Pads (maybe rotors too) recommendations

[pwrpf01]

Does anyone have recommendations for an '09 5 that needs new pads - I'm guessing all the way around. Also, rotors.
I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee before this and ended up getting slotted/drilled rotors because the OEM's were so crappy. Does the 5 need the slotted rotors too?
thanks!!

 

[mazdadude]

What pads need replacing, front or rear?

Also, how many miles are on the car?

Are your rotors warped? There is a MAZDA TSB for warped rotors...

 

[pwrpf01]

I'm guessing all of the pads - the rear had been making some LOUD humming noises when I would back out of the driveway for a while now, but I noticed recently it's doing some squeaking from the front now too during regular breaking. I have 78,xxx miles on it. I bought it used with 27,xxx miles on it in Fall of 2010.

About the warped rotors......I have noticed the pulsation once in a while when I try to stop from a high speed. Also, there is a bit of a "something getting hot" smell lately coming from the rear mostly.

Sorry, I'm not a mechanic, I sound like a car commercial with all the examples of noises!!

 

[Silentnoise713]

Without knowing mileage for an '09, it does sound like you are taking this on a bit early but I too feel OE rotors are absolute crap and culprit for a lot of minor suspension related complaints. Given how cheap everything else is in the car (full loaded for under 20K new, what do you expect?), I fully expect the rotors to suck.

I don’t think anyone can really give you a recommendation that suites you without knowing how you intend on driving the car. Every name brand have tiers based on price/quality and how you want to use your brakes. IMHO, plan rotors are fine for most uses. Slotted and cross drilled is only for looks and you’d never get to take full advantage of it’s extra heat dissipation benefits unless you typically/like late breaking through multiple turns -repeatedly. Save that cash for better quality rotors and pads but everything has a trade off (noise, price, dust, longevity, effectiveness).

I am shopping for rotors and pads right now. I am going with Centric plain high carbon rotors (non cyro) and Centric posi quiet metallic pads up front and posi quite ceramic pads in the rear for daily driver duty. I mixed the front rear since it seems this car’s brakes has a higher rear bias. There’s a cryogenically treated version of the rotor that can last up to 3X longer for an extra $20 each. I remember watching an episode of beyong2000 years ago about cyro treatment. It is simply amazing how much strong a substance becomes after cyro treatment, something about molecules sorting and creating a perfect bond?. Centric makes good stuff at hard to beat prices and is the parent company to Power Slot and Stop Tech. Check rockauto.com for price baseline.

 

[pwrpf01]

Thanks SN713!! I'm glad you pointed out not getting the effects of the slotted/drilled rotors on my 5. I knew why I had to get them on my Jeep, but my 5 definitely IS NOT a V8 Grand Cherokee!!

I am going to call the dealer to find out if I have the factory rotors or not........I have no idea if they were changed. I know the dealer I bought it from put new tires on it before putting it on the lot. So hopefully my VIN will pull up the record history of it all.

 

[Silentnoise713]

I'm guessing all of the pads - the rear had been making some LOUD humming noises when I would back out of the driveway for a while now, but I noticed recently it's doing some squeaking from the front now too during regular breaking. I have 78,xxx miles on it. I bought it used with 27,xxx miles on it in Fall of 2010.

About the warped rotors......I have noticed the pulsation once in a while when I try to stop from a high speed. Also, there is a bit of a "something getting hot" smell lately coming from the rear mostly.

Sorry, I'm not a mechanic, I sound like a car commercial with all the examples of noises!!

Given the mileage, it sounds like it is time for braking overhaul (rotors, pads, AND new hardware). The something getting hot smell is probably sticky caliper slide pins that need grease (common in Mazda, not just Mz5). Or you may need a caliper rebuild.

 

[mazdadude]

Thanks for posting the additional information and descriptions, it really does help!

