OEM vs Aftermarket Rotors

Very, very nice!! I would love to try them out before I drop that much coin though. Are they worth it?

 

Got my hopes up with this, but OEM 2nd gen rotors are already 28mm thick.
http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/s...bolt-on-better-brakes-for-your-toyota-tacoma/

 

maybe how you drive also affects rotos? i still have OEM on my wife 02 sienna at 189k and still look good, never needs recon. and recently put on 4th brake pads.

 

That much coin? The StopTech slotted rotors are only $82 each on Rock Auto.

The rotors work well. However, the Akebono ACT pads I got were designed for no-noise and no-dust, at the expense of less initial bite. When I service my brakes in 2018 I will probably replace the pads with something more aggressive.

 

Oh gotcha. I guess I was thinking big brake kit.

 

Big brake kits offered by StopTech (and rebranded as TRD) and by Brembo require 17" wheels.

 

I'm a big fan of slotted rotors for thier ability to clear water out from between the pad and rotor. Unless you're trailering beyond common sense with a Tacoma heat probably won't be an issue, although brake fade is truly terrifying.

 

I got 100kmiles on the factory brakes and still had plenty of life on the pads so I didn't turn the rotors. I scuffed them up and replaced the pads. I got another 100k on those and this time I replaced the rotors with Napa and used OEM pads.

 

I have these on all four corners of my (now my son's) 2005 Nissan Xterra.
They're great. No dust and a lot less fade in the wet, probably due to the holes. I also had them on another, prior, second generation Xterra.
Their improved performance over stock is probably due to the ceramic pads but as a side benefit I think they nickel plate the hub so they don't show rust for a long long time.

 

Well

Well my oems warped after 22k miles. So ill never go back

 

I had the TRD pads on my 95 Hi lux pickup, some observations on them are yes they do stop and have a very good bite opposed to the OEMs no doubt, but on the downside they will dust your rims black so much you will be cleaning them every other day, also one set of TRD pads will eat the rotors away because of the high metal content of the pads so you will need to replace the rotors after every pad replacement with them. on the OEMs you can use the rotors 2-3 times before replacing. there is a middle ground tho the factory pads are semi metallic if you use them opposed to the newer ceramic toyota OEM replacements, the OEM(factory) cost $80 and the Ceramic OEM are $50-$65. The factory semi metallic have a very good bite opposed to the Ceramics,Im running the ceramics for cost reasons they do fine for me on a stock setup and zero dust.

 

I'm running Centric blank rotors that I'm very happy with. I went out on a limb and tried the new Raybestos Element3 pads and have been terribly disappointed. Stopping performance is worse than NAPA standard pads and they squeak terribly when cold. I got 60k out of the NAPA pads and I may go back even though the Raybestos are still brand new.

 

I've wrecked brand new rotors with less than 500 miles on them. Not on this truck though. After that, I babied new brakes for at least 2 tanks of gas with every vehicle since.

 

I recently did a front brake swap & had the oem rotors resurfaced. The shop owner was very surprised at the quality and that the needed little to no resurfacing.

 

If your OEMs held up for that long I would stick with OEM, just make sure you 'burn' your brakes in once you get them on, they last a lot longer that way

If you really wanted an upgrade though I would recommend a big brake kit w/ stainless steel brake lines, bigger rotors means a larger area for the heat to dissipate which is great when you're braking with a trailer down a hill, and the stainless lines keep a constant pressure and firmer pedal (less stopping distance) instead of bulging after time

 

I went with ebc green stuff and the slotted and drilled rotors.

 

How do you like it on the Tacoma? I've run that setup on my BMW and really liked it. That is likely the route I will go on the taco when the stockers wear out.

 

I've been using yellow stuff. It's dusty, but works.

 

Only got about 600 miles on them, so far i like them, the fact my steering wheel doesnt dance everywhere is good enough for me lol

 

I've ran slotted/crossdrilled combo rotors on another vehicle(I drove it hard!) and have had nothing but good results. As long as you buy quality aftermarket parts you shouldn't have problems.