Hi folks. I have a 2001 Buick Park Ave Ultra. She has the 3800 Supercharged motor. Love that luxury and passing power combination.
At 35k I feel hi-spots or slight warping in the front rotors durring braking. I've never done a brake job on this type of vehicle.
Are the rotors the slip on type as in removing the caliper and just slipping them off? Or do they contain the cup & cone bearings?
Any info on them or the rears offered would be great.

Thanks, BudMan

2001 White Diamond Park Avenue Ultra

When I replaced my rotors on my GTP with slotted rotors, the rotors pretty much slipped off. But you have to remove the caliper brackets. I bought an impact wrench to do it, because the bolts were so damn tight. But if you turn the wheel, you can use a breaker bar. Then just tap the rotor with a mallot, and it will slip right off.

Exellent! I was afraid I had to do the greasy bearing packing and new seals thing.

Thanks, Budman

Nope very easy biggest pain is the damn caliper bracket. Have fun

Talk to me about pads. No dust or rotor damage is what I'm looking for. OE perhaps?

Actually,I would click on the above GP Store link and look at the PowerSlot rotors. They look cool, and I believe they are cheaper than OEM Rotors from the dealer. It even solved the WetBraking problem that many GTPs suffered from. Besides, I've heard stories about the OEM Rotors being "thinner" than aftermarkets, and warping all the time.

As for pads, I've run all sorts of pads. Stay away from Raybestos pads, as I've found those to put out the most dust than any other pad. The Wagner pads that I've gotten from Baxters are pretty good as far as dust and all around performance is concerned. I was going for improved braking, so I got the Carbon Metallic pads from the GP Store. However, those brakes definately squeek more, and need to be warmed up for maximum performance.



bryan

Thanks Folks

ive always has excellent results with performance friction carbon metallic pads on any car Ive put them on.

GM has performance pads and rotors also but I havent used them.. yet.

Jeff

Use GM original equipment pads only! They should cost you about $70 or so from the dealer, and will come with new hardware. OE pads also come with any design updates that there may be with the pads, so you're probably getting a better product than you took off. Aftermarket pads squeak, warp rotors, and make your wheels black. Rotors don't matter as much, but the O.E.'s will have a painted surface around the hub area, for appearance through the wheels when they're on. If that doesn't matter, Brembo makes a good priced quality rotor. Stay away from slotted or drilled though. They can chew up pads, and sometimes crack if gotten too hot.

Give me a break. If you are worried about warped rotors, the rotor is the most important part. It was shown a long time ago, that the stock rotor is very thin when compared to after market rotors, or even OEM store bought rotors. That would be a culprit as to why they warped so easily.

Why would you want to pay $70 for OEM pads? I've used nothing but aftermarket pads, and only the Raybestos pads had a lot of dust. None of them gave me problems with squeeking, and none of them warped my slotted rotors. The Performance Friction pads only squeeked when cold in the morning, but were silent once warmed up. Why would slotted rotors crack if gotten too hot? They are designed to maximize cooling. I've only heard of cross drilled rotors having cracking problems, but I haven't had any problems with my slotted rotors. And they came cadmium coated in any color you want, so going OEM for appearance sake is silly, as any good aftermarket rotor will look much better than the stock rotors. And I don't know about you, but my Slotted rotors with aftermarket pads, have given me far better life than the OEM pads that came with the car. Its been almost 35k miles so far, and my pads are still fine. The OEM pads only lasted me about 27k miles on the stock rotor, and the stock rotors were shot at the first brake job, so I don't know why you think OEM rotors/pads are so good, or why slotted rotors chew up pads. Besides, most places will give you lifetime warranty for regular pads, so you basically have free pads for life. Besides, if you're that worried about non GM stuff, ACDelco makes PowerStop slotted rotors.

Personally I think OEM rotors and pads are junk. With my stock rotor and pads, I had a terrible wet braking problem, when driving in the rain. After 10 minutes, you hit the brakes, and zero stopping power for a brief instant. This was a well documented problem. When I switched to slotted rotors, and Performance Friction pads, this problem disappeared.

I just installed the OE pads listed on gm parts direct. Gave the number to my dealer parts guy @ 60.00. They are awfull. My wife is freaking out. You have to stand on the pedal to get anything. They are dusting the black stuff too. Someone help me. who makes the "performance friction" pads sopken of above? I'll buy rotors every time if I have to.
the vehicle had 35k on the OE pads and was stopping fine. I do not understand.

I've used OEM, don't last, MEGA DUST, NO stop when wet. Next went to BENDIX, didn't last, lots of dust. Last brake job, tried HAWK HP, low to almost no dust, stops when wet, all these brakes are about the same price. I also got rid of the OEM rotors and put S/D on the front. Remember driving habits also play a part into brake performance, you know,getting to the stop light at 60, then hitting the brakes, or the guy who start stopping 2 miles before the light. Also "NO BRAKE CLEAN ON THE PADS, WASH YOUR ROTORS" GOOD-DAY: P"CHOP

Also, it has been proven on late model cars that the rotor usually isn't to blame for warpage problems. Yes, if the rotor has been machined too far and is too thin, the brake pedal will be lower, and they will warp as well. As I said in the other posts, a good example is the later model Cutlass's and Malibus. They all had a rotor warpage problem, sometimes as early as 25k, because of a cooling issue with the brakes. The ONLY fix for the problem was to replace the rotors, and install OE pads, which were updated to cool better. The aftermarket companies use a "generic" friction material that isn't application specific. This means that the friction material used for a GP pad is probably the same used for a Sunfire. The TSB for the Malibu / Cutlass is available if anyone wants it. Yes, many people experienced brake problems with OE brakes on GM cars, so OE was never an option before for replacement. But, as we are learning, GM has been good about taking care of faulty design issues in the last couple years, including their brake parts; even on applications going as far back as the early 80's.

One last post for now to settle this! I just realized, I NEED TO CLARIFY THIS: AcDelco has two lines of pads; OE and Durastop. The boxes are almost identical, but one will state "Original Equipment", in small print. The Durastops are basically Raybestos pads, just painted a different color. Yes, these pads I found to have excessive dust, squeaking, and short life. For all of you who are or who did purchase AcDelco in the past, you might have gotten the Durastop version; its hard to tell the difference unless you know the part numbers.