Need advice on brake rotors

[RottsRoc]

I have a 2008 Tahoe that has a front end shimmy in steering wheel and pedal when braking on hills. Around town and on level freeway no issues. I'm looking to replace the rotors and pads (only 65k). Looking at OEM rotor and pads versus Bosch rotor and pads. I'm leaning toward the Bosch. Anyone have any opinions on either or??
thanks

 

[Brian Wilson]

Brakes are important. Go performance if you have the cash and can deal with the few downsides to performance brakes. Or, go oem.

 

[kbuskill]

I bought drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic pads for all 4 corners but haven't been home to install them yet.

I would check all your front end parts for play, it could be a suspension issue.

 

[Meccanoble]

I have changed my brakes and using the heaviest duty rotors sold at your local Pep boys or Autozone or Advanced Autoparts, the carbon based ones. I have barely put 10k miles on them but they work well and I have done the same with other high performance cars. The brakes on the TAhoe look super small to begin with and warping is common on heavier cars/trucks so i definitely recommend the beefiest rotors you can get.

Two most important things these cars needs is good braking and handling.

 

[jyi786]

I replaced the brakes on my 2012 Yukon Denali XL last week with the following:

Pads:
Akebono ASP-1363 front
Akebono ASP-1194 rears
https://www.tirerack.com/brakes/bra...+XL+Denali+1500&autoYear=2012&autoModClar=AWD

Rotors:
Centric Plain 120 Cryo Treated rotors (front)
https://www.tirerack.com/brakes/bra...+XL+Denali+1500&autoYear=2012&autoModClar=AWD

Centric Plain rotors (rear only)
https://www.tirerack.com/brakes/bra...+XL+Denali+1500&autoYear=2012&autoModClar=AWD

The braking is now awesome, smooth, and completely linear. Stops on a dime too.

 

[Kenny D]

Sorry for the hijack, but I figure I'd ask here instead of cluttering up the subforum. What procedure do you guys use to spread the calipers open to reinstall the new pads? I've always just used a C-Clamp but I heard that can mess with the ABS pump.

 

[kbuskill]

Sorry for the hijack, but I figure I'd ask here instead of cluttering up the subforum. What procedure do you guys use to spread the calipers open to reinstall the new pads? I've always just used a C-Clamp but I heard that can mess with the ABS pump.

C-clamp... Big channel lock pliers... The proper tool... My hands.... Just go slow, kinda like your first time, it will be fine.... Lol

 

[Snacky]

I was just coming on here to ask about my wobble while braking at low speeds and braking to a stop, and ask if I need new rotors. I had them shaved a while back and that fixed it for a while but the wobble is back again. I guess it's time for new ones. I don't think I want drilled/slotted.

I guess it's time to do a little homework on rotors... I'll be keeping an eye on this thread too.

Is the warping on just the fronts usually, or front and rear?

 

[Brian Wilson]

I have a huge post on brakes somewhere in this forum. But the general answer would be, even bad breaks can be good with a proper break in and great breaks will be awful with a bad break in. I have used 3k dollar brake kits and the eBay specials. Nothing g but positive reviews. As long as you break them in correctly. More important than rotors are the pads you use. Cheap pads will kill you

 

[Snacky]

Thanks Brian. I had no idea that there was a break-in procedure needed. I just googled it and found some good info.

I might just be lazy and copycat the setup that jyi786 did... or something similar

 

[jyi786]

Thanks Brian. I had no idea that there was a break-in procedure needed. I just googled it and found some good info.

I might just be lazy and copycat the setup that jyi786 did... or something similar

Do it, you won't be disappointed.

Regarding the break-in, I've found it to be generally true. For me, as soon as I finish the brake job, I do some really light driving, stop and go, for about 5 minutes, to make sure the brakes are not malfunctioning and will hold. Nothing too drastic. Once I'm confident there are no issues, I do the next step:

As soon as I find open clear road, I take it up to 60MPH, then stomp on the brakes to bring it to *almost* a full stop. So like from 60MPH down to 10MPH. I do this multiple times, till I can at the very least smell burning brake material (the pads). It is critical that you not stop all the way because you want the pad material to transfer into the rotor, but not "bake" into one section of the rotor, which will end up causing wobble.

