More EKs please

Hello, I've joined a while ago but right now really need some advise. My mechanic says I pretty much need new brakes all around. I have a 99 Civic hatch with 124xxx miles on the clock. I was wondering what Rotors would be good. I'm leaning toward the DBA slotted 4000 or 5000 series Kangaroo Paw ones, or mabey some Power Slot brand rotors.

I also have 4 lug stock wheels at the moment and one has a growing dent in it from when I or a family member must have gone over a curb. The dent keeps getting bigger the more I drive it. So I really need to get new wheels mabey 5 lug if thats what I'll need to get with the better rotors I want. I've also wanted wider wheels for a long time, I always thought the stock wheels look to narrow so I want 7" or 8" wide wheels if possible.

Any suggestions on what I should buy for brakes? I really want the DBA rotors but dont know if they come in a 4 lug set up.

Thanks H-T members.

I'll keep a list at the top once I start gathering basic info for noobies like me. Hopefully I can create a thread that EK owners will have a good refrence to turn to for brakes.

projectTeG

im a fan of stock rotors, the braking is in the pad and the caliper

kaiba

I heard alot of Honda Challenge guys are using autozone rotors without problem.

More EKs please

I'll definitely upgrade the pad to better ceramic pads if I need to. Pads arn't that much $. I really need to start working on my car. I'm pretty sure if I upgrade my stock rotors that are only 9.5" to some bigger 12" ones I'll probably have to change the calipers aslo, am I right? If I do get bigger rotors will I be able to upgrade the calipers a few weeks later when I have more cash? Or will I need to do it as soon as I install the rotors? Any feedback will help me.

Thanks for replying I didn't know braking was more about having better pads and calipers. I did find out with some H-T research that braking only works as well as your tires aslo, and I do plan on getting better tires. My Civic didn't even come with ABS, so I really want to upgrade the rotor size a few inches for saftey.

More EKs please

Do you know how big the autozone ones are? The stock rotors are only 9.5". I don't care about having drilled rotors anymore, but slotted rotors that are cast with the slots and dont have them dirlled into them would be great. Drilled rotors seem like just a way for the brake companies to get more money out of you without giving any real significant improvement in braking.

Rotors cracking because of having the holes drilled into them scares me and the whole reason I want to upgrade them is because I want to make my car safer. Since my car didn't even come with ABS and I have to slam on my brakes frequently in southern California traffic, I really need better brakes. I almost rear ended a Bently the other day in the rain.

Is it hard or expensive to upgrade to ABS? Any help or links to other threads would be very helpfull. I'm not trying to build a track car just yet. I just want my car to stop sooner. I'll worry about lowering the car and changing the springs, shocks, control arms, tariling arms later. I might also upgrade to steel braided brake lines if it's beneficial or necessary to do so.

kaiba

Autozone should have all the size available. Remember your braking is only as good as your tires.

Not worth it to install ABS. If you want ABS your better off selling your current car and find one that equip from the factory.

One more thing. Stay away from Duralast brake pads. Braking fade too easily.

TunerN00b

Larger rotors don't provide better stopping.

All they do is provide more metal to soak heat and distribute it to the air. For a race car that needs to repeatedly make hard braking maneuvers, they will allow the car to be driven longer before brake fade begins.

They also reduce acceleration and increase unsprung weight (reduce suspension effectiveness).

There is no safety gain for larger brakes. If you're using the brakes enough to over heat them on the street, the driver is what needs to be upgraded. If you want the car to stop quickly in case of emergency, good tires and adequate pads will provide that increase in safety.

More EKs please

So basically all the other EK members who are upgrading their brakes to ITR or other bigger brakes are just installing the brakes and not the ABS controlls, am I right on that?

kaiba

^^^
Correct.

mechanix619

If you want five lug be prepared to spend a good chuck of change.

I've always ran Brembo blanks and Hawks HPS pads. If you want straight OEM parts then check out Car Quest; I don't like Auto Zone or O'Riley.

