[Z06] Stock replacement rotors???
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 280
Likes: 0
From: Howell Michigan
Stock replacement rotors???
What is the best choice. I only have 17,000 on my original stockers. I have turned them twice now because of warping and they are once again warped and no more stock to turn. What is the best replacement? Another set of stock ones or are there aftermarket slotted and drilled? Does anyone else have a issue with warping?
DROID
DROID
Pro
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 501
Likes: 0
From: Jordan MN
What is the best choice. I only have 17,000 on my original stockers. I have turned them twice now because of warping and they are once again warped and no more stock to turn. What is the best replacement? Another set of stock ones or are there aftermarket slotted and drilled? Does anyone else have a issue with warping?
DROID
DROID
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 280
Likes: 0
From: Howell Michigan
Pro
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 501
Likes: 0
From: Jordan MN
You can get them from TireRack. They are more expensive than the NAPA replacements ($77 ea. front, $44 ea. rear). I have not tried the NAPA rotors since the Brembo's work for my driving style and I would rather not find out the hard way.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,895
Likes: 84
From: Darien IL
It's pad material build-up rather than rotor warpage that gives pulsation in pedal. Turning rotors is old school and makes the situation worse by thinning the rotor.
Go to Stoptech website for a very good explanation by Carrol Smith about the Myth of brake rotor warpage.
I would replace the pads with a different brand than what you are using now. The pads are the problem.
As far as rotors go, you can get the cheap ones from NAPA or RockAuto.com for about $25 each. They are all the same and work fine for everything from street driving to racing. If you want bling, sky is the limit on what you can pay for rotors. Drilled, slotted, etc. don't perform any better than the plain flat ones, but if you like the looks, go for it.
Go to Stoptech website for a very good explanation by Carrol Smith about the Myth of brake rotor warpage.
I would replace the pads with a different brand than what you are using now. The pads are the problem.
As far as rotors go, you can get the cheap ones from NAPA or RockAuto.com for about $25 each. They are all the same and work fine for everything from street driving to racing. If you want bling, sky is the limit on what you can pay for rotors. Drilled, slotted, etc. don't perform any better than the plain flat ones, but if you like the looks, go for it.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,895
Likes: 84
From: Darien IL
The OEM GM rotors cost more and are not the same as the rest. They are made in Brazil, are dynamic balanced & blanchard ground. The "cheap" rotors have seen speeds up to 145 and braking down to 45 for turn 5 ar Road America and don't seem to suffer from surface finish or balance problems.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,094
Likes: 5
From: The 7th layer of hell - Western Washington
+1 on the more likely problem of pad buildup rather than actual warpage.
get the car up to ~80mph and dynomite the breaks down to about 20mph, get back up to speed then dynomite again, do it one more time than drive the car normal to give the brakes a chance to cool. this should remove the majority of pad buildup.
to keep from getting that buildup:
- learn to brake harder and for a shorter amount of time to keep the brake temps down and the buildup to a minimum
- get better pads that will be less likely to heat up, i.e. more aggressive or just generally higher quality
NAPA rotors and Hawk HP Plus pads seem to be perfect for my driving - but may be a bit aggressive for your driving habits...
get the car up to ~80mph and dynomite the breaks down to about 20mph, get back up to speed then dynomite again, do it one more time than drive the car normal to give the brakes a chance to cool. this should remove the majority of pad buildup.
to keep from getting that buildup:
- learn to brake harder and for a shorter amount of time to keep the brake temps down and the buildup to a minimum
- get better pads that will be less likely to heat up, i.e. more aggressive or just generally higher quality
NAPA rotors and Hawk HP Plus pads seem to be perfect for my driving - but may be a bit aggressive for your driving habits...
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 3,904
Likes: 29
From: Vancouver Washington
Somebody go out and buy a set of these new ATE rotors that Tire Rack is selling for $38 apiece and try them out. I want to know how well they work. ATE is a good company and makes a top notch brake fluid, hopefully these new rotors are as good. 
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From: Allentown PA & Elk Twp NJ HPDE Addict
Racer
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 385
Likes: 1
From: Chapel Hill North Carolina
If you like the look and feel of drilled rotors Italia makes a great set. Or if you want to keep stock either NAPA or RockAuto sells a set for $122.00 all 4 including shipping. I run the RockAuto PG at race events. Made in Canada.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 10,649
Likes: 32
From: Central Florida
It's been 20+ years and six Vettes ago since I had a rotor warp.
Why is that?
Because I learned the requirement to hand torque the lug nuts
(1) on delivery and then again
(2) anytime a wheel is remounted.
Most "warped rotor" are actually the result of improperly torqued lug nuts. Victim of wheel technicians with an air gun that "absolutely torques them dead-nuts everytime." Yeah right.
So that's the place to start. Retorque the lug nuts.
If that doesn't solve the problem then ridding build-up on the pads is the next step.
