pads

[Rich328]

when i brake in my car i can hear a grinding noise coming from the brakes... the red-light on the dash is on.

I think its that the pads are worn completly - does this grinding noise mean i will need new discs too?

cheers

[Furious]

i believe so, when was the last time the rotors were changed.

[Rich328]

no idea when the rotors were changed, as i bought the car just recently - about 6 weeks ago..

I don't even know what rotors are or do.

[Fadec40]

If your grinding, you're into the rotor. The rotor is the what the tire bolts to. If you look through the tire rims, you will see a silver/chromish rotor. The brake pads straddle this rotor by means of a caliper. Pull the tire off, inspect the rotor. If its grooved, it will need replacing as will the brake pads.

[El Presidente]

The tire doesn't bolt to rotor.....it has slots for the lug nuts to go through though.

But anyway. The rotors are the disks that the pads float on. They are also known as discs. When you brake, the the pads clamp down on the rotors. As the pads wear, so do the rotors. When the pads are gone, your caliper (thing that holds the pads) do the braking for you. They aren't supposed to, and it is very dangerous to drive like that. Any shop you take it to cannot legally let you drive away until they are fixed. You may be able to resurface the rotor. Otherwise, you will need new ones.

[BeemerMan]

its definetely your brakes and rotor. My car was grinding like crazy and on top of that one of my wheel barings was shot. So you can imagine how crappy my ride felt and sounded. My back rotors were shot so, I purchased some brembo cross drilled rotors for all 4, got new brakes, fixed my damaged wheel baring, got new mobil syn oil installed, and new oem spark plugs.

UNFUCKING BELIEVABLE!!! My car runs like its brand new. I've forgotten how quiet my car was!

[Fadec40]

el presidente, not to get into an argument here. But are u telling me that tires/wheels don't bolt to the rotors?

Looks like 5 bolt holes on this rotor to me!

[jllphan]

actually prez is right. the rotors have holes in them, so that the lug can pass through it and bolt to the hub.

He stated this in his post...

[Kevin325i]

They both bolt to the hub... so it's sorta like being bolted to each other..... Let's agree to disagree, no e-fightin boys.

Kevin

[Fadec40]

I was trying to explain to Rich328 in a simplified manner. He doesn't know the what rotors and pads are or what they do. and now you want to throw a "hub" into the conversation? Of course the tires attach to the hub. I was just trying to explain where the rotors are.

[BeemerMan]

Originally posted by Kevin325i@Jul 11 2004, 12:17 AM
They both bolt to the hub... so it's sorta like being bolted to each other..... Let's agree to disagree, no e-fightin boys.

Kevin

[El Presidente]

its funny. The wheels attatch via 5 heavy duty lug nuts. The rotor attatches via a wimpy allen screw (the hole for the allen screw can be seen between the top lug hole and the hole on the right).

[bitcore]

Aaaaanyways... Since nobody really clearly said this before, it's very bad to be braking without brake pads and the calipers are braking for you. Not only does it destroy and mess up the calipers, the rotors take a beating too and get seriously grooved, and if the padds are not changed soon enough, will ruin the rotors. Go to a tire shop or mechanic place, just about *any* gargae can do this job, get them to replace your pads and inspect your rotors (it's just a visual look-see) if they need changing.

[mstar]

for brake performance are new brake disks (rotors) important or new brake pads?

[El Presidente]

that depends on the condition of the rotors. Generally, pads are more important. If the rotors are worn though, they need to be replaced too.