Brake Shake Gone

[Buc22]

My brakes have been progressively getting worse the past two years with shake every time I use. Decided to go with rotors made in England versus China and went with EBC front brake rotor RK7401 which come in pairs. With only 30900 miles the rear rotors looked brand new with no evidence of brake pad build up so reused with new EBC pads. For the front UD784 EBC Ultimax and rear UD974. After a week of light use to break in the pads braking is ultra smooth now.

Cost for EBC rotors was $158 for pair and front and rear brake pads were about $138 for the set. Installed myself will update on how these brakes hold up.

[booster]

It will be interesting to see how those pads perform, as I don't think anyone has tried them before.


They are aramid fiber pads, so not ceramic like the OEM pads and not semi-metallic like what most of us switched to for the Chevies. They claim to be clean pads so should be low dust. It will be very interesting to see if they transfer any material to the rotor, as no good transfer layer is a major part of the issue with the ceramic pads.

[Buc22]

Originally Posted by booster

It will be interesting to see how those pads perform, as I don't think anyone has tried them before.


They are aramid fiber pads, so not ceramic like the OEM pads and not semi-metallic like what most of us switched to for the Chevies. They claim to be clean pads so should be low dust. It will be very interesting to see if they transfer any material to the rotor, as no good transfer layer is a major part of the issue with the ceramic pads.

Booster
They claim their pads will remove any residual transfer layer on rotor that is why I only replaced the pads in the rear. The rear rotor looked like fine and after a week of driving the rotor looks better than before. The pads came with a coating on all the pads they claim will clean and condition rotor to the new pads. Cost was reasonable so I am hoping this set up will last longer than 26K miles I got out of the OEM brakes.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Buc22

Booster
They claim their pads will remove any residual transfer layer on rotor that is why I only replaced the pads in the rear. The rear rotor looked like fine and after a week of driving the rotor looks better than before. The pads came with a coating on all the pads they claim will clean and condition rotor to the new pads. Cost was reasonable so I am hoping this set up will last longer than 26K miles I got out of the OEM brakes.

That would probably indicate they are intended not to have a transfer layer once broken in. It is a different way of going compared to the old school semi-metallic or the newer ceramics. The true test will be when the get hot in the mountains, as that can sort it out pretty quickly or.


I am really surprised at the 26K wear out on factory pads as that is way off from most users have seen. Ours were changed out very early so no real comparison for us, but when removed they were almost new thickness. I thinks others have been seeing 50K+ IIRC.

[Buc22]

Originally Posted by booster

That would probably indicate they are intended not to have a transfer layer once broken in. It is a different way of going compared to the old school semi-metallic or the newer ceramics. The true test will be when the get hot in the mountains, as that can sort it out pretty quickly or.


I am really surprised at the 26K wear out on factory pads as that is way off from most users have seen. Ours were changed out very early so no real comparison for us, but when removed they were almost new thickness. I thinks others have been seeing 50K+ IIRC.

Booster

Worn out is a bad term used my me I replaced the rear pads in case I did had some layering. The fronts I replaced both rotor and pads but all 4 wheels the pads looked like they could go another 50K miles if not for the brake shudder when I applied the brakes.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Buc22

Booster

Worn out is a bad term used my me I replaced the rear pads in case I did had some layering. The fronts I replaced both rotor and pads but all 4 wheels the pads looked like they could go another 50K miles if not for the brake shudder when I applied the brakes.

Thanks, that certainly puts it all in line with other information we have seen.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Buc22

Booster

Worn out is a bad term used my me I replaced the rear pads in case I did had some layering. The fronts I replaced both rotor and pads but all 4 wheels the pads looked like they could go another 50K miles if not for the brake shudder when I applied the brakes.

I've only experienced brake shudder once (and once was enough). It was on a long strait decent that I was unprepared for and I did not downshift adequately and therefore had to use severe breaking. Mine is a '2011 Chevy Express 3500 with original brake pads.

But were you experiencing shudder regularly such a just brief severe braking for traffic?

[Buc22]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

I've only experienced brake shudder once (and once was enough). It was on a long strait decent that I was unprepared for and I did not downshift adequately and therefore had to use severe breaking. Mine is a '2011 Chevy Express 3500 with original brake pads.

But were you experiencing shudder regularly such a just brief severe braking for traffic?

Yes as soon brakes warm up pulsing in pedal and shake in steering wheel.

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by Buc22

Yes as soon brakes warm up pulsing in pedal and shake in steering wheel.

Then I've been lucky with only on incident (at least partially my fault) in 25,000+ miles. Too bad about the shake because brake pad life is phenomenal.

Keep us updated.

[booster]

Originally Posted by rowiebowie

Then I've been lucky with only on incident (at least partially my fault) in 25,000+ miles. Too bad about the shake because brake pad life is phenomenal.

Keep us updated.

I think your situation is probably more typical than Buc22's as I don't really recall hearing of setups that did it on flatlands just from warm brakes, unless the calipers were sticking and dragging the brakes. Much more typical to only have problems in the big hills which go away as soon as the brakes cool off.

[Buc22]

Originally Posted by booster

I think your situation is probably more typical than Buc22's as I don't really recall hearing of setups that did it on flatlands just from warm brakes, unless the calipers were sticking and dragging the brakes. Much more typical to only have problems in the big hills which go away as soon as the brakes cool off.

City driving during Texas summers with a couple of panic stops when traffic dictates is all it took for my brakes.

[rowiebowie]

I just had my '2012 Chevy-based rv with 50,000 miles into the Chevrolet dealer for new fluids (coolant, transmission, brake fluid). They said original pads showed 8mm left, which they said was 2/3 to 3/4ths of depth remaining. Man these pads last forever. Too bad they can develop a shake, although it's only happened once to me.