Hey all!
I've found several very well-written articles on replacing the pads on the CS...I feel I can go out and do it now without reference material in front of me! I've changed brakes on every vehicle I've ever owned, so I feel I can do this one as well....I'm just doing advanced homework to avoid any 'gotchas!'
There are a couple questions that I've searched for but couldn't find answers to....but let me first set-up the situation here.
2006 CS w/290xx mi. (bought 4/2009 w/27k). At my recent oil change by the dealer ($220...never again!...found another nice write-up here on how to do that...cool!)...anyway.....they stated that my brakes were down to 10% fr and 15% rr....and quoted just under $1,900 for pads/rotors....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I grabbed my keys and wished them a good day.
My own inspection showed at least 50% pad left all around, with a
slight
lip at the edges of the rotors. I have no data saying the pads have been changed already, so I don't know if these are original 1st set. I want to pull the wheels and measure the rotor thicknesses before I decide to replace them....so here's my questions.
1) What are the tolerances for the thicknesses F/R?...or, where can I find this info?
2) Is it much extra/difficult/technical work to R/R the rotors?
Thank you!!!
tp
I have never been one that says use the search function, but in the case of brakes and rotors it really does apply. You will find a ton of information and it may include rotor thickness and what the minimums are. At 27K miles you should not be needing new rotors. I just put on my first set of rotors on the front after 65k miles and two sets of front brake pads. The rear rotors are still in good shape and I just replaced the original pad on the back What you really need to look for are the tiny cracks that start to appear and whether they are connecting to each other. The other key indicator is how big of a lip you have on the rotor as well. If it is slight then wait until the
next
pad change. But with 50% pad left all the way around I would not be changing anything out just yet if it were me. I changed out my front pads and rotors because the rotors were showing cracks that connected to each other and I also had a huge lip on the edge of the rotor and throw in pads that were down to 15% it made sense to do it. I was tempted to do the rear rotors but afte looking at them closely and checking the cracks and and lips I figured a new set of pads on the year would be just fine. Since doing the project have had no problems. And changing the rotors is no big deal almost as easy as changing out the pads. Just do the search and you find a couple of article on the rotor install to go along with the pad install........
The minimum rotor thickness front and rear are 26mm and 22mm, respectively. Replacing the rotors is not much more work; simply removing two caliper fastening bolts, which are torqued to 85nm, and pulling off and hanging the calipers. For the rears be sure to have the parking brake OFF, because the PB uses the inside of the rotor hat as a drum. Generally, if there's any lip at all, or deep grooves on the rotors, I replace them even if they meet the thickness spec.
If you are under 30K miles, and the car hasn't been tracked much, then it is probably the original rotors and pads. The minimum rotor thickness blueone cites, is 2 mm less than the original thickness, so in other words, if the lips on the rotors (inner and outer) add up to 2 mm or more, they need to be replaced (of if there are cracks connecting the holes or extending to the edge of the rotor).
As blueone says, changing the rotors isn't really much more difficult than changing the pads, which isn't difficult at all. The following 2 Giro Disc rotor install articles by K-Man S and FriscoCayman should help you out:
Slotted Rotors - Articles
Slotted Brake Rotors - Articles
+1 if it hasn't been tracked hard most likely both are original.
BTW keep in mind that your pads have holes drilled in them with sensors in them, you should look to see how much pad material is left before you hit the hold and start wearing close to the sensor, by the time you hit the sensor you still have probably 20% pad left so your dealer's estimate might have been how far away your pads are from wearing to the sensor hole, not all the way down to bare metal. In either case, it isn't hard to replace your pads and/or rotors if needed.
Experience with my
2006 Cayman S
has shown that if the brake pad material thickness isn't more than the backing plate thickness, that you are very close to the brake sensors on the stock pads.
Also, with stock pads, the fronts may not wear significantly faster than the rears especially with track time and PSM operating.
+1 to what BlueOne, KC-CS and K-ManS noted above regarding rotors.:cheers:
That's what I needed......many thanks to all!!!
tp
Also, if the pad thickness is equal or less than the backing plate - you WILL run the pads to the backing plate ($$$) at the end of a track day - the pads aslo go very quickly towards the end of their thickness, ie, life.