More EKs please

Since I need new wheels also anyway, having to upgrade to 5 lug isn't a big concern. I'm anticipating having to spend some $ on the upgrades, but not from my mechanic. The other day I had him look at my brakes to find out if I needed just pads or not, he pretty much told me I needed brake work all the way around. I need new front pads and rotors, and on the back rear shoes and drum resurfacing. He looked at a few aftermarket rotors and Brembo rotors for the front alone will cost me $950! And to top it off there only the same size as stock rotors! (9.5")

Since I've needed new wheels also for a while I'm going to have my mechanic uncle help me out cut out the mechanic and save on the labor to install everthing. I just need to get the parts and he says he can help me install it all, thank God for family. At this point I may try to find a ITR set up or go with quality aftermarket stuff. I'll definitely be upgrading to stronger brakes once I take care of my taxes and do enough research.

Can somebody please tell me if converting to an ITR brake set up would be better and cheaper then going with aftermarket parts, ie: Brembo or ABS rotors, and Hawks or other pads? It seems like with a lot I've read, a lot of younger sounding forum members make ITR sound like the be all end all of brakes/suspension. If I can get larger stronger brakes for less $, yes please.

mechanix619

Check out this link:
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/how-put-x-brakes-your-96-00-ek-civic-revised-upgrade-chart-1513752/

Do you want the 5 lug conversion for rim styles or for upgrading the rotor? There is a company that makes ITR style rotors but in 4 lug.

Aftermarket brake kits aren't cheap. I would think the money could be spent elsewhere. Like everything else, keep it simple.

blackeg

unless you are brake boosting 400+hp, or maybe that was just me.


ive been using brembo blanks with autozone metallic pads since like maybe 08. my car stops nicely and to my liking. im going to have to get new ones soon, as the aformentioned setup is years old by now and was thinking of stoptech "blanks" and hawk hps pads. they seem to be the way to go...

More EKs please

I definitely will keep it more simple. I do want more rim styles to choose from and want bigger wheels but the main purpose for me to get wider/bigger wheels now is so I can upgrade the rotor and do the brake swap easier, front and back, and not have to do anything like grinding off of caliper mounting brackets or other parts if possible.

I'm assuming reading up on the threads like this one is that if you upgrade the front disc brakes to ITR discs you need to grind that bracket if you keep the stock wheels which I need to replace anyway. If I get larger wheels will I still have to grind that bracket?

That thread has two ways to go with 94-95 Legend 2pot discs and the second way has no grinding mentioned and is the strongest brake swap mentioned for front discs, but would it be harder for me to go with those brakes then do an ITR swap all around? I'll definitely go with ITR rear discs since I could still have an E brake if I did. I definitely dont want to do what this part says for ITR front discs.
Get 1996 Prelude VTEC rotors re-drilled to fit the 4x100 hub,
No thanks, I'll upgrade to 5 lug before I ever drill rotors. Are the Prelude rotors identical to the ITR rotors? Why not just use ITR rotors for an ITR front disc swap? I could go with a 4 lug aftermarket brand of ITR size rotors for my car if they're good and get new 4 lug wheels also as an option.

That post is so large it'll take a day or two at least to find what I need for a swap thats has a good balance of being easy to do and maintain and also have strong brakes. Also that thread has a lot of mixing and matching of parts just to get the brakes, please remember I NEED new wheels also. There has to be an easier way to get ITR or other front discs without all the mixing and matching.

I believe I've seen a more up to date version of that posters info listed somewear else on the internet since he is banned from H-T. Does anyone have any links to whear I can find it at? There's a few threads like this I'll try to find one whear I can find the easiest way for me. Thanks for all the help.

mechanix619

Let’s back-up a little. How much power does your car make/or will your car make? What tire are you going to/or will use? The horse power and tire choice plays a large part in your break setup. If you are making stock power you don’t need a full Wilwood kit. If you are not auto crossing you really don’t need larger rotors; they are larger to dissipate heat. I’d suggest comparing the costs of a few different setups.

Also, modifying the caliper bracket is easy and it’s a one-time deal. I don’t like the idea of drilling Prelude rotors as well. Find the aftermarket ones that are the same size as ITR.