Napa Brake Rotors
 

I was reading another thread about brake rotors and thought I should share this information.

Several years ago, I worked a second job at a NAPA store on weekends in upstate New York. Brake rotors were a larger percentage of our business than you would think, maybe 3 percent.

From the comments of our commercial customers, I learned there was a huge difference in the NAPA rotors, some lasted forever, some wore out while the pads were still good.

The difference: where the rotors were made. If they were made in Canada, they would last forever. The theory was that they had more nickel in the steel than other suppliers. Argentina and Venezuela made very good rotors. Anything from China or Asian countries other than Japan or Taiwan are junk. European rotors are OK.

I bought new NAPA rotors last year for my '87 MR2 which is notorious for warping rotors. I can't describe how happy I was to see the "Made in Canada" stamp on them. They have been great ever since.

If you buy brake rotors from NAPA, check where they are made before paying.

Makes sense, I've never bought rotors on "cost". Asian aftermarket is something I try to avoid.

One of my Uncles (who has been driving MB since the 50's) is notorious for being frugal. I noticed he generally bought all his parts from the NAPA store, even though there was a PepBoys nearby.

I thought it odd, knowing his penchant for squeezing a dollar, so I asked him why he favored a more expensive store.

I learned a great lesson about quality and the value of your time.

Jim

I just use Balo rotors, no problems.

I've only put one set of rotors on (Brembo, and I can't say I recommend them.) Far too few miles on them (35k or so) to justify the expense of replacing them again, I don't really believe in throwing away parts like that before they're worn out or used up. I do believe in preventative maintenance, but I don't call replacing rotors before they're used up preventative.

NAPA pads I'm running now, and I have no complains with them. They stop the car and they don't squeak. (The first set we put on from Advance stopped the car while squeaking.... not just a little squeaking, but an actually embarrassing squealing."

I've found that replacing the rotors with every second set of pads works out OK (that's a new set of front rotors about every 70-80K miles for me). The rear pads and rotors both seem to last about twice as long as the fronts.

Makes sense, since the front brakes are doing quite a bit more work than the rears.

Wish I could figure out why mine are already feeling sort of warpy... not bad but you definitely notice it when braking lightly.

great. I just put brembo rotors on my 96. guess time will tell.

I'm curious how that turns out. Brembo is (was?) a good name, which is why we bought them. 35 or 40 thousand miles later, maybe a few less... there's a shimmy that can only be rotor warp that occurs at gentle braking. The funny thing is the effect goes away when you stand the car on its head stopping... but light to moderate brake pressure reveals a shuddering.

Maybe I just got a poor set?

I have had ATE power discs on my car for nearly 50k now...they've lasted a real long time and still have life left in them. I replaced my front pads (they were OEM MB) last fall, so they lasted about 45k...not bad considering how I drive. :D The replacements are autozone duralast....(made in USA) and have been working great, even better stopping power than the MB pads as far as I am concerned...and they were $19

Same exact thing happened to my rear rotors long ago after about 4k, tossed them and went to ATE, been great since (like 40k).

Same thing also happened to the front brakes on my dad's SD....Brembo rotors that warped after about 10k....and got continually worse until we went with *Zimmerman Cross Drilled* front rotors. They're nifty, but expen$ive! :shocked: However, 35k later they still lift the rear of the car off the ground with stopping power. (PBR Organic Deluxe Pads)

Despite the cost, I will also be using the Cross Drilled rotors next time in front, as well as the PBR organic pads, theyr'e awesome.

Proper torque!
 

Make sure that you do the lug bolt torque as per FSM or you can go through a lot of rotors on any car.:D
Bud

Yeah keep a close eye on the guys at tire places....they will overtorque them unless you keep an eagle watch over them.

I've only had my Brembo rotors on the rear of my Volvo 940 for a few months now and so far they're doing awesome! Of course rear brakes don't take near the abuse the front ones' do but it does kind of piss me off to hear that they're not too great.

I hate forming opinions based on just a few people anyway so I'll let time tell.

...I was looking for an excuse to get some drilled rotors for my '83 300sd anyway! Now it would be stupid not to get something I need so badly!

Peace.
BulletProofAir

I have had good luck with ATE and Zimmerman rotors. But I have always been told that the best MB brake parts and sometimes the cheapest come from the dealer. I guess MB only takes the best ones and the rotors that are slightly out of spec get sold as aftermarket.

I was shocked at how cheap the rears were from the dealer on my friends E300D, they wanted like $40-$45 each for them.

Craig . . . . .
 

I get the same service out of my Balo rotors on my heavy SDL as you do. It is convient to change the rotors after two sets of pads, although I wonder if they would last through three set of pads. But with this crazy Wash DC traffic, I don't think that I'll chance it. I use Textar pads for good stopping, LESS dust, and long service. The original rotors and pads that came on the car when new didn't last as long.