rbaggett1

iTrader: (1)

At 16k miles my OEM pads was wore out really bad. So I went to my local and got EBC V4 Greenstuff Sport - Rear Brake Pads along with EBC V4 Greenstuff Sport - Front Brake Pads installed. They also charged me with turning and machining the rotors.

After 3 days of driving the car, I was experiencing some major vibrating\squealing whenever I was braking. So I took it back and they took another look at it. They said that a lip was forming on the rotor. So they did whatever they did and fixed my brakes. I believe they turned the rotors and machined them once again. So after about a week and a half of driving, I experience very little vibration from the brakes. Only a few times I would experience a squeal coming from the front but I didn't think too much of it.

This past weekend, I was going to TGI Friday's and was going to park. I went past the spot that I wanted, so I stepped on the brakes. Oh how the brakes sounded like they were grinding. So I pulled hard right and backed into the spot. All the time with a grinding noise. After we left the restaurant, no noise. So I sort of blew it off. But today during lunch I was at Blockbuster, I pulled a hard right into the parking lot and applied the brakes. Then the grinding started up again.

After leaving Blockbuster, I was heading towards a light and decided to step on the brakes pretty firmly to see if I could recreate the grinding noise going straight. Sure enough it did. It's coming from the front. Any recommendations on what this could be? Should I replace the rotors or did the mechanic just not do something write?

Thanks in advance.

King Tut

iTrader: (1)

I would say the mechanic did not do something right. You shouldn't have gotten a lip on the rotor after 3 days of driving. If they have resurfaced your rotors twice already, then there is a good chance that they have been over resurfaced and will need to be replaced.

rbaggett1

iTrader: (1)

Darn it! How long will it take to replace those?

King Tut

iTrader: (1)

Replacing rotors is easy. You just take off the wheel, take off the two caliper bolts, take off the caliper, and take off the rotor, and put on the new one, and reverse steps. If the rotor is a little rusty around the hub then it might need some rubber mallet persuasion. I think the caliper bolts are 22mm and they are on there pretty good. I could do all 4 in 30 minutes easy.

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

rbaggett1

Are you on stock rotors? If they are slotted or drilled, sometimes the make a groaning noise, but not really a grinding. If they are stock, then I'm not sure what is causing the noise (I'd really have to see/hear it). We typically don't recommend turning of rotors. Most of the time it isn't done properly, and it's usually more cost effective to just replace the rotors.

In all honesty, I would recommend a better pad, and possibly some new rotors at this point. We at StopTech are not big fans of the EBC stuff. You would be better served by a Hawk HPS, Axxis Ultimate, or Axxis Deluxe Plus.

I would recommend one of our stage kits if you want a good OEM replacement setup at a reasonable price. You can buy these kits from any of our authorized resellers, many of whom advertise on this board. Here are the kit specs.

Stage 1 Brake Kit
Stage 1 brake upgrade kit for 2003-2004 Nissan 350Z except Track Model. Includes front and rear Hawk HPS brake pads, front and rear StopTech SS brake lines, and three 500mL bottles of Motul RBF600 DOT 4 synthetic brake fluid. FITS STOCK CALIPERS.

$299.00 - Item No. 86-646-01410

Stage 2 Drilled Brake Kit
Stage 2 drilled brake upgrade kit for 2003-2004 Nissan 350Z except Track Model. Includes front and rear Hawk HPS brake pads, front and rear StopTech SS brake lines, three 500mL bottles of Motul RBF600 DOT 4 synthetic brake fluid, and pair of front and rear stock sized StopTech cross-drilled brake rotors. FITS STOCK CALIPERS.

$649.00 - Item No. 86-646-01415

Stage 2 Slotted Brake Kit
Stage 2 slotted brake upgrade kit for 2003-2004 Nissan 350Z except Track Model. Includes front and rear Hawk HPS brake pads, front and rear StopTech SS brake lines, three 500mL bottles of Motul RBF600 DOT 4 synthetic brake fluid, and pair of front and rear stock sized StopTech slotted brake rotors. FITS STOCK CALIPERS.

$649.00 - Item No. 86-646-01414

Finally, one of the keys to getting your system to work optimally is to perform proper bed-in of the parts. Here's a link that explains the process.

http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/bedincontents.htm

rbaggett1

iTrader: (1)

I currently have the stock rotors. I guess you can say that it sounds more like the pad is grabbing the rotor. It doesn't happen all the time, just from time to time. I'm wondering if the shop just machined them improperly.

J Ritt, why are you guys not too fond of EBS (aside from them being another company that sells pads)? If I known I would have had to replace the rotors as well, I would have most likely bought one of the stage 2 kits from you. What's better slotted or drilled?

J Ritt

iTrader: (4)

My guess is that you have uneven pad deposits on your rotors. This typically occurs if you take the pads outside of the temperature range they were designed to function in. The pad material then fuses onto the face of the rotor. Many times, it's impossible to remove. Here's one last ditch way to try and fix the problem.

http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/warpaway.htm

With stock calipers however, it's probably not very cost effective to buy race friction to perform this task. You're probably better off with new rotors.

We do not manufacture pads, so we don't have anything against any pad manufacturer in terms of competition, etc.
We are not fans of EBC, because we did not like their product when we tried it. We only sell products that we feel perform well enough to put our name behind it. We have not found EBC to be one of those products. That's the bottom line.

Please spend a little time reading our FAQ and our technical page. It addresses all of the issues you are experiencing, including drilled vs. slotting, pad choice, kit choice, fluid, lines, etc.

http://www.stoptech.com/faq/

rbaggett1

iTrader: (1)

Thank you very much for the information J Ritt. It's very informative.

You mentioned the whole overheating issue. I looked on EBC's temperature recommendations and the green stuff can handle up to effective to above 550°C/1022°F. The EBC red stuff is effective up to 750° Centigrade/1382° Fahrenheit. I'm sure brakes get pretty hot but I have no clue how hot they get on the Z.

I would have gotten your product if I would have known all this was going to happen. Do you happen to know how much the OEM pads temperature threshold is?

Thanks