[cconley]

Quick question fellas. I installed brand new EBC brakes, front and rear about 18 months ago. Lately I've been noticing some steering wheel vibration under moderate braking at high speeds (mainly above 80 mph). I think the rotors are warped. I'm thinking two reasons. One - The were not set "true" on the hub when I installed them, or two - unbalanced tires eventually caused them to wear unevenly. Your thoughts?

The main question being, can slotted rotors be resurfaced? Because I'm not paying for brand new rotors again!

Thanks in advance for the replies

P.S. If for any reason anyone needs to see the rotors, there should be some photos in my album.

 

[jetrinka]

Slotted cannot be resurfaced. And the vibration you are feeling is probably the result of the rotors not being embedded properly. Either from uneven lug torque, inproper break-in, or even the nature of the slotted rotors. FYI the slotted rotors do not aid in braking at all. I remember what username Geezer said once about how slotted rotors would aid in the escape of gasses under hard braking but he also said how most modern pads nowadays hardly gas up at all. Your best bet would be a good solid rotor. Something that could be turned once and then thrown away. Thats really what rotors are. Throw away parts.

 

[zstang]

Slotted rotors can be resurfaced.I would look into getting some powerslot rotors.EBC rotors and pads S**K bigtime.

 

[jetrinka]

Eating post: I guess they can be resurfaced as I have just read on the internet. I always thought they couldn't as you would essentially be lessening the slot in the rotor.

 

[cconley]

Thanks all for replying. I'll start calling around to find out where they can be resurfaced and re-installed by a professional. I've done brakes before, but I must admit that I don't have the specialized equipment needed to make sure they are on straight and true.

 

[jetrinka]

Just take off the rotors and send em to the place to get resurfaced. The machine they put it on does all the "truing up" for ya. You don't even have to worry about it.

 

[cconley]

And I have to put in a plug for the rotors and pads I bought and installed. Frankly, they kick ass, and look great. They also sound pretty cool when braking from high speed.

 

[Focorec]

So your conclusion would be "yay or nay" on getin some EBC greenstuff pads and rotors?

 

[jetrinka]

EBC has had some quality control issues recently. Something to do with the friction material separating from the backing pads. Other than that I hear they work fine.

 

[Dcl2049]

The rotors rock. I use blanks and don't have a problem besides hub rust.

Anyway... what I bet might have happened is your caliper isn't sliding right, if you're only contacting one side of the rotor with the pad in this situation it can get pretty bad. My stock brakes did this and then began to eat into the rotor on one side because only one side of the pad was biting and it wore out super fast, while the outside pad was intact.

I have heard mixed things about EBC pads. I hear about the pad material coming off on greenstuff pads, then I hear about how much people like them. I talked to a Subie RS driver at an auto-x, he says he has heard the horror stories about greenstuff, so he uses redstuff for both race and street and loves them, hasn't had any problems. I don't know how they would perform on the street for a Focus though, I don't think I would recommend using them in cooler climates (it rarely drops below freezing here in the South so you don't need to worry too much about warming stuff up).

 

[swimmerdude123]

question...how many miles did u put on them before you started noticing vibrations?

 

[WeeAsp]

You can resurface slotted rotors.

However, expect vibration to return even sooner than what you just experienced.

As someone else indicated, just take them off of the car and take them to a reputable shop. A lot of higher end auto parts stores will also machine rotors.

As for the rotors "sounding cool under hard braking"...

I'm not sure what that means. In my experience, brakes that make ANY sort of noise (you should only really hear the tires) is a bad thing. Something is wrong there.

I would say that contributed to the warping. Especially with an aggressive pad like the EBC.

 

[Focorec]

Sounds like its a nay. Seems like its less trouble if I stick to stock pads and rotors. I'm still on the fense about EBC stuff. My stock have no given me any toubles yet so I duno if I should go out looking...arrg