Hi all.
I have a 2.2, auto, w/o abs 16 inch original rims and tires.
I was running errands today going about 35mph had to suddenly stop( i had about 4-5 HHR car lengths between me and the car in front).
I thought i was going to hit the car in front of me (felt out of control -- oh yeah dry asphalt & 92 degrees).
So i too will ask what Tonydetiger asked:" I was asking if anyone had done anything in particular to fix or remedy the brake problems. I'm really interested in aftermarket options, ie, new rotors, ceramic pads, if anyone had tried these and how it is working out. "

 

I have a 2.2 LS 5spd on 20's and I rotate my tires myself and am having the same problem with the brakes. Does anybody know if someone can install the front disc's from the ss/sc, will they fit.

 

I have an 06 LT1 with the 17" alum wheels and ABS the brake pedal began pulsating at around 12K now at 14,500 miles I will be taking her in to hopefully have the rotors turned. My '01 Malibu was the same way. Bottom line is they just don't make them like they used to.

 

9K, 5speed, no ABS, 16" alloys. No pulsating at all.

New pabs will not stop you warping rotors, and unless you change your driving, you will just warp any set of rotors you put on it. That includes crossdrilled and/or slotted rotors. Althought some vendors here seem to disagree, find out the brand (or who makes them at least) of rotors. Find out where they are made. If the vendor can not answer that, go someplace else. I asked one here who made theirs and they could not actually tell me who made them.

People are hard on brakes. 90% of the time, it's the driver and not the equipement. This is coming from someone that leases fleet vehicles (currently 5K in SC alone) and also used to sell auto parts. Can you make it better, yes. WIll it last, probably not.

 

GM is putting JUNK rotors on this car. Mine latsed about 900 miles.
I'm at 2300 now and feel tmem going again . I have the auto trans & do not
ride the brakes.
later//rNr // mike

 

Just to let everyone know, that riding the brakes is not the real issue with warping them. It's the hard sudden stops people put on them with last minutes stops and quick lane changes. Then the hold the brake in that one spot and guess what, that red hot pad is just sitting and cooking that part of the rotor.

If it was a design problem, then all would have the issue. And that would be almost every Chevy on the road.

 

Too bad it's often the sole voice of reason that always gets shouted down in these threads. Putting ceramic pads on these cars is also a sure-fire way to kill your rotors. It just grinds the hell out of 'em.

 

I think that chevrolet has a serious brake issue. You should not have to replace rotors on a vehicle unless it has had several sets of pads. Front wheel drive or rear wheel drive really doesn't make a whole lot of difference on a vehicle since 60% of your braking power comes from the front wheels anyway. Heavy traffic will decrease the life of your brake pads, however, rotor warpage usually means the rotors are too thin to handle the amount heat generated during braking for the size of the vehicle. I only have 800 miles on mine. I will keep an eye on it.

 

I buy that. In my case when I brake hard I try not to hold the car with the brake applied to try to avoid that issue as well. So I really go out of my way to be aware of my braking and try not to "brake the hell out of them" and I still get warpping.

I will say this at the risk of starting a debate on American vs import, but without fail, within the first year of every one of the 10 or so Chrysler, Jeep, GM and Ford vehicles, every one of them needed the rotors replaced or ground down within the first year. The one import I owned, a Mazda, in the 4 years I had it, it needed no rotor work. Calipers started ceasing on two separate occasions, but no rotor replacement or grinding.

 

My 98 Z28 had the same issue with the front rotors! Had them turned twice. Got tired of it and replaced them with after market slotted rotors. No more problems. Mater of fact I replaced the pads with ceramics and the rotors were still in great shape.

Now my 70 camaro race car had some pretty slim rotors! I think they were like a 1/4" thick. I could slow down from 165mph in less than 2 blocks. Of course thats with a chute also but I never had problems with warped rotors in that. Chevy needs to address this issue and replace these rotors with better quality.

Here is some pics of my race rotors.