If you live in a humid area, the first application of brakes while backing up or going forward after an overnight rest, will be scraping all of the new surface rust off the rotors, but this sound/feel should go away after the first stop. (most likely grinds going forward, and GROANS/HUMS in reverse)

I agree with silentnoise713 that you might have a sticking pin/caliper.
Since you have close to 80,000 miles, it might be time for full brake service.

At the very minimum, it sounds like it is time to do a closer inspection of the pads, and lube the pins. Unevenly worn pad will point to sticking pin/caliper. Or if you have one of those laser/non contact temperature guns, you could use it to compare left vs. right temps and find sticking point that way.

 

[pwrpf01]

Thanks for posting the additional information and descriptions, it really does help!

If you live in a humid area, the first application of brakes while backing up or going forward after an overnight rest, will be scraping all of the new surface rust off the rotors, but this sound/feel should go away after the first stop. (most likely grinds going forward, and GROANS/HUMS in reverse)

I believe this is what was happening - it started after I moved into a house in a valley by a river, so the overall atmosphere is totally different than when I lived at a higher point in the area. I never had the noise until I moved.

I will talk to my mechanic this week about it all!!

Thank you everyone!!

 

[SandmanXP]

I am shopping for rotors and pads right now. I am going with Centric plain high carbon rotors (non cyro) and Centric posi quiet metallic pads up front and posi quite ceramic pads in the rear for daily driver duty. I mixed the front rear since it seems this car’s brakes has a higher rear bias. There’s a cryogenically treated version of the rotor that can last up to 3X longer for an extra $20 each. I remember watching an episode of beyong2000 years ago about cyro treatment. It is simply amazing how much strong a substance becomes after cyro treatment, something about molecules sorting and creating a perfect bond?. Centric makes good stuff at hard to beat prices and is the parent company to Power Slot and Stop Tech. Check rockauto.com for price baseline.

Can you tell us how that worked out for you? I'm pretty sure I need new front rotors (they've been turned once already) and I was looking at getting some EBC slotted rotors and green pads. Your info re: how helpful slotted/drilled really are on a daily driver was informative. I don't care about looks, but I want to get better than stock.

 

[Silentnoise713]

Can you tell us how that worked out for you? I'm pretty sure I need new front rotors (they've been turned once already) and I was looking at getting some EBC slotted rotors and green pads. Your info re: how helpful slotted/drilled really are on a daily driver was informative. I don't care about looks, but I want to get better than stock.

I'll provide an update once I get everything mounted. I was planning to complete it this weekend but my local Mazda dealer did not have the caliper bracket to hub bolts and it takes them 1 week to order it. Oh and they want ~$15 a bolt (x4)! Can be found online for ~$4 each… I know I already regret my pad choice

Btw, I decided to go with cyro fronts to satisfy my own curiosity but plain rears b/c there are is no cyro option unless I send it to a 3rd party for post processing (kinda pointless shipping dead weight back and forth). Centric's catalog is a bit confusing but here are some points I've learned. The first 3 numbers identify the actual rotors series.

Don’t quote the material composition as the bible. Only internet truth.
120 = premium rotor which is made of 60% pure metal, 40% scrap (best bang for the buck and well reviewed online)
121 = non-coated cheapies which are about 30% pure metal, 70% scrap, typical of you find at an Autozone (junk, pony up for the 120)
125 = not sure of material distribution but they are identified as heavy duty or commercial use. I can safely assume this line has more pure metal and less scrap than the 120s as it cost more. I 'suspect' these are the blanks used for Power Slot and/or Stop Tech rotors. You cannot get Power Slot or Stop Tech blanks same as how you cannot get any Centics slotted or drilled.
126 = Power Slot series
128 = Stop Tech series

My speculation: Centric = plain and avail in cheap, medium, to expensive; Power slot = slotted Centric 125, and Stop Tech = drilled Centric 125. This makes sense as it allows them to position each product differently and my best guestimate based on the price difference. Cyro treatment is offered on the 120, 125, 126, and 128 but limited to the certain models and from what I can see, only front rotors.

