PowerStop Kit for 2005 CS (drilled, slotted) Unboxing

[Ricky1]

Recently purchased the PowerStop kit for a 2005 CS. Just wanted to share "unboxing" pics and a few details.

I have not installed it yet since the Kit did not come with Brake Hardware Kit, no caliper bolts, no disk set screw.

Powerstop kit came with the rotors sensors and ceramic pads. Purchased Powerstop kit from AutoAnything.com.

Purchased the front set only. They also have a kit for all four brakes.

I also was looking at the ECS Tuning Kits and they have more stuff in them. The kits at the lower price range are not slotted nor drilled (if you want that sort of thing).

About 63 lbs according to shipping label.

Box contains two rotors, set of ceramic pads and sensors

Right and left rotor indicated by a sticker on the rotor, or you can figure it out by the angle of the slot and/or drillings

Stampings on the rim says "EBR"... hmmm.....

You can also see that the inside half is thicker than the outside half. Anyone know why?

Stampings also say "China". Both Left and Right rotors have the same stampings. No indication of left or right. Both have the letter "L" on them.

One rotor had machined gouge on it. I guess these rotors are big and heavy enough for the need of balancing. The other rotor did not have any balancing (hopefully it is balanced and not neglected)

One rotor was showing rust on the inside. Looks like the grey (anti rust?) coating was sprayed on and on this rotor not as well done as the other one.

[seafeye]

If you are going to be doing the rear. There are a couple odd ball tools you will need to remove the rotor.

A M16 triple square bit to remove the caliper

A M5 triple square bit to remove the small screw that allows access to the rear parking brake adjustment.

If you are doing the front then you will have the torx bit for the screw that secures the rotor.

No idea why they use a 21mm bolt on the front caliper and a M16 triple square for the rear.

[clarksongli]

I'm not suprised these are from a chinese company.....again there are only a handful of rotor blank companies out there.....everyone buys from those companies and does "something" to them to make it their own.....similar for gasoline.

That machining "gouge" is not normal......remember, these come out of a casting....so unless something really F'ed up.....there would be somewhat of a tight tolerance around the castings being the same.......i would ask about that slot (pretty big chunk of material cut).

Also, there should be a left and right rotor.....the veins arc in the direction of rotation.....not sure how "required" that is, but OE type blanks are specific on the front.....even centric/stoptech brands.

Finally, the internal side is generally always thicker because that side will generally see high pad pressure....on single piston calipers the wear difference is even more noticeable....sometimes as much as 2x.

Bottom line......for a street driven car, OE spec blanks are good enough. Track cars, i run larger discs, but still blanks.....i approach the limit of the tire well before the head capacity of the pads. I see too many split discs from companies simply drilling OE blanks without fully redesigning the veins to compensate for the holes.

Take a look inside.....are the holes supported, or do some of them simply just drill through and maybe even intersect with the veins?

Edited November 13, 2013 by clarksongli

[jagman1]

I disagree about the gouge. The gouge is present on most rotors and is for balancing. I would be more concerned about the rotor that doesn't have it.

As for Left/right, Porsche rotor only have and L or R painted onto the hat. The way the veins are oriented they do look directional.

[jrolstin]

I have these on my Cayenne! The hats are completely rusted after 1 Canadian winter and the rotors are pulsing from hot-spotting causing cementite due to alloy impurities... Good value though..... lol

[Ricky1]

Thanks for your imput jrolstin. Without members commenting any future purchases will only be "best guesses". I have purchased my already and will not take the time to return them even though I have not installed them yet. I will update this forum, with my experience with the rotors/pads a few months after I installed them and periodically afterwards. One Canadian winter... I would guess lots of road salt... but still, the hats should not be rusted. One thing that I did worry about and still worry about is alloy quality... I will find that out soon.

The rest of the hardware has arrived. I recently spoke to an "official" Porsche Technician. He was quite candid. Like me, he would not put on new caliper bolts... just use the existing ones and torque them properly. But since this is my first Porsche brake job, I will replace the bolts.

Caliper bolts, front and rear set plus disc set screw. I don't think I really need them... should just reuse the existing ones, any comments?

Hardware Kits are from Centric, one front set and one rear set.

[clarksongli]

i reused the caliper bolts and pad pins....simply because they are non stretch bolts and i didnt order replacements.

If you already bought them and cannot return them, then why not replace them? As for the pins....they will be a pain in the but to remove becasue they will have gunk all over them(see my DIY). Once you scrape enough off, you should be able to get them out....but clean new pins would be nice to reinstall.

But short answer, do it if you want, but don't feel compelled to do so

[Ricky1]

Powerstop brake kit update:

 

Purchased kit in Nov 2013.  Installed in February 2014.

 

Its now September 2014.