I then drive around slowly, under 30MPH, till I get home, and when I do, I park the vehicle on a safe level place (the top of my driveway) WITHOUT APPLYING THE PARKING BRAKE. The reason for this is the same as above; don't want the pad material baking into one section of the rotor. Then I let it cool down completely. Once done, I take it for a spin, and then park as usual.

Doing this procedure has never failed me with all the times I've done a complete pad/rotor overhaul of ALL my vehicles. I always end up with nice, smooth braking for a really, really long time (50K miles +). Of course, this is just my procedure, others may have other procedures that work for them or that they prefer.

 

[kbuskill]

Do it, you won't be disappointed.

Regarding the break-in, I've found it to be generally true. For me, as soon as I finish the brake job, I do some really light driving, stop and go, for about 5 minutes, to make sure the brakes are not malfunctioning and will hold. Nothing too drastic. Once I'm confident there are no issues, I do the next step:

As soon as I find open clear road, I take it up to 60MPH, then stomp on the brakes to bring it to *almost* a full stop. So like from 60MPH down to 10MPH. I do this multiple times, till I can at the very least smell burning brake material (the pads). It is critical that you not stop all the way because you want the pad material to transfer into the rotor, but not "bake" into one section of the rotor, which will end up causing wobble.

I then drive around slowly, under 30MPH, till I get home, and when I do, I park the vehicle on a safe level place (the top of my driveway) WITHOUT APPLYING THE PARKING BRAKE. The reason for this is the same as above; don't want the pad material baking into one section of the rotor. Then I let it cool down completely. Once done, I take it for a spin, and then park as usual.

Doing this procedure has never failed me with all the times I've done a complete pad/rotor overhaul of ALL my vehicles. I always end up with nice, smooth braking for a really, really long time (50K miles +). Of course, this is just my procedure, others may have other procedures that work for them or that they prefer.

Just a note... You can set the parking brake and it won't make any difference.... Our rear rotors have a small set of shoes inside the hat of the rotor, kinda like a drum brake, that is your parking brake so your new pads wouldn't be in contact with the rotor while cooling down.... Just FYI

 

[jyi786]

Just a note... You can set the parking brake and it won't make any difference.... Our rear rotors have a small set of shoes inside the hat of the rotor, kinda like a drum brake, that is your parking brake so your new pads wouldn't be in contact with the rotor while cooling down.... Just FYI

No, I actually already know this. The design is called a drum-in-hat. I just didn't set the parking brake because I was being extremely picky about it, knowing that the rotor was super hot, so I didn't want any brake material from either the pads or the drum shoes touching the rotor. It was just me, that's all.

 

[kbuskill]

No, I actually already know this. The design is called a drum-in-hat. I just didn't set the parking brake because I was being extremely picky about it, knowing that the rotor was super hot, so I didn't want any brake material from either the pads or the drum shoes touching the rotor. It was just me, that's all.

I figured that if you did the brake job yourself then you already knew this but others may not so I just thought I would throw it out there to clarify.

 

[01Konvict]

Good break in process I do similar and results are very good. I ran powerslot slotted rotors with hawk LTS pads on old Yukon and plan to do the same on this when needing upgrades.

 

[TahoeTX]

I had the same issue on my 09 and replaced the rotors with OEM but upgraded the pads to EBC Green Stuff SUV and it made a world of difference in braking and these pads last a long time. I'm sure a better rotor would help too but the performance is mostly in the pad.

 

[NYrr496]

I haven't been on this site in quite some time but I recently replaced all four brakes on my 09 Suburban with Bosch stuff and the parts were WAY nicer than Auto Zone's Gold or whatever they call their good line of parts. Just in case you're wondering if the Bosch stuff is good. It is.

 

[RED TAHOE LS]

Sorry for the hijack, but I figure I'd ask here instead of cluttering up the subforum. What procedure do you guys use to spread the calipers open to reinstall the new pads? I've always just used a C-Clamp but I heard that can mess with the ABS pump.

I always use a small pry bar and put it behind the center of outer pad to move the caliper before removing, no c clamp needed. JHMO, good luck.
David g..........