Thursday, May 06, 2010

New Hawk Brakes! Painted Calipers!

Hawk brake pads arrived today about 30 minutes after I had dropped the car off at NTB so I walked them down there and had the pleasure of getting to watch as he was machining my rear driver's side rotor.  He did say that the rear rotors were also warped... worse than the fronts... o.O

A couple of hours later I picked up the car and on the way back down to my office I ran it around the block making some hard stops from 35-45 MPH and some softer ones (not complete stops) and I can really tell the difference. I'm really pleased with the brakes and with NTB! Good job!

I was talking with Sarah via texting and she said if I brought the car by that she'd paint the calipers... WOOHOO! So, off I went to Sarah and Troy's!!!

 They turned out beautifully... Here are the pics of before, during, and after.

Thank you so much Sarah and Troy!! - Reba

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Monday, May 03, 2010

Well... I had some plans....

I was looking at fixing some paint/small body dents and also MAYBE upgrading the rims but Trinity has decided that other things are requiring attention first. 

I had noticed that on extreme braking (from higher speeds on the highway and track) that the response was diminished and the brakes seemed to almost "grind" a bit.  I thought maybe the ABS was kicking in a little too hard at first but my instinct, and experience, with my Mustangs told me not to guess.

Since we had a rain-out on AER Manufacturing's show last Saturday (rescheduled for 5/8/10) I took that opportunity to take her up to Bankston Arlington (prev. Texan) for a complimentary brake inspection.  Ends up the front pads are shot, the front rotors are warped and the rear pads are down to 4mm.   So... no paint and no rims right now.  Baby needs some brakes.

I just bought some ceramic brake pads on American Muscle:
They should be here by Wednesday.  I talked with NTB down the street from work and got a quote on installing the pads and turning the rotors - $214.83 - for all four wheels.   Total for the whole thing - pads, install, turning the front and rear rotors - $411.92.  The dealership wanted $230 just to do the front (pads included) and another $230 for the rear. I'm saving a little bit AND I'm getting upgraded pads.  I could save more by having O'Reilly's turn the rotors at $15 each but I have to take them off the car and bring them in to them... not possible when it is your ONLY car.  :)  

It needs to be done so we'll bite the bullet and get it taken care of before it becomes a larger, more dangerous and more expensive problem.  I think I'll check with Sarah about painting the calipers too. :) 

- Reba