Hello everyone,

I finally have my first corvette and I'm looking to upgrade my factory rotors and pads to something in the intermediate price range. I would to love to know what everyone else has done, positive and negative experiences. Here are a few qualifications;
1) I want to avoid poor quality rotors ie...no name imports
2) I don't want C5 or later because cannot change wheels at this time
3) Would like slotted rotors but don't necessarily need drilled.
4) I would like brake pads that are good for the street yet provide minimal dust

I have found these selections?

http://ssbrakes.com/i-10093777-rotor...-a2350005.html

https://www.vansteel.com/index.cfm?f...p=3112&ID=3582

https://www.vbandp.com/auto-parts/c4...de-detail.html

Thanks for your input.

 

Factory type rotors will work find for street use as well as for "spirited driving". Slotted rotors (or drilled for that matter) really don't do a lot for general street driving. I would look at AC Delco Professional Grade rotors, either the Raybestos "Advanced Technology" or Professional Grade rotors. Look at Rockauto for some good prices.

IMHO, price isn't the only factor when upgrading brakes. With some searching, you can find good quality brake parts at very reasonable costs.

For pads, Hawk HPS pads will work fine for your use. Carbotech makes a line of street pads that will work great too.

At the same time, I would recommend replacing the flex lines at the calipers and doind a complete brake fluid flush. Use a good quality DOT3 fluid such as Castrol LMA or even the Ford HD Motorsports fluid.

 

If you want a quality aftermarket pad take a look at the Carbotech 1521 pad. Low dust stops like OEM if not better and last longer. 100% non-corrosive dust will not harm your paint or wheels.
If interested let me know I will be happy to help you.

Carbotech™ Bobcat 1521™ The Carbotech Bobcat 1521™ is our high performance street compound that is our most successful compound. The Bobcat compound is known for its awesome release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. Like our AX™ & XP™ line of compounds, Bobcat 1521™ is a Ceramic based friction material offering minimal rotor damage and non-corrosive dust. Bobcat 1521™ offers outstanding performance, even when cold, low dusting and low noise with an excellent initial bite. This compound’s virtually perfect linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Bobcat 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 900°F. Bobcat 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle, police cruiser. The Bobcat 1521™ compound has been found to last two-three times longer than OE pads you can purchase at a dealership or national retailer. That’s one of the beauties of Carbotech Ceramic brake compounds. Bobcat 1521™ is NOT recommended for any track use.

F: $123 R: $113

 

First thing I would do is dump all the rubber hoses and get SS braided hoses.

 

I bought these for my 92 last year, they are "no name" and I autocross, track and drive my car very aggressively. No problems with them what so ever.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRONT-REAR-S...VV04o~&vxp=mtr

I just bought some Hawk pads for my truck, which uses C3 calipers and I paid $60 for the pads from someone on eBay.

 

Here they are... all new powerstop rotors, Dash 4 pads, factory calipers and stainless steel brake lines. Suspension is cleaned. I just have to bleed the brake lines and set her down. Can't wait for the next phase.







20161022_204246 by GFreeman2009, on Flickr

20161022_204636 by GFreeman2009, on Flickr

20161022_204522 by GFreeman2009, on Flickr

20161022_204406 by GFreeman2009, on Flickr

20160720_204201 by GFreeman2009, on Flickr

 

Never heard of dash4 before. I use ac delco rotors with hawk street pads and stainless lines. Love the hawk pads.

 

similar situation - i'll be doing a slight upgrade to the brakes on my 85 next year, and i'm looking at CENTRIC StopTech Sport; Slotted (only), front and rears. pads, not sure if I want to stay with ceramic, or switch to semi-metallic. rockauto seems to have a good selection to choose from, all with reasonable prices. I installed SS brakes line about 10 years ago - went with Goodrich - no issues to date. I bought a pad and (drilled and slotted) rotor kit from irotors back in 2006. no braking issues, but I did notice I have some minor cracking around a few of the drilled holes - so much for that feature. my son switched out the pads some time ago, and went with el-cheapo's from either advanced or the zone. it stops OK, but I wouldn't look forward to a panic stop. with the original ceramics from irotors my 85 seemed to stop very good. still shopping - looking at the best bang for the buck.

