Stoptech big brake kit

[Brett Haviland]

yeah i agree on GM's suckin ass..  did brakes on a grand am and it came back 3 weeks later with warped rotors.... warenteed them.... came back again a month later... same problem...  warenteed them again but switched to aimco premium.... car came back again a month later...  again with warped rotors (on both sides each time).

no siezed calipers or dragging brakes/worn bushings were found.  Owner ended up just getting rid of the car.

I can also vouch that it is possible to warp dsm brakes.  I have 1Ga brakes on my purple colt and i have warped them to hell.. i assume its trying to come to a hard stop from 200+ km/h and sitting at a light with the brake pads smoking on one section of the rotor causing that area of the rotor to get more heat into it causing it to warp.  thats my idea anyways... who knows the exact reason why they warp,

[Dan Harshey]

I too have had warped rotors on a 1GA, they were cross drilled though.  I've since switched to standard PBR rotors and 2 piston calipers, and in some of the solosprint/driver training courses I've done, come back to the pits with smoke pouring off the brakes and they are perfectly fine still.

[CamWeiss]

I've done in a set of 1Ga brakes - Brembo blanks on Satisfied pads (combination that worked fairly well, I'll add). Too many hard stops, too much heat. Not enough of a heatsink. 1Gb brakes have been good so far, but pads need an upgrade to HPS or HP+.

I would put warped rotors down to two things: Too small a brake package, and often compounded by shitty replacement rotors. I worked for Lordco for a year, and we got warped and generally screwed up rotors back ALL the time. Lordco brand especially, Aimco not so much. But even with the better replacement rotors, it won't make up for trying to stop a big heavy Bonneville on a wee set of front brakes.
It seems on a lot of domestics all it takes is one hard stop and the rotors are done. Especially if they've been turned and are close to the service limit.

Everyone else seems to get it right though - Euro cars especially. My dad had an '84 Mercedes 300SD (As an aside, still one of the best driving cars I've seen, even if it was comically slow). With 240,000 MILES on the clock, and original rotors, it still stopped completely straight, true, and without a hint of pulsation. Quickly, too - Because it had big brakes on it, easily enough for the car.

[Ken Hawkins]

To help prevent warp, a number of folks are going the cryogenic route. Controlled deep-freeze, then controlled warm-up remove much of the "structural stress" from metal components. It's more valuable in crack prevention, but has shown to be useful in preventing warpage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryogenic_treatment

There is another approach where the part is bolt to a rigid table that is vibrated at certain frequencies that will also remove internal stress, but has to be tuned for every different alloy and casting/forging method.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibratory_stress_relief

and more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_cycling

The break-in of brakes is essentially a thermal cycling that if performed properly, *may* provide necessary stress release. The problem is quality control of the component during original production (a la GM in all their craptacular glory - after 25 years, I am STILL pissed at those effers, but lets be honest, most new-car dealers will happily dry-fu(< you over the service counter)

Stress relief for me would require dragging many multi-national corporate executives in front the firing squad  (and I don't even own shares)

Ken

[John Hartman]

not just the multinats, but thier engineers!!  Those asshats should have to work on the crap they design.