fluid, just compressed the pistons back into the calipers. I'm assuming the soft feel is from the old hydraulic fluid which probably has absorbed some water, just can't imagine getting air bubbles in the lines from just pushing the pistons back in the calipes.
Well next weekend I'm getting to the rears, I found a great deal on a quality rear rotor and pad set. At this time I'll also do the brake fluid change using Forescan and a big bottle of DOT 4.
Will advise after all is done.
I had what felt like warped front rotors after 3.5 years of use on my Detroit Axel Slotted and Cross Drilled Rotors. Finally I took the time to look at them off the vehicle. What stood out was first the grooves then a few blueish hot spots. The Pads still had about 5mm remaining. The stopping power was still pretty good considering the pads age.
Had the rotor thickness measured deep in the grooves, and I was able to have them properly machined down just above the minimum acceptable material spec like 30mm (I actually don't like doing this, typically I just replace em) but I have other expensive maintenance items coming soon. My local O'Reilly just got a new brake lathe and I was invited back to check it out. The tech chucked one up, set up the cutters and we both checked out the warp, which was actually very minimal considering. We concluded it was the hot spots giving what felt like a warped rotor as it grabbed and un-grabbed on a high speed stops (the blue hot spots are very "slick"). So we did a fast light cut and the blue went away, a second deeper, slower cut and the rotor was final and looked great.
Two weeks out on the new front rotors and pads and they feel great again, time for the rears now.
My only complaint is the pedal feels soft, no I didn't bleed the fluid, just compressed the pistons back into the calipers. I'm assuming the soft feel is from the old hydraulic fluid which probably has absorbed some water, just can't imagine getting air bubbles in the lines from just pushing the pistons back in the calipes.
Well next weekend I'm getting to the rears, I found a great deal on a quality rear rotor and pad set. At this time I'll also do the brake fluid change using Forescan and a big bottle of DOT 4.
Will advise after all is done.