I ordered and installed a set of RotorPros rotors, love them. But with less that 8,000 miles on the stock pads, I didn't order new ones with the rotors.

Problem is I'm getting alot of dust buildup on the rotors. I'm guessing it's because of the material the stock pads are made of.

Would I be better off getting a new set of the Centric pads as well?

Also, is there something specific I should use to clean the zinc plating on the rotors with?

Finally, since I'll have the calipers off again anyway if I change out pads, should I consider doing SS brake lines? Any suggestions on brands/where to buy?

Thanks

 

I think that my Hawk HPS pads put out a little less dust than stock, but maybe since they grip better, I just don't have to get on them as hard so they don't dust as much.
I love the Hawk HPS pads, grip much better than stock and don't cost much more than a hundred bucks.
I've read you don't have to clean off the zinc, it'll wear off with use.
I would recommend NOT doing the brake lines. I really didn't feel much of a difference in pedal pressure or response. It was a PITA to do, bleeding the brakes and all, for not much of a difference, and I wouldn't do it again unless my car was a regular at a road race course. But if you so get some, get the Steeda kit and not Earl's. The Steeda kit has much better fit and finish, while the Earl's looks like it was put together from parts of lesser kits, and the brackets are on backwards.

I'd recommend to anyone putting on rotors to put some pads on at the same time.

 

I'm running stock pads. I dont notice anymore dust then when I had a stock rotor

 

+1 Unless you will be taking it to the track, I don't think the brake lines are worth the effort.

 

IMO, I would say the brake lines were worth the effort. Bleeding the brakes isn't hard and it does add a nicer pedal feel. As for the Earls not having a good fit and finish. I dont agree. What exactly is good fit and finish anyways? Its just a braided hose. If you do a search on any s197 forum most poeple reccomend and run the earls ss lines on their car over any other brand. Yeah the brackets on wrong but thats a 2second swap and its fixed, perfect fit and finish. And the earls ss lines are priced most affordable.

 

That's strange. Not sure about the dust being anymore than with the stock rotors TBH, but there is a definate buildup within the slots. Thats what I was refering to when I asked about needed anything special to clean them and get that shine back...

 

This is what some have said about the earl's lines:

Quotes from multiple posts on 'other' forums:

"Stay away from the Earl's lines they don’t fit correctly on the rear caliper the fitting is thinner and the Banjo bolt will bottom out on the E-break adjusting piston locking it in place."

"... talked about the washer over compressing The Earl’s will still work but you will want to shave off about .050 off the end of the Banjo bolt then test it"

"WARNING TO THOSE WHO USE EARL’S BREAK LINES !!!!!!

Sorry for the long post but I thought I should share this. After my previous post I decided it was time to pull my burned rotor sand it off to bring it back to a nice metallic look. So at the same time I decided I would give the piston another half turn out. But to my surprise it was frozen sold I could not budge it. Remembering that **** Banjo bolt locking the piston before I thought could it still be hitting the piston? YEP!! It was. (why does this crap always happen to me ) So ether I just happen to be the lucky guy to get the over sized bolt from the factory or Earl’s did not do their home work on this design. I still have to check my other side rear caliper but this is what I have found so far.

I measured the factory brake line fitting and the Earl’s fitting that attaches to the caliper. The factory fitting measure out at .455 thick the Earls measured .412 -.420 so the Earls are about .040 thinner plus you add the fact that the instructions say to torque the banjo nut to factory spec. What I have says 52 ft lbs ?? can anyone verify this.

I followed the instructions even though it seemed to be way to much looking at the washers. I found that with bearing shaped fittings that Earl’s uses it will compress / smash the copper washer to paper thin while the factory fitting only compresses the washer a little. (see photo, factory on left Earl’s on right) Taking all this into account I found the banjo bolt was going into the caliper an extra .110 that extra tenth of an inch was enough to hit the piston and lock it into place preventing it from self adjusting. My fix was to file down the bolt about .050 of an inch and not torque it to spec I only torqued it to about 15-20 ft lbs no leaks so far.

So be advised if you have EARL’s HyperFirm lines installed and you torqued them to spec your rear caliper pistons may be locked in place. The breaks still seem to work but I think it will prevent the emergency break from auto adjusting you rear breaks.