Ranger
Why is that?
Because I learned the requirement to hand torque the lug nuts
(1) on delivery and then again
(2) anytime a wheel is remounted.
Most "warped rotor" are actually the result of improperly torqued lug nuts. Victim of wheel technicians with an air gun that "absolutely torques them dead-nuts everytime." Yeah right.
So that's the place to start. Retorque the lug nuts.
If that doesn't solve the problem then ridding build-up on the pads is the next step.
Ranger
Racer
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 407
Likes: 0
From: Minneapolis Minnesota
There are only a few brake rotor foundries in existence (Steel Plants dedicated to rotors, drums, wheel cyl., steel calipers).
I used to work for Wagner Brake as a rep a few years back. We manufactured and machined rotors from casts in CNC cells at our St. Louis foundry (ONLY US FOUNDRY, at the time). These same rotors where sold to other large brake companies to box under their lables as well as marketing them under our brand. AND...even though we owned our own foundry, we did not make every rotor or drum we sold. We purchased low volume stuff from other sources, cheap off-shore people occassionally, but normally the O.E. manufacturer. Wagner is/was the largest supplier of aftermarket brakes in the world...but they did not even make their own friction material for ANY APPLICATION until the mid 90's when they purchased a canadian friction company.
Too many years have past for me to tell you who owns what friction (pad) manufacturer, foundry etc. But I can tell you for a fact you can pay doble or triple for the same product in a different box at different levels of distribution under different lables.
Research is the key to finding a prime manufacturer of any part.
If you want GREAT aftermarket pads for a daily driver...buy Raybestos.
I used to work for Wagner Brake as a rep a few years back. We manufactured and machined rotors from casts in CNC cells at our St. Louis foundry (ONLY US FOUNDRY, at the time). These same rotors where sold to other large brake companies to box under their lables as well as marketing them under our brand. AND...even though we owned our own foundry, we did not make every rotor or drum we sold. We purchased low volume stuff from other sources, cheap off-shore people occassionally, but normally the O.E. manufacturer. Wagner is/was the largest supplier of aftermarket brakes in the world...but they did not even make their own friction material for ANY APPLICATION until the mid 90's when they purchased a canadian friction company.
Too many years have past for me to tell you who owns what friction (pad) manufacturer, foundry etc. But I can tell you for a fact you can pay doble or triple for the same product in a different box at different levels of distribution under different lables.
Research is the key to finding a prime manufacturer of any part.
If you want GREAT aftermarket pads for a daily driver...buy Raybestos.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 2,786
Likes: 22
From: Cary NC
There are only a few brake rotor foundries in existence (Steel Plants dedicated to rotors, drums, wheel cyl., steel calipers).
I used to work for Wagner Brake as a rep a few years back. We manufactured and machined rotors from casts in CNC cells at our St. Louis foundry (ONLY US FOUNDRY, at the time). These same rotors where sold to other large brake companies to box under their lables as well as marketing them under our brand. AND...even though we owned our own foundry, we did not make every rotor or drum we sold. We purchased low volume stuff from other sources, cheap off-shore people occassionally, but normally the O.E. manufacturer. Wagner is/was the largest supplier of aftermarket brakes in the world...but they did not even make their own friction material for ANY APPLICATION until the mid 90's when they purchased a canadian friction company.
Too many years have past for me to tell you who owns what friction (pad) manufacturer, foundry etc. But I can tell you for a fact you can pay doble or triple for the same product in a different box at different levels of distribution under different lables.
Research is the key to finding a prime manufacturer of any part.
If you want GREAT aftermarket pads for a daily driver...buy Raybestos.
I used to work for Wagner Brake as a rep a few years back. We manufactured and machined rotors from casts in CNC cells at our St. Louis foundry (ONLY US FOUNDRY, at the time). These same rotors where sold to other large brake companies to box under their lables as well as marketing them under our brand. AND...even though we owned our own foundry, we did not make every rotor or drum we sold. We purchased low volume stuff from other sources, cheap off-shore people occassionally, but normally the O.E. manufacturer. Wagner is/was the largest supplier of aftermarket brakes in the world...but they did not even make their own friction material for ANY APPLICATION until the mid 90's when they purchased a canadian friction company.
Too many years have past for me to tell you who owns what friction (pad) manufacturer, foundry etc. But I can tell you for a fact you can pay doble or triple for the same product in a different box at different levels of distribution under different lables.
Research is the key to finding a prime manufacturer of any part.
If you want GREAT aftermarket pads for a daily driver...buy Raybestos.
The GM rotors that came on my Z06 were made in Brazil as UstaB-GS549 noted. They're pretty good quality. But why mail order rotors and pay shipping on a heavy part. Mine cracked on the track just like the NAPA ones do. Now if I was only street driving my car I would probably go for the bling with drilled/slotted rotors cause they look cool. Worthless on the track though... Slotted maybe ok depend on who cut them.
