After finally figuring out that the pulling wasn't due to my stoptech installation, I tackled installing replacement rear rotors and pads.
Much thanks to Saturnine (for his expertise and driveway) and to Piaadoll and Audigasm (for moral support, excellent illumination in the dark, and Costco Pizza) and to DBTONG for moral support and water!!!
Why Replace My Stock Rotors and Pads with only 7k miles on the car?
A few reasons. One, installing the stoptechs in teh front with more aggressive pads (Carbotech Bobcats) increased the front bias. I wanted to even it out some by installing the same pads in the back. Two, I plan on autocrossing and tracking the car, so replacing the rotors and pads would give me better heat dissipation and better modulation. Three, I had not yet placed the rear stainless lines that came with the kit on yet.
Why Powerslot Rotors and Carbotech Bobcat Pads?
I looked for rear replacement rotors for quite awhile. There were a few options (3.0 upgrade, Brembo, ATE, Zimmerman, etc.). I chose powerslot because they were slotted and OEM size and also because I had heard that Zimmermans warp easy. Thus, I wanted to try the powerslots.
I chose carbotech bobcats for the same reason I chose it for the front: aggressive street pad with good raceday feel (although it will not do as well as track dedicated pads), low noise, low dust. I can attest to the last two. My front carbotechs have had no problem with the dust or noise at all since I solved the squeaking problem. Also, they have a great feel/modulation to them.
So how was the install?
Took about 2 hours for the rear pass side. 1hour for the rear driv side. Like with everything, the learning curve is steep. Steps:
1. Loosen rear wheel lugnuts.
2. Jack up rear by jacking at the diff/subframe brace. Place jack stands on side frame rails.
3. Remove wheels/tires. Spray WD40 on the hub/rotor interface to loosen it up some.
4. Make sure parking brake is disengaged.
5. Remove plastic cover covering battery compartment and brake reservoir. Uncap brake reservoier and recap snugly (not tightly) with saran wrap between reservoir and cap (this helps keep the fluid from leaking all over the place).
6. Remove part of the lining that covers the hard brake lines. Place a pan to catch brake fluid that leaks from the hard line/soft line connector. Using an 11 mm openended wrench, loosen the top nut on the hard line until you can pull the soft line down and away.
7. Remove the two bolts that connect the caliper to teh carrier. These are 13mm bolts. This should allow you to remove the caliper and take the stock pads out.
8. To best access the hex bolts that hold the carrier to the wheel hub assembly, I found it best just to unbolt the lower shock mount. Do this by clamping the "nut" end with something and use a 13/16" socket to remove the "bolt" end. I used a vice grip on the "nut" end. Then, compress the shock to give yourself room to remove the hex bolts. Unfortunately, I can't remember what size they are. Remove the carrier.
9. Once this is free, take a rubber mallet and hit the backside of the stock rotor until it comes free of the hub.
10. Place new rotors on. My powerlots came with labels on the rotor for R and L. Align the holes.
11. Place carrier back on and tighten to something like 45-50 N-m. I just hand tightened it as my torque wrench doesn't go that low.
12. Insert the lower shock mount bolt into the shock and wheel assembly hole. At this point, the wheel hub assembly will lie lower than the shock bolt hole, so you'll need ot raise the hub assembly by jacking it up a little to meet the shock. Again, use some sort of wrench/vice grip to hold the nut while you tighten the lower shock mount to teh specified torque setting.
13. Before placing the caliper back, I replaced the stock soft brake line with a Stoptech rear SS line. Use a 13mm socket to remove the stock line and replace with the SS line using a 16mm socket. Make sure to orient the SS line so that it heads toward the hard line attached to the car's chassis.
14. Place new pads onto the carriers (it'll be sort of obvious how it works).
15. Push the piston back into the caliper. To do this, you need a special tool that "rotates" the piston back into its place. I got mine from ECS tuning for like 60 bucks. You can return it to them when you're done, but I'm keeping mine as it comes in handy. Basically, assemble the tool and push the piston almost all the way in. it will stay that way.
16. Install the caliper back onto the carrier taking care to keep the pad springs in its original place. Be careful not to let the springs "slip" into the middle of the carrier where it will stick out of the hole in the middle of the carrier.
17. Hand tighten the 13mm bolts. Note that the manual says to do it to 45 N-m which is to me handtightenening anyways (my torque wrench barely goes that low).
18. Connect the SS line to the hard brake line. Tighten the top nut using an 11mm wrench and hold the SSline bolt by using a 15 or 16mm wrench (I can't remember).
19. Bleed the brakes. I use a pressure bleeder from Motive. Its fairly simple to use. Unscrew reservoir cap. Place the cap from the pressure bleeder on. Check if the bleeder can hold pressure to 10psi. If okay, remove bleeder cap and add DOT 4 Brake fluid. Pressurize to 14psi (don't over pressurize). At the rear calipers there is a rubber cap over the bleed screw. Remove that cap. The motive bleeder includes a clear vinyl tube that connects to the screw fitting so you can see the fluid come out with air or not. The screw is an 11mm open wrench type. Make sure there are no air bubles by tapping on the caliper assembly with a rubber mallet. Tighten when done. I did the rear pass first then rear driver. I then did my pass stoptechs (front) and the driv stoptechs (front).
20. Bed the brakes. I bed mine in 4 sets of 10 hard 70-80mph to 10mph starts - I stand on the brakes each time. No interruption between each stop. AFter the 10 I wait anywhere from 1 hour to 1-2 days before doing another set.
So how do they feel
Great! now that I have the same pads on all 4 corners and SS lines all around, the brake pedal feel is much mroe direct and the stopping is very impressive. So far so good. I'll update you guys if anything else arises.
Sorry for the long writeup!
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My name is John.
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