I'm running the stock Akebono BBK. Ever since I did my coilovers last weekend, the front right corner has been groaning and grinding like it's ready for a pad change. Thing is I did the pads and rotors *immediately* after getting the car in March or April. I used a 2x6 and the front seat to hold the front brakes while I torqued the spacers on... could that have damaged the brakes? I do drive a bit aggressively and occasionally see 90 or so on my commute with hard braking.... could that have cooked them? What should I check for besides pad wear?

 

well other than pad wear, check frontside and rearside of the rotors for obvious scoring or warping. Wouldn't hurt to check if the pads are sticking harshly as well by rotating your wheels when off the ground.

 

what he said^^^ that one caliper may be sticking, compare pad thickness side to side when you're in there.

 

What's the cure for a stuck caliper?

 

Most of the time it's piston dirt/corrosion, so just a good clean up is typically all that's involved. If the corrosion is real heavy new piston(s) may be in order. And in real bad cases where the piston bores are corroded, a new caliper.

 

next time stick a screw driver in the rotor vent slot to prevent it from rotating when doing spacers. put masking tape around the screw tip to prevent paint chipping when it makes contact with the caliper

 

Simple fix.... Pro tip, when working on the suspension, don't grab the dust shield

My fear now is that I've ruined that rotor, which is brand new. Gonna have to do some high speed stops to test it out.

 

is the rotor badly scored? If not it's probably fine, if so, at least rotors are relatively cheap (unless you are one of those guys who does the whole drilled, slotted, cryogenic, gold plated rotors. In that case, my condolences)

 

Hahahaha

No I'm just running Centric blanks + Hawk HPS. Still plenty of meat on the pads. I may go slotted next time.

 

skip the slotted rotors, they're just for looks and they wear your brake pads significantly faster. Modern ceramic brakes don't off-gas like old organic ones. On a street driven car, drilled and/or slotted rotors are actually detrimental as they decrease brake surface area and heatsinking

 

i like slotted rotors for cool factor. not a fan of drilled rotors and really not a fan of drill AND slotted rotors (kinda rice)