The right side front brake of my 2003 Base Cav sedan is metal to metal in areas, and I have about $300 to spend. I need to do this quickly as I have a baby, and feel very, very fearful driving with her in the car. I have done a lot of reading, and have come up with EBC USR slotted rotors with either Redstuff or Yellowstuff pads, remanufactured calipers, and bearings if needed. The stock brakes fade after one stop or even during the first demanding stop, which should explain the type of driver I am. lol Would this be a good setup for the money I have, or is there possibly something less expensive, but as good or better? Seems the Hawk HPS pads get good reviews, and are less expensive. Not sure where to go with rotors: Chose EBC as they have a 1000 years of experience behind them
, and I tend to trust their metalergy over some of the newer companys. Any advice on this, and other possible concerns I may have neglected to address Re: the front brakes, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Tom
you can get all life time warrenty stuff for right around 100 from most local part stores.
thats calipers with a core, and new pads and rotors.
if you wanna uprgrade it all but the caliper, i imagine you could still get new calipers, upgraded rotors, and pads for under 300.
EvoFire (Wilwoods on all 4) wrote:http://urbanworx.com/252/3/124/4369/2004_Chevrolet_Cavalier_Ecotec_Coupe_2.2_16v_FWD.html
http://urbanworx.com/252/3/124/924/2004_Chevrolet_Cavalier_Ecotec_Coupe_2.2_16v_FWD.html
hope this helps!
I just went from OEM pads/rotors to HPS pads and Powerslot rotors so it's like I mixed those two links together.
Anyway, the stopping power is much improved over stock and I don't think you can go wrong with either set. At least, I'm very happy with em!
I don't remember the prices exactly but do shop around for the best deal.
autopartswarehouse.com and
autoanything.com are the two places I checked out.
The latter runs a lot of %off and free shipping promos.
I run this CAV to it's max capacity, and beyond sometimes. I'm used to my supercharged 94 Mustang GT ( No longer have), and my 5 spd 95 Maxima which believe it or not had faster 0-60 times than my stock mustang 5.9 seconds, but handled far worse, obviously. (no longer have this auto either) went broke, sold everything I had, and was without a car for 2 years. Getting back on my feet, and want the best brakes for this CAV I can afford. Don't mind spending $300 or a tad more, and this would get me the EBC setup which seems to be a better choice from what I have read. I "track-like" drive on the street & freeway often, and don't want these things fading on me like the stock setup. ( I don't do this with the baby in the car obviously lol) I'm 50, and been driving like a banshee since I was 16. ( I was the guy doing 120 MPH while weaving in and out of heavy trafic on busy freeways) I no longer do this because at 50, I realize the danger I put other unsuspecting people in, but I do push the car when safer to do so, and need good brakes. That maxima stopped on a dime with stock brakes. lol The mustang, not so much. My next step would be the rear disc setup from the neon, which I havn't begun to research, but bang for the buck seems to be something like this EBC setup or simular. I think I gave the impression I would like to save money if possible, but that is not the case if it means less capable brakes. Thanks again Tom
Thanks for the above suggestions, I have been to both autopartswarehouse.com and autoanything.com, and they seem reputable enough to do business with, and offer free ground shipping on the amount I plan to spend. I went to
http://urbanworx.com as well, but they charge $25 for the brake setup links provided, and $125 for next day shipping. This is whre my problem lies, I need to do this brake job friday or saturday so ground shipping is out of the picture. I lean torward EBC because of their reputation in racing, military, industrial, etc. not to mention their 60 year history in brake metalergy & brake compounds, and I can get them locally in a few hours. I'm sure Hawk HPS pads and Powerslot rotors are available also, but I need more feedback from drivers that push their Cavs to the limit! Sounds like Wildwood would be the way to go if money were no object, but $300-$400 isn't gonna get me that setup!
