hey guys,

ok, so if my car is shaking when i brake going fast on the highway, most likely my 2003 accord coupe V6 has the rotor warping issue right?

only the front rotors warp?

now the solution is to just get new pads right?
hawk HPS?
where can i buy them? will auto zone have them?

also, will my mechanic just fix my warp rotors?
if i need new rotors, what's a good brand?


one last thing, if my car is pulling left on the highways, what needs to be done? what's the differences between balancing, rotating, and aligning??

sorry for all the newbie questions, any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance

I can't answer your question about where to get the pads, but getting aftermarket ones will definitely help to prevent the vibration sensation in the future. What happens is that the OEM ones leave deposits on the rotor so that the rotor surface is not flat. As the pads go over the uneven regions, then you get this vibration.

Whether your mechanic can fix your rotor is dependent on how bad they are. Rotors have a minimum thickness, once this thickness is reached, it's no longer "fixable." If it's not at the minimum yet, there's still a good chance that your mechanic can just resurface the rotor and get all the deposits off. A good brand of rotors might be Brembo blanks, but I think that OEM's aren't bad (only the pads)

Pulling on the highway is characteristic of an alignment problem. Balancing is essentially getting the tires to be balanced all around so that no particular spot is heavier than a spot on the other side. If one spot is heavier, then you will notice vibrations on the highway as the tire/wheel spins. Rotating is just switching your front and rear tires, sometimes in a criss-cross pattern, to prevent uneven wear. FWD cars have the front wheels steer AND pull the car, so the front tires wear faster than the rears. Rotating the tires will help to maximize tire life. Aligning is basically making sure that all the tires are making contact with the road properly and aiming straight. If the alignment is out, one of your wheels/tires may be aiming in the wrong direction, or be contacting the road at an angle. This will cause either a pull as in your case and/or abnormal wear.

awesome, thanks for all the info

so basically, i'm gonna take my car in, ask if my rotors can be resurfaced, if so, great, if not, just have them get OEM rotors.
as for brakes, i'll get the hawks.

and have an alignment done :)

thanks man!!!

Ok, so even if I change to a completely new set of wheels and tires, if my alignment is off, it will still pull, regardless of how new my wheels and tires are?

It depends, pull can be caused by severe uneven wear on your current tires or even uneven tire pressures. If your tire pressures are right on and they're not exhibiting weird wear patterns, new tires probably won't help.

so once i get my rotors resurfaced, how do i properly break in my HPS pads so that they don't leave deposits in my OEM rotors?
also, do my rear rotors need to be resurfaced? or is the problem only with the front?

Ok, so even if I change to a completely new set of wheels and tires, if my alignment is off, it will still pull, regardless of how new my wheels and tires are?
If you're putting on a completely new set of tires, you should get an alignment done at the same time , especially if you consistently feel your car pull to one side or the other while driving down the road. Runnning new tires while in need of an alignment will only cause them to wear out faster.

i have heard the hawk pads are good but have a lot of break dust.
you can get brembo blanks off of ebay for cheep. :thmsup: blank rotors are the only rotors you can trust off of ebay. :yes: i got a full set of brembo blanks off of ebay for just $90 with shiping. they were going to be for my jetta :( but i don't have it anymore :headbash:

i think these will work
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-Brake-Rotors-Honda-Accord-03-07-Brembo_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6763QQihZ001QQit emZ110090293368QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V

so once i get my rotors resurfaced, how do i properly break in my HPS pads so that they don't leave deposits in my OEM rotors?
also, do my rear rotors need to be resurfaced? or is the problem only with the front?
Usually each pad manufacturer has their own recommendation for break-in procedure, so you should research that on their website or it should come with the pads (instructions)

The rear rotors most likely will not need to be resurfaced since they don't do that much braking, they don't get that hot and don't cause the pads to leave deposits.

ok, so here's my situation
i just got myself an almost brand new set of 2006 TSX 17" wheels and tires and i wanna have them on during Spring and Summer, and then i'm gonna use my stock 17" honda wheels and tire as my Fall and Winter set since they have some curb and tires aren't brand new.

so if i'm gonna be switching every two seasons, will i need alignment everytime?

also, if the HPS have a lot of brake dust, what should i get instead that's just as good with less brake dust. I mean i care more about my rotors staying flat than a little brake dust, but if there's something else out there just as good with less dust, why not?

also, what are blank rotors?

should i just put new rotors on since i'm gonna put new pads on?

ok, so here's my situation
i just got myself an almost brand new set of 2006 TSX 17" wheels and tires and i wanna have them on during Spring and Summer, and then i'm gonna use my stock 17" honda wheels and tire as my Fall and Winter set since they have some curb and tires aren't brand new.

so if i'm gonna be switching every two seasons, will i need alignment everytime?

also, if the HPS have a lot of brake dust, what should i get instead that's just as good with less brake dust. I mean i care more about my rotors staying flat than a little brake dust, but if there's something else out there just as good with less dust, why not?

also, what are blank rotors?

should i just put new rotors on since i'm gonna put new pads on?
No need for an alignment every time.

Research EBC pads, they claim to be made to reduce brake dust.

Blank rotors are just regular rotors that don't have any cross-drilled holes or slots in them.

threr are better pads but you will pay for them.
EBC green stuff are the best i have heard but cost way to much.
the HPS are a good pad for the price, and all pads have dust anyway but if you want to check the EBC green stuff pads out here is a link.
http://www.autobarn.net/ebcv4gstbrpa.html

all pads have dust anyway

How true. I have a theory about brake dust. Many of the pads that are reputed to dust less, do so because of the lighter color of their pad material. Many pads are very dark grey to black in color and their dust shows up more on light colored wheels. Dust from pads that are lighter in color just doesn't show up as much.
I would be wary of pads that don't dust at all (if such a thing exists). They would have to be very hard. It would seem that they would likely wear out your rotors prematurely.

ok so for normal driving, the blank rotors are good.
brembo makes the best blank rotors?
what brand are the OEM blanks since i've heard OEM rotors are fine.

i'll probably go with the HPS pads since they are cheaper and will also keep my rotors from warping. Where's a good place to get the HPS pads for a good price?

How true. I have a theory about brake dust. Many of the pads that are reputed to dust less, do so because of the lighter color of their pad material. Many pads are very dark grey to black in color and their dust shows up more on light colored wheels. Dust from pads that are lighter in color just doesn't show up as much.
I would be wary of pads that don't dust at all (if such a thing exists). They would have to be very hard. It would seem that they would likely wear out your rotors prematurely.
Brake pads have to be designed to meet a number of competing criteria such as dust, quietness, cold bite, hot bite, wet performance, fade/temperature tolerance, wear/longevity, packaging/installation and, of course, cost.

So any non-OEM pad you get will likely have a different set of tradeoffs. In other words, you may get less dust, but maybe the pad doesn’t hold up to hi-temp/track use as well. Usually hi-temp/track pads have less cold bite (you want to be able to stop on that cold morning on your way to work when that kid darts out in front of you to get to the bus stop). Pads that are clearly superior in most categories usually cost more, and so on.

The trick is knowing each pad brands’ trade-offs compared to OEM. :yes: