Well.. here's for the n00b question of the day...
The last time my local dealer "replaced" the front brakes, they resurfaced the rotor and did a crappy job. Now i dont drive it, my wife does, so we didnt know anything was wrong til recently....almost 2 years later. When i brake it kinds of grab and go in cycles..like if you were pumping a bit. Whoever inspected it says the rotor arent true (whatever that means) and from what I gather, the last peeps who did the job....well didnt do it right ><
so....since no one will resurface that (too close to the limit), I think it's time to just put a new set.

Any advice on which one to get ? I have no idea which is what. I am planning to change this myself (seems ez enough) so plz feel free to add your advices and comments !!

thanks

ps, mazda 6 s, 2003

 

Yeah, the front ones shouldn't be too bad. A coupla' 14mm(?) bolts to remove the calipers and slip on anew set ofrotors and pads. The rears are a different story.
Stock rotors sound like a good choice for you and any parts store should have or be able to get them much, much cheaper than the Stealer would. Also, avoid pad material that's too hard.(Tip: Avoid the ones w/the "Lifetime" Warranty.) These pads can often be harder than the rotor material and while the pad wears slower, the rotor wears faster.It's far cheaper(believe me) to replace a set of pads once in a while than to have to replace both pads AND rotors every time.Again, in your case I'd go for a OE replacement set.

I don't know what your technical skills are so I'm not trying to be condescending here, just some advice:

1. Be sure to clean and grease the caliper slider assem. And while you're at it, check how your current pads are wearing. i.e. Is the inside pad much thinner than the outside one, or visa-verse.
2. These days, most new rotors are "ready to go." That is, they can be installed right out of the box, after you check for visual damage. But, a check w/a vernier dial caliper after it's installed on the car is still a good idea to checkfor run out. If you don't have this tool (many don't,) but develop pedal pulsing, or a weird vibrationright away, take the car to have the new rotors"trued" ASAP.
3. Have a way to support the caliper once unbolted. Don't just let it hang by the hose. A piece of wire coat hanger can help here.
4. Make sure that all the surfaces are clean prior to driving the car. It's almost impossible to keep things clean while you're doing the job, so a can of brake cleaner after will clean off any dirt or grease. This is critical.
5. Be sure to give the new pads time/mileage to wear in to the rotor properly. It's usually recommended that you avoid hard stops for at least the first 100+ miles.

 

thx a lot !
I used to work on airplanes, so i can learn fast and a brake job doesn't look hard, but cars are different than airplanes
Any advice is greatly appreciated, and OE is what I had in mind....but I would have been suckered into the lifetime pads...so thanks (makes sense the way you put it !).
Now....for the part where I tell my wife I'll be changing HER brakes (knowing her, she's gonna ask me if I took a new life policy on her ).

 

ok...found my rotors (cheaper than i thought !)
now for the pads...
I'm a little lost in there. I get the concept about not too hard material (ceramic being the hardest right ?)
but even the "OE replacement" advertized on different vendors (kragen,napa, rockauto...) there's a lot to choose from. all seem to say semi-metallic...not sure what to go for. What is organic ? what about ceramic safety stop?
I'd ask the local kragen, but I already know their answer ("well, we got those raybestos on sale....bla bla....")

thx again

 

virgin1 is exactly right, on all accounts. My only suggestion is to in fact buy the actual Mazda pads and rotors from the dealer. Then save some bucks by doing the work yourself. The parts will cost more, but they'll be the "as Mazda and God Herself intended" correct parts. Pay the money, you'll be glad you did.

David

 

You're quite welcome andI'm gladyou seemed to find the information (andopinion) useful.

I believe semi-mets are OE, so I would stay with them, but the level of the metal content can vary widely in pads.
Organics, as I've read and understand them, are actually compressed plant matter and often Kevlar is included in the compound. What kind of plant or what the actual process to make them though, I'm not sure. These will reduce your rotor wear by far, but also increase your stopping distance and I wouldn't recommend going that route either.
For pads, perhaps a trip to your local parts store(s) is in order to see what they offer and what the pads look like? Most will honor web pricing these days if their prices are higher (not always.)
Or, as David suggests, and if you don't have time to research, simply buy from the dealer to be on the saf(er) side?

I hear ya' on the wife thing too. Mine is happy I know how to work on (her) cars. She's happy to save the $$$and doesn't think I've figured out just how to sabotage her ride. Silly woman.