I went with 125.45078CRY MS3 front and 120.45065 Mz5 rears (no cyro 125 option avail for Mz5 front or rear :'().

 

[SandmanXP]

Thanks for that! I was wondering why I wasn't seeing any cryos for the rear and I was starting to figure out how the numbers stacked up. My shop will be looking at the brakes this week when they put on front and rear sway bars.

Is the caliper bracket to hub bolt is an issue because you're doing a converting to MS3 brakes in front or is that something I would run into based on pad choice for Mz5 brakes?

Edit: Tire Rack is showing cryo treated 120s for both the front and rear branded as Cryo-Stop. Hmm...

2nd Edit: Amazon has the fronts for about the same price as Tire Rack, but the rears for about half.

 

[Silentnoise713]

The hub bolt will NOT be an issue for you and it turns out to be a non-issue for me too! I've been looking at Mz3 guides (similar to our but ever so slightly different) and had my doubts so I PM'ed a member here who works at a Mazda dealership to cross check the part numbers. It turns out I don't need to replace these bolts and can reuse the exiting ones. I’ve been looking at various diagrams and couldn’t figure this one out. Glad we have forums to help each other.

I got my rears from Amazon too b/c they are cheap but went to Tire Rack for the cyro rotors. Can't find many places that off it for cheaper -or not by much and I rather stick with a known vendor should I run into issues. It took 2 months for the cyro rotors arrive but I was told by Tire Rack the delay was production issues with the suppliers for the blanks.

Just to be clear, I don't expect rotors to IMPROVE performance (it does help with cooling), pads do. I choose them b/c I wanted longevity and durability to run more aggressive pads and most importantly my curiosity. Unfortunately I purchased the pads (trying to strike a balance between cost, noise, dusty, effectiveness) with the anticipation of going with 120 fronts. In the end, I checked out with cyro 125 which would allowed me to run more aggressive pads without worrying about them eating up the rotor.

I think plain 120 would be a good starting point unless you have some other intentions.

 

[SandmanXP]

Good to know, I appreciate your feedback.

But, it turns out I may not need brake work as soon as I thought. Was cleaning the car this weekend and noticed that a lug nut was missing on one of the front wheels. I replaced tires recently and the trouble didn't show up until a while after that, but I hadn't simply taken a look at the wheels (hand). I'm guessing the tire joint missed torquing a nut. D'oh!(gah) Got a replacement lug nut today and since I'm dropping the car at the mechanic to do my sway bars, I'll have them rotate tires and re-torque everything. I suspect that will take care of the vibration. Unless they do find a brake problem, I can save the $$ for another upgrade.

 

[tech_az]

I have Raybestos pads on my 5. They work great but rattle a lot...the sound is embarrassingly loud. There is quite a bit of space between the side of the pads and the caliper. Had my mechanic put shims in but they came loose after a couple of days. I will try to post a pic later.

 

[SandmanXP]

So; after having my other work done and having the mechanic rotate and re-torque my wheels, I still had the steering wheel vibration under moderate braking. Today I pulled the wheels and tried sanding the rotors with 220 grit sandpaper. I didn't see any obvious spots where the pads had left an impression or anything that clearly looked like pad material glazed on the rotors, but I sanded them anyway. When I drove it after sanding the rotors, there might have been a slight improvement, but mostly it felt the same.

How much time/effort do y'all put into sanding the rotors when you try this fix? Is it obvious when they are gunked up and is it easy to sand the gunk off?

If that's not my problem; is there something else I should look at or is it most likely pads/rotors?

I know the general approach is to do pads and rotors at the same time, but if my pads are looking good (and I'm not quite comfortable attempting to do pads, yet) would it be bad to just replace the front rotors (say with OEM) and keep the current pads? That seems like a relatively cheap and easy way to solve the problem if the rotors are out of whack. (They've been turned once that I know of)