Brake rotor issues

[driver3]

Mine lasted 78k, the rotors were still good, but pads were done. I replaced the rotors and the pads though as I wanted the contact to be perfect. I got mine from Napa for around $50 I think. I've definitely heard more praise about the factory brakes than problems, maybe a couple were bad, who knows.

Also... follow the searches on doing the front wheel bearings, they go throught all the detail needed to remove the hub, which the rotor is attached to. Be careful taking the hub off of the rotor, as I stripped one of the hex bolts and had to drill the head off the old bolt and get some new ones.. M6 is the size for the thread btw, but I don't know the length at the moment... hopefully you don't need to do that.. putting the pads on is the same as any car. Have fun, it's a great thing to know how to do... saves you lot's of $$$ and you get the bearings repacked at the same time.

[drdavidr4u]

Same here, had to replace my rear rotors under 30,000 miles!!!, they were real crap from Isuzu!

I realized there was a problem when I was traveling 60MPH down hill towards a light and before I knew it , it changed red and I slamed on the brakes but the truck didnt stop and I slid right through the intersection and red light. Lucky I didnt get hit. Thats when I brought it in for a brake job!

I didnt put on fancy replacements, maybe I should have. The braking/stopping power is much better but still not great.

[WyrreJ]

I am detecting a pattern - 3 for 3 bad rotors in NY. Maybe it is road salt or something that does them in.

[V-Twin hiCROSS]

My rear rotors "dissolved" as well, at aorund 50K miles. We do get road salt laid here in Missouri. I replaced them with Napa rotors, so far so good. I am considering doing the braided metal brake lines to stiffen up the pedal feel. How much work is it?

[driver3]

Mine were all Ohio miles.. there's enough salt there to eat any car after a while.

I'd like to know about the brake lines as well

[Ldub]

The s/s braid lines aren't too bad of a project, I just did mine last weekend.
Kinda messy,have lots of paper towels/ shop rags on hand. Also, do yourself a favor & get a flare nut wrench (10 or 11mm, can't remember which),a qt. of DOT3 brake fluid, a drain pan & away you go.
Also, I remember seeing a write up here about the same topic, maybe try searching brakeline.
Rotsa Ruck, Ldub

[psychos2]

yes but the salt did not eat the rotors off any other car i have had in ny. i would say garbage rotors and salt = dissolved rotors. shawn

[MarkChai]

I replaced all my front brake components on the 85 Cruiser FJ60, but the damn rotors were seized to the freewheel hub housing.

I took them to Brake masters because I couldn't get them apart, no matter how much I banged and pried. Took them 45 minutes to get 'em apart, too.

Anyway, as the tech put the new rotors on the hub for me, we chatted for a while, and his opinion was the ceramic pads are only necessary on the 3 cars in the US market that come with them. They were all high end $80-$90K+++ luxury cars.

Ceramic pads are harder than the steel rotors they are contacting. Therefore, the ceramic pads will last LONGER than the rotor in most cases. He was not trying to sell me pads or rotors-- I had already bought my own.

So, keep that in mind for any car... This makes sense when you look at it. The auto parts stores are pushing ceramic pads left and right-- Because you get to buy new rotors sooner than later, which cost more than new pads...

[Eckstream]

I just replaced all rotors and pads.... Got the power slot rotors and Hawk ceramic pads. Was told by the shop that front rotors are rather difficult to change since the hubs had to be removed to get the rotors off.

[Jonnie]

I just replaced all rotors and pads.... Got the power slot rotors and Hawk ceramic pads. Was told by the shop that front rotors are rather difficult to change since the hubs had to be removed to get the rotors off.

Not true.

Jonnie

[Chopper]

Just to throw some gas on this. My calipers bear a Mitsubishi Tri-Star...I don't know who made the rotors. Realize I've just 21000 miles on this car... this is Florida (no road salt) and I may drive 4 or 5 different cars almost every day. These brakes are one of the shining points of this vehicle. Hauls all 2 tons down very reassuringly... don't really know if they fade away under hard use "cause mine don't get used hard. Changed to the steel lines but only cause I like a hard pedal, don't think the stopping distance was affected at all ( can really feel where the ABS comes in though) Maybe you are all mistaking Honda grabbiness for good braking. Alot of Jap iron is crap, that may explain the" disentegrating rotor up north" thing. The rotor swap is a snap, don't let anyone tell you different a Chimpanzee with a wrench... Love the stockers even if I do end up changing them out every 300000.

[ISCE]

Hate to dig this thread up, but add another VX to the trashed/rotted out rotors. I've not had any brake problems at all, braking seemed fine. Two days ago while braking felt a slight grinding feeling. By yesterday coming home from work a definitely grinding feel and sound when braking.

When I took a quick look visually they looked completely rusted out. The right rear was the worse with only a very small strip that was more polished. All 4 looked horrible. The shop just called and all 4 rotors are trashed, rusted/rotted beyond repair.

I am right at 30K. This is MD and we don't get a lot of snow, but when it does they do put a lot of salt on the road. My guess is bad steel and the salt maybe? Seems quite a few discussions all around the same 30K with trashed rotors.

[kpaske]

So it seems to me that most of the Veteran members agree that the stock rotors and pads are the best combination available for the VX. I am getting ready to replace all four at just over 100k. Had the fronts turned once, but I've used several different types of pads. In retrospect I think the stock pads lasted the longest so I'm convinced that the conventional wisdom here is correct. I was hoping for the modern look of some painted/slotted rotors, but if they are all garbage I'll just stick with stock. Is there anyone else who has a positive experience with aftermarket rotors?