While a bunch of people have been using the Earls lines with good success, more than a few of us have had installation issues, namely snapping the banjo fitting off the line right at the caliper. The stock lines use a square block to positively locate the line in relation to the caliper. but the Earls (and I believe Stop Tech, not sure about Goodridge) use a round fitting that can and will spin while torquing.

I bought the Earls, wound up breaking one, and then ordered the Steeda lines. The Steeda kit comes with an OE-style square block, that won't spin. They went on like a dream, and have been problem-free. Also, you don't have to reverse the bracket orientation like you do with the Earls lines (assembled with the left and right mount brackets on the wrong lines).

Just my .02, but if I had to do it all over again, I would do the Steeda set again in a heartbeat."

Steeda top, Earl bottom, stock in middle.



That's what I ment by fit and finish. People have had trouble with the quality of the banjo bolts, copper washers, block of plates, parts snapping, not the right size, brackets backwards, and rear calipers locking up. Maybe saying "overall quality" would have been better.

Like I said, I'm using the Earls with no problems, and the price for them was good. I just followed other peoples advice on install, and had a box of extra copper washers on hand.

 

I tried the braided SS brake hoses on my T-bird and didn't feel that there was any improvement. I had to buy new brake hoses at the time and felt I might as well upgrade to braided SS.

As for the stock S197 brakes, the OEM pads are a ceramic/organic formulation. One of the datasheets said they were made by Akebono but the Rockauto catalog states the OE pads were ceramic. This could explain why they fade more easily than other pads. I would recommend trying a different pad formulation before messing with rotors, brake hoses, or calipers.

 

I've read enough about hoses to decide that I'm going to stay away from them..... seems like they've become another one of those "must haves" when really, for this platform (S197), I don't believe they are. Just my 2 cents.

As far as Rotorpro rotors, I ordered some on the 16th along with their recommended pads. Now, if they'd just get them shipped. I must say I'm disappointed with their shipping response, I paid for them on 3/16, thought they'd be shipped on the 17th, was notified on the 19th that they would ship on the 20th and finally recieved info on 3/22 that the shipping label was created so MAYBE they're on their way now.

 

I experienced something like that as well Tom. Ordered them but didn't get any confirmation except that PayPal was accepted. After a few days, sent an email, which was responded to with something like, "All orders processed are shipped within 3 to 5 BUSINESS days".

Not sure, but guessing from the wording we are not the only ones questioning why it's been hard to get information on shipment.

Also doesn't help that it's the USPS delivering, and all you get as far as tracking is when the electronic receipt was generated. Then no update until it was at my local post office. Nice considering someone needed to be there to sign for them...

 

Thanks for the info Al..... I guess I'll keep an eye for a note in the box telling me to make the trip to the post office (hopefully yet this week!).

 

I see what your saying now Hatchman. I guess I was one of the lucky ones. No problems with the hardware just the reversed brackets.

 

Low and behold, my rotors and pads were on the doorstep today!

 

Nice!!! Glad to hear it Tom

 

I've had my Earl lines on for 2 years now, no problems at all. I did mine because I do track it every now and then. But for the average person, as mentioned, it might not be worth it.

Hatch, there no way the HPS pads dust less than stockers unless something is different in the formulation since I had mine done 2 years ago. **** things dust like no tomorrow.
That was the 1st thing I noticed when I put them on. Now the fronts have since worn out and I tossed the stock pads back in the front and all is good again. But I still get about 4-5 times more dust on my rear wheels still over the fronts. (rears still have HPS pads)

 

I believe Rich over at RotorPros is recommending the centric pads to go along with the rotors. I'll have to get hold of him and see what he says....

 

He is. I just bought rotors and pads from him a few weeks ago. He recommended and send Centric Posi Quiet pads. The price was good and so far I am happy with the pads (and rotors). I have about 400 miles on them.

 

I'm using the Hawk pads with my rotopro rotors and they are GREAT!!

 

I appreciate your feedback. I thought it was weird that mine appear to dust less than the stockers, and I swear, to me, it seems like they do. I put mine on right at about a year ago, but I don't know it they changed the formula. Then again, I changed to chrome rims from the stock Bullitts about the same time so maybe dust doesn't stick to polished chrome/metal as much as it did the painted Bullitts.

Anybody else have 'dust' feedback?

 

Well I need to swap out the pads, it's not just the dust, but there looks like a film of dust on the rotors that run the width of the pads.