Hi,
after getting my rear brakes in good working order I started noticing sometimes a little shimmy or shake in certain firm braking situations. Pretty sure this is my rotors as I can feel by hand a little irregularity in the rotor surface (radially). It's not real bad and I don't have any problems stopping the car but looks like this is going to be my next major chunk of change on this car.

So my first question is, how worth it is it to do a ROH conversion? I intend to keep the car until it dies (unless I unexpectedly become rich, right? ) so I'm guessing I'll probably be doing the rotors more than once.

If I do go for the conversion, or even if I just go for replacing the rotors as stock, is there anything I'm likely enough to break that I should have spare on hand? (IE tie rods, etc.)

On the same note, is there anything I should inspect beforehand that will be easiest to replace as part of the same process? (for example, thinking I might put new boots on the CVs, they arent leaking but are old enough to start to crack)


Now, given that I plan for the most part to keep the car basically stock, is there any brand of rotor or pads that are going to be best value/best performance for a daily driver? Through work I could get a good deal on duralast brand, I've also got a local dealership that cuts me pretty decent deals because of my employer. But I'll pay more for something if it's worth it.

Lastly, if my calipers have a noticeable surface rust already, how likely is it that I'll need to replace/rebuild them? I'm thinking I might just buy replacements already, since I want to paint them and it seems easier that way than trying to clean and repaint the caliper hanging off the car in the middle of trying to do everything else to a car that i'll have to have driveable within 24h anyway. If I do buy new/reman calipers are there any brands that're any better or worse than the others?

Edit: its in my profile anyway, but this is for 96 sedan LX.

 

ROH is well worth it in the long run. My car is my daily driver and I use Duralast rotors with a 2 year warranty. I swap them w/o any issues whenever I feel the slightest wobble in the steering wheel.

 

Yeah that's what I was figuring. Besides, the rotors for the CL are cheaper than for the accord! Does anybody even make rotors that aren't "disposable" these days? other than getting high end performance rotors? IE ones that are designed to last through being turned a few times without warping and getting funky?

Still hoping someone will chime in on some of my other questions, too.


Edit: Also, do speed bleeders work? the bleed screws that have a one way check valve so air doesn't go back up in them? My other option I suppose is gravity bleeding.

 

Check your ball joints, check your tie rod ends. CV axle boots etc. Also, check the pad wear, if it the same as the other side, or you havent felt any pulling to one side, when you stop, then your calipers are probably ok.

If you can get your hands on a pair of CL hubs, the bearings are $56 each. plus pads and rotors. Theres a kit that includes this for about $400, from T.A.S. I can give you a how to if you plan on doing it yourself. its pretty straight forward, but if you have access to a press, it will make your life easier.

 

FYI, i had speed bleeders on the race car and one ended up going bad on me. basically the valve failed and i was sucking in air during the bleeding process. i've heard other stories of failure as well. i recommend just staying stock, and using the two man method, which is pretty fail-proof.

 

There's a pretty decent how-to on the site already, it's actually what got me thinking about it seriously. It doesn't seem really any more difficult to do the conversion than it does to replace the rotors as stock, except that you have to buy more parts. (Since you have to take the entire thing apart anyway!)

What's the quality on the parts from TAS? If it's mostly OEM (or as good as OEM) stuff I might go for it depending on what kind of prices I can find elsewhere. Are CL hubs that hard to come by?

Also, good to know about the speed bleeders. That's kind of what I was concerned about but better to confirm it by someone else's experience

 

You only should machine rotors if there is deep scoring, heavy corrosion, or runout.

The rotors should be checked for thickness and new pads installed/bedded in. That's it.
Machining the rotors is a waste of time and money. One thing that machining does do, it removes mass. And mass is what helps transfer the heat.
Not really, when they are new they are great, but that sealing goo on the threads gets wiped off after opening/closing them the first time, and becomes an area for an air leak to occur. Also the mechanism inside usually fails.