 

Don't waste the money on drilled slotted etc. you just don't need them on a cruiser or even spirited street car you will never get the brakes hot enough for the 'features' to be useful. The quality GM ones are fine and if yours in good shape just get them turned. I bought HPS and wish I didn't as just don't like them as they fix a problem that does not exist in my mind. Raybestos or top of the line GM pads are fine and need to fairly soft for low temp grip and low dust.99% of the upgraded parts are either for service your car will never see or not appropriate for a street car or makes no difference and sometimes worse. As far as brake lines go everyone loves braided steel usually because they switched to them from a spongy worn out stock line. I have never seen a comparison between new GM and braided steel and if any difference at probably impossible to measure.

 

Check out Brake Performance website, they have lifetime warranty rotor package and black friday deal till 11/27 Best package deal I've found after giant brake package search.

 

It just amazes me how many people spend $$$$ to slow down for an exit ramp. LOL

 

I agree with ddahlgren. Definitely stay away from drilled rotors, and there is no reason to spend money on slotted. In my experience, braided lines do make a difference even when compared to fairly new OE rubber lines. His point is well taken that there will be a bigger difference between braided and old worn out stock lines, but I've experience braided lines giving an improvement on a new car. Your option: your car won't actually stop faster, you'll just get a firmer pedal with a little better ability to modulate. Unless you're at least autocrossing, you're probably never going to miss braided lines. Also, as others have said you definitely don't need larger brakes than stock. Do flush your fluid and put in good, high-temp fluid. I use Motul 600. It's more expensive but it will never boil. The Castrol LMA is probably fine for your needs, and is easier to find at a local parts store.

On pads, I'd look for ceramic just for the less corrosive dust. The Carbotech 1521s are like that, but they aren't cheap. There are cheaper ceramic options. I put some Powerstop Z23 pads on the front of my Honda Odyssey a back in March and I am very pleased with them. I know what you're thinking, but that is a 4300lb van with woefully undersized brakes. I've been through four or five sets of rotors because they overheat and warp or the pads would leave deposits, and the previous pads I tried would overheat and lose some friction. The Z23 pads (on Centric cryo-treated rotors, btw) are the first brakes I've had on this thing that work well and don't cause pulsating. They would be ideal for a street-driven C4, even if you want to bomb some canyon roads. And they are quiet and pretty clean. And cheap. I may even get a set for my autocross setup on my C4.

 

What in the world is wrong with GM pads for a daily driver? I looked online and AC Delco pads for all 4 corners is 105 plus shipping. I find it very hard to believe GM makes pads for a Corvette that make the stopping power less than impressive at least for a '91 car.

 

Nothing that I know of. I am guessing they are actually PBR pads? Anyway, the reason I suggested ceramic is that they can have a wider temperature range than OE semi-metallic like the GM pads, and their dust is not prone to oxidizing on the wheel. The former is just insurance against overheating on, say, a spirited drive on a windy road (because the OP didn't give a ton of detail about his actual driving habits). The latter just makes it easier to keep the wheels and paint clean. And I think the pads I suggested can be had cheaper than $105 for all four corners.

 

If the have to be bedded in and all that crap I am not a player at any price. Around here there are to country roads you can play with for more than a mile or two before hitting houses and people of others on the road. Even more if the spirited riving is seeing God at the entrance of every turn might want to rethink what you are doing.

 

I don't follow this. All pads and rotors should be bedded in. It takes one short drive that employs a series of stops and a cool-off period.

 

Love the posts everyone. My goal was to just upgrade from stock. I bought the car with what appears to be at least 5 / 7 year old rotors and pads. As well as 30yrd old rubber brake lines. I compared lots of vendors and found these as a package at Corvette Central.
I have lots of work to complete before she is on the road. But I intend to bed in the pads before a long cruise. I'm learning a lot as opposed to just buying a vette and driving right away.

 

Hi

Sure looks good, nice and clean

You will love the brake upgrade, slotted brakes have a use on the street. You can wash your car hose the brakes and will brake hard instantly, no need to apply the brakes to dry them not to mention driving in the rain.

I went to J55 13'' front brakes on my 85 for added stopping power on track days, I got the drilled slotted rotors cause they were quite cheap and look good.

The only down side is the pedal feel on high speed hard brake applications they get a little noisy due to the slots, on normal road use you wont notice.

My drilled slotted rotors are still going strong, no warping or anything
some wear but that is to be expected with the very high friction hawk h/p brake pads. A few hard laps and it will look like I have black wheels not chrome, love my brakes they need minimal effort to stop from very high speed time and time again.