So without others firsthand experience, I have to go with the proven history of EBC, and hope I am not being shammed! lol
Come on guys/girls who are speed demons, and make multiple high speed stops one after the other on a regular basis, give me some advice? I read half way through the brake forums here and elsewhere, and nobody seems to be talking about stock setups, and options, only high dollar big brake conversions! On a car worth $ 3500 (2003 base sedan W/92000 mi) at best, spending over a $1000 on brakes seems overkill to me except for those track racing, and I don't think most of you are participating in that sport. As I said in another forum, outgasing, and cooling by drilling holes in your rotors is for the most part a personal preference, and is simply eye candy that will result in less surface area for your pads to do their job, not provide any appreciable benefit over plain slotted rotors, will prematurely crack your rotors, in most cases are very loud, and in the end, a less effective, less safe, and more expensive to maintain brake setup. QUOTE: " An important note about drilled rotors: Drilled rotors are typically only found (and to be used on) race cars. The drilling weakens the rotors and typically results in microfractures to the rotor. On race cars this isn't a problem - the brakes are changed after each race or weekend. But on a road car, this can eventually lead to brake rotor failure - not what you want. I only mention this because of a lot of performance suppliers will supply you with drilled rotors for street cars without mentioning this little fact"
(
http://www.carbibles.com/brake_bible.html ) - I wonder why I even try or waste my time on these forums if nobody is living in the real world by putting $1000-$2000 brake jobs on their $2000-$6000 car without doing some simple research? It's readily available on the internet for novices like myself which Is why I supply the above quote & link. If I had money, I'd bet most of you think those cool looking drilled rotors are the best you can buy, they're not! At least for street use. Even the EBC slotted and dimpled rotor (Not fully drilled through the rotor) is a more race oriented rotor, and will prove to be a bad investment for most speed demons using their autos on the street. Pad compound would be a better place to fight heat, dust, rotor longevity, noise, etc; assuming you start with excellent quality rotors. In the beginning of this thread I stated I read a lot of info on the net, in forums, and wherever I could find it. The next thing I needed was personal experiences from those of you driving Cavalier's in the same manner I do, which is semi race, but not all out race. My research has delivered the EBS USR Slotted Rotors w/ either Redstuff or Yellowstuff pads, Redstuff being ceramic, and EBC's preferred pad for racing until they anounced Yellowstuff & Bluestuff. Yellow being a full race pad, but able to work from cold to hot temps, makingit it a definite choice for street as well as race. Investigating Bluestuff which I thought was a racele dust as in OEM style or worse, but only pad, now appears it also can used on street machines. The yellow and blue are going to make considerable dust whereas Redstuff is the preferred all around street race pad if you are worried about dust, noise, rotor wear, and pad longevity. So unless I hear from some knowledgable CAV drivers experiences with CAV specific semi race, stock size brake setups, I'm going with The EBC USR slotted rotors, and probably EBC Yellowstuff pads, and maybe Bluestuff if available. Thanks all, and hope some of this info helps at least one person, and I know if you read the CarBible link above you will learn a lot about the science of brakes
A company in canada - magnum brakes, makes an awsome cross-drilled rotor and ceramic pad package for our front brakes. I'm very happy with them so far. The stopping power is as good as you are going to get with factory calipers, and there is almost no dust. Plus my car has been sitting for unrelated reasons for a while, and they have not rusted over yet. I know ppl stay away from ebay, but that's where i got them, and they fit well within your budget, and might even leave space for SS brake lines.
I pretty much have committed myself to the EBC USR slotted rotors, or the GD series dimpled & slotted rotors w/ Yellowstuff pads. The rotors on the stock Cav are so small, I figure I need the friction along with a quality rotor to handle that friction. The reason I say I'm committed is the fact I can't find these parts for the Cavalier anywhere. No company, local (Pep Boys didn't even call me back with an order time estimate) or on the internet has these parts in stock. Called the suppliers even though I am unable to buy from them, and again, only thing available was the pads, and the GD rotors, and if bought, I was looking at 7 days, and the parts are local? I gave up, and wrote EBC, they were very cooperative, and set me up with an internet purchase at PlaceForBrakes.com, and will allow me to do a wilcall at the local EBC warehouse, and the USR series will be in stock monday so I will have a choice which to buy. only a $15 difference, and suggestions here? (USR=Slotted-GD=Slotted & Dimpled) I should have them on the car by next weekend. Will let all know how they perform. I wish they made a package for stock Cav's, but I have not seen one. Maybe a 4 piston caliper, and as large a rotor that will fit in the stock wheel, maybe 10.5" -10.75 instead of the stock 10.2. every little bit helps.
I bought EBC 3GD rotors, which are black BTW, better match for the Cav, 4000 series Yellowstuff Pads, and new semi loaded calipers along with new hoses. Total $280.00 with tax. Bought the rotors and pads out of state so no tax on that $212 which helped a bit. Also, I ran across Napa's Eclipse line of calipers. They are powder coated gloss black, and look great with the rotors and Yellowstuff pads. However, It took me 4 calipers to get 2 good ones, so if you are looking for a very cheap $22.19 caliper, that has the looks of a much more expensive one, you might take a look at these, but beware the quality control, and check the bleeders unscrew for one thing ( I coulkdn't get one loose, and finally took a 20" pipe wrench to it, still wouldn't come off, then napa exchanges it, but the new one came with a nice brass looking insert in the bleeder hole along with the new bleeder screwed into it, and then I notice rust creeping through the paint in an inconspicuous area on the bottom of the caliper? 3rd trip to a different Napa (a Napa supply factory/store, and I had what I needed. Can't attest to the quality of these, no steel pistons like the originals. Not sure of that, maybe better as the material looks rust resistant as opposed to steel. Anyway, stopping power is considerably better than stock, and yes, the slotted/dimpled rotors do whir a bit, but not bad at all. Thanks for all the input, doubt you can go wrong with any of the above mentioned brands, I based my purchase on a week of reading reviews and such, and think I made the right choice for me, particularly at that price. Now for all the bushings, etc lol Will be reading the forums for those. Thanks again
Should have mentioned, I'm in CA, and bought the EBC rotors and pads from
HTTP://WWW.PLACEFORBRAKES.com As someone mentioned in one of the above posts, look for percentage off sales, and they have one on now. 10-12 percent off EBC products, depending on how much you spend. 10% OFF On Any EBC Order Over $94.00 - 12% OFF On Any EBC Order Over $150.00, and free shipping fro orders over $50. Best deal I've found on EBC. Plus, EBC has a warehouse near Los Angeles so you will get them quick if you live in CA. Got my order in 3 days. I was in a pickle, and wanted them immediately so emailed EBC in LA, and was offered a will-call which they normaly don't offer, but decided I had better wait, didn't trust that one side metal to metal! The off is still on so hope this helps someone considering EBC.