I use a vacuum pump method. After removing, cleaning and wrapping the factory bleeder screws thread with yellow pipe tape I hook the pump up and go to town. The nice thing is its fast and idiot proof. The cup fills up and it is time to refill the MC reservoir. No pedal pushing or risk of over traveling the MC.

 

CL's are pretty rare. I just picked one up, thinking it was identical to an accord. I was surprised, but now that I won one, I look for them. Dont see them very much. And the one I saw in the junkyard, the hubs were already gone.

 

I bought a tasauto set a couple years ago and still haven't had any issues at all.

 

I reckon new hubs would be the way to go anyway, aren't they easier to press?

Good to know, that might be the way I end up going, depends on what prices I can get on the hubs and bearings separate. That set includes hub, bearing, rotor and pads right? Does it have anything else?


Also, anyone know where I can find a list of what brake calipers/brackets would just bolt on to my knuckle with no other modifications? I'm not looking so much at upgrading (stock brake power is completely adequate for how I drive, at least when everything is working properly ) but I'll probably be looking for a set out of a junkyard to clean up and paint, not sure how much trouble it will be to find one just like what I have.

 

Also curious, since when I was looking into the possibility of putting in braided steel hoses I saw mentioned that if you do it's a good idea to upgrade to DOT4 brake fluid. Then other places I see that it is suggested NOT to switch to DOT4 in a system designed for DOT3 because the chemical composition is different. What is everyone's experience with DOT4 vs DOT3?

Also, not sure if I will bother with the steel hoses, but I do plan to replace all the hoses anyway; any pros/cons to upgrading? Its not like I race the car or anything, its mostly just my daily driver and only a little bit of a toy

 

Meh, Dot 3;4;5.1 are all glycol-ether based.
Dot 5 is silly-cone based, not compatible with DOT 3;4;5.1
The problem with bleeding brakes in general is it needs to be done more often than it is. Ideally the brake fluid is changed yearly and not left in a system for more than two years... yeah that never happens.
The problem is when new(or different)brake fluid is introduced into an older system it is less compressible than the old, and its composition is different from the old. The increased pressure that the system can generate, and or the composition, can cause the MC seals to swell and possibly fail.
The longer it has been that the fluid has been flushed, the more likely the seals can fail.
The steel braided hoses will not expand, so it will give a stiffer pedal and will allow for better modulation of the brakes.

 

records indicate that it was flushed more than once within 3 years or so before I got the car, after the MC was most recently replaced (about 5 years ago). rear brakes were pretty thoroughly flushed last winter attempting to bleed them after replacing wheel cylinders, but the front lines haven't been flushed since I got the car I'm sure. that may be part of why I still have brake problems :/ and its one reason I want to replace hoses all around and bleed the whole system thoroughly!

Is there any disadvantage other than price? Besides which, if, say, I get the braided steel hose set from TAS ... it seems like it may actually be cheaper than getting OEM rubber hose all around.

 

If the fronts have not been bled it could be that the fluid in the calipers needs to be replaced. If the brake fluid has been overheated it is useless, you could try just bleeding the calipers. Open the screw, push back the piston, and see what color it is.
If you are going to use it in a street car, are they DOT approved? This signifies they have been tested and meet/exceed the DOT minimum requirements. Like normal hoses they should be checked for abrasion or any other possible indications of wear.
I have heard is if you live in colder climates, some ss braided hoses are susceptible to failure in the cold. But I believe this is more in relation to hoses that are not DOT approved.

I can only state that Russell hoses are pure dogshite. Fittings not machined correctly, or incompletely made.

 

Good idea, could be a quick temporary fix, or at least help with the pedal feel, if that's an issue. The other problem that still will need to be addressed is I am getting a shimmy when I brake that indicates the rotors themselves need replaced. Guess that could also cause overheating brake fluid.
http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...nd-other-myths


I guess that would be one disadvantage: product confidence
Maybe I will just stick with OEM. Can't go wrong