Brakes

[marksktr]

so im finishing up my research on brakes for my 91 camry and ive come to this.

Front -

PADS-

OEM replacements from pepboys or something of that matter

DISKS-

ROTORA slotted rotor frnt pair from sportcompactonly.com $128

http://sportcompactonly.com/Rotors/B...35889_pg-2.htm


Rear -

DRUMS-

ok so here is my main question, has anyone heard of the R1 concepts brake system company? i found them while searching, and saw that their rear brake drum systems were a little bit cheaper (with shipping) than bremo w/out ship.

R1 concepts rear premium brake drums/shoes $85 (w/out ship)

http://www.r1concepts.com/Brake%20Dr.../?sck=25431860

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let me know what you guys think about this setup .. im going to try and see if i can pull up anything else on "R1 concepts" in the meantime.

-mark

[marksktr]

so i did some research, and i wuickly found some fortonate information about R1 concepts.

seems as tho they are an ebay company they are of a high quality.

even theyre ebay feedback shows the quality with about 7k happy customers with 99.7% rating..

http://feedback.ebay.com/ebaymotors/...&iid=-1&de=off

I also found a few forum page.

http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?t=165245

The only negative thing i found from the reasearch was that the brake pads that the manufacture are a bit noisy, so steer clear from those.

But now im actually considering going with R1 concepts front and back...


anybody got any opinions?

[atobe]

wow i didn't know rotora makes rotors for our cars... kind of pricey though.... i rather go with brembo blanks... don't worry about the rear so much they don't do much anyways.... i don't mean to hijack the thread but has anyone heard of akebono street performance pads?
http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brake...ar=&perfCode=P
i'm thinking of getting those and brembo blanks for the fronts... rears i'll do later

[Tommy]

Definatly skip the slotted/drilled BS, expecially if you plan on using OEM replacements, thats just a dumb combo. Brembo blanks are great, go with those.

As far as pads - just get some ceramics, whatever has the least dust

[atobe]

http://www.r1concepts.com/Store/Tab.aspx?tabid=3 they have a website... looks like not too far for where i am

[fredk]

the white box napa rotors are plenty with ceramic pads, i go down a mountain at least once a day and have to eather miss a deer or just keep from flying down it and they dont warp or fade and it takes alot of foot pressure to lock up the wheels on pavement without ice and is easy to modulate when there is ice

[terrastrife]

agreed, your priorities are all wrong, youve picked poor pads with even worse rotors

if you dont know what to buy, just get the oem pads from toyota.

yes akebono are good.

do a fluid flush while youre at it if it hasnt been done in a while

[monito]

ok, i need a lil more skoolin in this area. i understand the basic idea behind slotted rotors, but what's the purpose of cross drilled rotors other than to make the rotors lighter?

[Tommy]

haha, they arent to make the rotors lighter at all. they are to help with heat disipation, more heat, less stopping power. trick is = you eat pads for breakfast.

Brembo blanks and some good pads will do you fine for a long time.

[car_boy_16]

The rotors are not that important as long as they will get the job done. That is pretty obvious. Slotted and/or drilled rotors need not apply for street applications. They may help in racing and with super car performance but with virtually all other applications all they do is provide problems and longevity concerns. Slotted pads are known to effectively eat brake pads by shaving off material every time the pads are pressed over the slots. Drilled rotors are known to overheat and crack (ironic since drilled "helps" fight overheating brakes) since there is less steel material for the heat to soak into, the avalaible material gets excessively hot which causes the metal to expand and contract at a high rate which in turn can cause cracking. This cracking of the rotor can make them feel warped, causing very noticable vibration and severely decreased brake performance.


Get some good DOT4 brake fluid, something with a high wet boiling point (dry boiling point references are less applicable for daily driven vehicles, but are used more for autoX cars and other race cars). Do not get DOT5 fluid, that's silicone based and will *ruin* your brake system if you put that fluid in there.

When you've got good fluid, then seriously research on brake pads. The high-friction brake pads might initially sound like a good idea but one thing they don't usually mention is the optimal operating temperature range. Racing pads are designed to have the highest friction coeffieient at relatively high temperatures, that usually means that they will not work all that well when your pads are colder. Most street cars use pads that grip well when cold. Get pads that will meet you in the middle, something that has good "bite" when they're cold and also something that has great bite when you get on the brakes and get them hot.

Brake fade sucks, but remember that most brake fade is from the brake fluid boiling, not from the pads themselves. The heat from the pad-to-rotor friction is send to the caliper piston which soaks into the fluid and causes the fluid to boil, or more technically correct, causes to them to "cativate" which would include air bubbles. Air bubbles in a hydraulic system, such as the brake system, are horrible because hydraulic fluids (such as brake fluid) are designed to have minimal compressive qualities. Air bubbles greatly reduce the pressure between the pads and the rotors, and without this adequate pressure you will not have good braking ability. This not only can be bad for performance, but this can cause you to crash. So, when I am trying to say is, get GOOD brake fluid with a relatively high "wet" boiling point.


Sorry for the rant.

[marksktr]

no, thankyou for the rant.

basiclly i was only looking at the drilled/slotted rotors for the "racing" look they provide, and for a little bit more "braking performance"

now that i see it really isnt worth "the look" in the long run i think ill go with some quality blanks.

thanks for your help everybody.

-mark

[monito]

Originally Posted by marksktr

no, thankyou for the rant.

basiclly i was only looking at the drilled/slotted rotors for the "racing" look they provide, and for a little bit more "braking performance"

now that i see it really isnt worth "the look" in the long run i think ill go with some quality blanks.

thanks for your help everybody.

-mark

+1 ^_^

[nogard]

Where do you get a decent DOT4 fluid?

Just to add to the rant. I thought the drilling of the rotors helped a little with the warping of the rotor. Also there is a small amount of gas created between the brake pad and the rotor. The drilled holes and slots help to disapate this gas build up. I think that is part of the reason lots of newer brake pads actually have a large slot cut down the middle of them.

[terrastrife]

Originally Posted by nogard

Where do you get a decent DOT4 fluid?

Just to add to the rant. I thought the drilling of the rotors helped a little with the warping of the rotor. Also there is a small amount of gas created between the brake pad and the rotor. The drilled holes and slots help to disapate this gas build up. I think that is part of the reason lots of newer brake pads actually have a large slot cut down the middle of them.

welcome to last century when asbestos was used in pads

even todays cheap and nasty pads dont glaze/gas.

[nogard]

Really I didn't realize that. Well I read that in an article out of a car magazine (forget which) a few years ago. Not to say that they weren't miss enforming readers.