Well, the weather finally got nice again. Low humidity, higher temps, pollen is all but gone, and the key- no wind.
Time to get my paint on.
Pretty damn good for a driveway job. Couple bugs and hairs for character. I will wet sand in 30 days or so, and it will look better than the rest of the truck.
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Anybody have recommendations for decent brake rotors and pads? Going to replace the fronts on my '16 Mazda CX-5 and there is a ridiculous number of options available...
In general (not specific to Mazda), Brembo basic blank rotors, or Centric brand - - these tend to be pretty good quality for decent prices. Don't buy drilled rotors.
I like ceramic pads, they seem to produce minimal dust. It's rare that I've had any brake pad be truly shitty, so I'd just buy any name brand that seems reasonably priced on Rockauto - Raybestos, Wagner, whatever.
With every vehicle I've owned the opinions have been completely different. I'd check the Mazda forums. My Rover needed OEM, or it would trigger the ABS sensors. The wife's car needs euro specific shit or they squeal like a stuck pig. The only vehicles I've had that could take whatever I threw at them were old american trucks.
Done Akebono ceramic pads/Brembo rotors on our cars for the past decade or so. Includes a CX-3; no issues there.
I don’t know if they’re actually better since I haven’t tried, but I just trust a major brake OEM like Akebono more than a replacement part company like Raybestos or Wagner.
Helpful, gents. Thanks for the input.
Centric is a common brand in independent shops. I think they have a few different lines. Despite preferring OEM for most things, I used Centric rotors and Powerstop pads on a Honda product because the OEM rotor and pad combination would not stay round for more than 5k miles and OEM was four times the price.
Centric is good
I like Powerstop pads and rotors. I've got near 150k on them on different vehicles and they've been problem free
Akebono pads and rotors all day long on Asians
While we're talking about brakes... Planning to do a complete overhaul on the '98 Tahoe this spring.
When driving it back from the seller in November I had to drive it over the pass, and it did pretty ok but there was a lot of feedback in the steering wheel. More than I'd be comfortable with if I was driving the pass regularly. Planning to replace the rotors up front with an upgrade if possible. Searching on Autozone and Advance see options from AC Delco, WBR, Carquest, Duralast, and Brembo (which is like 2x the cost of most of the others). Suggestions on what I should pick up?
There are also a bunch of full brake kits (including rear drums) from Powerstop. Although someone up above said to steer clear of drilled/slotted rotors.
That Tahoe is a big goddamn pig. It's gonna rip thru rotors and pads like a whore snorting coke no matter what you put in there.
"timberridge is terminally vapid" -- a fortune cookie in Yueyang
To really upgrade that rig you need bigger discs, which will then require some modification of the caliper and carrier and probably the hub, and now you're into it for big $ on a '98 Tahoe. Those were always underbraked. My SIL had a Suburban of that vintage back in the day and I recall the brake shudder and floaty steering was just part of the driving experience.
"timberridge is terminally vapid" -- a fortune cookie in Yueyang
Honestly, for non performance vehicles, I've used Autozone stuff with a lifetime warranty when I expected to actually make use of the warranty. A Tahoe with rear drums might be in that category - a lifetime supply of front discs and pads for one purchase price. Though Autozone pricing is so much higher than Rockauto, that I'm not sure that even pencils out anymore.
I generally start my search on Rockauto and then check Amazon. Rockauto has permanent 5% off codes, but charges shipping - Amazon Prime for heavy stuff like brake rotors could be a real savings.
My GMC 2500 pickup came to me with new drilled and slotted rotors all around, which is something I definitely would not have picked. They're new, and not warped, so they're staying for now.
Just picked up a 06 xc70 with 110k miles and have a few questions. I bought without inspection and took a chance at $3500 and have a weird issue. I took it for about a 20 mile test drive before buying and on the way home it made some engine rattle noise with a few codes.
They are vvt solenoids errors along with a periodic engine rattle. I cleaned both the VVT solenoids and planning a oil change this weekend. Does a engine flush additive do anything ? My mechanic seems to think possibly light sludge issue that might need a pan drop and cleaning if the solenoid cleaning and oil change doesn't address it. I don't know when it was last changed.
I have only driven the car about 50 miles so the data set is non existent.
It actually came with a decent service history until about the last 15k miles.
I posted on Swedespeed without much response.
Starting out with an engine flush ain't a bad idea. Liqui-Moly Engine Flush is what I've used and it pulled a LOT of gunk. Buy some cheap oil (I used Kirkland Signature I found on sale) and a handful of filters. Run the flush following the instructions, drain and swap filter, then flush the flush with yet another oil change. Then do a final fill and filter change, using the oil you really want to use. That first drain I did and that oil was BLAAAAAACK! After doing my head job, I was also getting VVT solenoid codes and had to do a series of solenoid flushes, where a bunch of metal came out of those filter screens, and ultimately had to change one or both of them altogether (I forget). Took another oil change or two and the codes totally went away, never to return. Probably a matter of cleaning up the internals and shaking out the cobwebs in the VVT units.
As for the rattly noise, it can be any number of things. Do you have a mechanic's stethoscope? They have them cheap at ye ole Harbor Freight if you don't. Might help to pinpoint the noise. Could be a simple belt tensioner, maybe something with the VVT. There's no telling without further investigation. I've had bad rattling resolved with simple upper motor mount changes. Tough to say over the interwebz without being there.
https://www.liqui-moly.com/en/us/pro...h-p000065.html
Be careful on oil flushes--you dislodge a bunch of shit and it gets picked up in the oil suction screen (not sure if this rig has one on the suction tube) and your rattle turns into a big huge klunk. Pull the pan afterward and check this.
"timberridge is terminally vapid" -- a fortune cookie in Yueyang
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