Current comments:

 

Kit has less bite than original Pagid pads.  Easier to modulate brakes in normal city traffic.  But it does have less stopping power, ie. I had to press the brakes a bit harder for the same "quick" stops.  But, easier modulation eliminates the lurching that happens when the SUV is moving slowly in traffic and you touch the brakes a bit too hard even though you used very little foot pressure.

 

The drilled and slotted disks looks good but I couldn't tell you of any performance advantages due to the fact I don't drive the SUV very hard.  Nothing I normally do would bring up fading.

 

BUT... I do have a problem with this kit... horendous squealing/screeching from both front brakes.  I've beded properly, serveral times.  I've applied anti sqeak compound on the back of the pads (using this stuff has never failed me in any of my previous non Porsche vehicles).  I've used brake lube too.  It happens at slow speeds when the brakes are applied.  Situation: Back out of the garage into a back alley... hit the brakes... "clunk" the pads shift because the wheels were moving backwards.  Put it into drive to go forwards.  Drive for about three house lengths to the end of the alley to turn left... hit the brakes gently and SCREECH!  Super loud, all neighbours would hear it.  After hitting the brakes a few times while travelling forward, the screeching would go away.

 

So... pads get out of position when initially going backwards?  I've used new retaining springs and reused the old ones just ot see if it happens to both.  It does.  I am thinking if I double up the spring (which I can't) the problem would go away.

 

I have now given up and am looking at Bosch QuietCast pads.

 

Anyone have a fix without me buying new and different pads?  Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

[clarksongli]

If that's a picture of the bedded rotor then you need to redo the bedding.  The challenge with slotted and drilled rotors is building heat into the rotor for a proper bedding....they are built to expel heat as quickly as possible.

 

The rotor clearly hasn't gone through a heat cycle and most likely has no/very spotty transfer layer.  If this is a pre-bed picture can you get us a picture of the rotor now?  You can tell a lot about the brake system by looking at the rotor.

[Ricky1]

The picture above is a brand new rotor prior to any use, which also means no bedding.

 

Here are pictures of the rotor after three beddings ( each maybe a month or two apart) and about 6 months of light everyday city use.

 

Driver side rotor:

 

 

Passenger side rotor:

 

 

Obviously there is a problem with what I would call uneven contact/wear.  I do not know how to get rid of it, ie. make it wear evenly  or is it a defect of the pad or rotor itself.

 

Look forward to replys from the expert Forum members.  Thank you.  The only thing I can think of is I went too easy when bedding and should really "go at it".

[clarksongli]

So it's a little hard to tell from that photo but it looks like you might have gone a little easy during bedding, it looks like there is some areas of glazing.  It's sort of weird that you have uneven pad contact considering we have multiple piston calipers.  Anyways:

 

I'd go back out and really stick it to the pads......you will want to do many passes and get heat into them.  If the brakes aren't fading then you aren't getting heat into them.

 

By the end of my bedding, my pads are fading and generally there is a stink to the pads plus some smoke.  You should have a dullish finish all around.....and hopefully it will take care of that glazed zone you have.

[Ricky1]

Intial problem with new rotors and pads ==> horendous sqealling while trying to stop from slow speeds.

Solution: Find a long downhill stretch of road with little or no traffic and bed the pads until you smell "brake".

 

As per clarksongli's recommendation... "really stick it to the pads".  Well that seemed to have work with two bedding runs on a lengthy stretch of downhill road.  Currently, once in a while there is a "quiet squeal" when stopping from a slow speed, but is like 99.99% less noise than before the harsh bedding.  I may bed it again soon to try to get rid of all the noise.

 

Pad or rotor manufactures should add to their bedding instructions that propper bedding should bring about "brake smell".

[clarksongli]

Intial problem with new rotors and pads ==> horendous sqealling while trying to stop from slow speeds.

Solution: Find a long downhill stretch of road with little or no traffic and bed the pads until you smell "brake".

 

As per clarksongli's recommendation... "really stick it to the pads".  Well that seemed to have work with two bedding runs on a lengthy stretch of downhill road.  Currently, once in a while there is a "quiet squeal" when stopping from a slow speed, but is like 99.99% less noise than before the harsh bedding.  I may bed it again soon to try to get rid of all the noise.

 

Pad or rotor manufactures should add to their bedding instructions that propper bedding should bring about "brake smell".

I'm glad i could help.  Yes unfortunately today they provide little to no instructions or science behind bedding and building that transfer layer on the rotor....or even how to read the rotor for signs of no bedding or uneven bedding.

 

The other problem today is they sell stuff called "pre scortched" which essentially means nothing to the user as bedding is still 100% required....just means they won't offgas as much smelly bad stuff.

 

Either way, good luck.....with big brakes and venting/slotting/drilling, it becomes increasingly difficult to get enough heat in the pads to effectively bed them.....it approaches a somewhat unsafe level on the streets because you need so much room to accelerated and hard brake just to get heat in the system.