Bosch brake + rotor replacement

[beatle]

When I bought my car in October of last year, I noticed it had a bit of vibration when I'd hit the brakes. It wasn't bad, but it was annoying. I picked up a set of Bosch BC1474 ceramic pads and Power Stop AR84000EVC coated rotors from RockAuto. Total including shipping was just over $200.

The install was kind of a pain, as I don't believe the rotors or pads had ever been serviced, and I picked up the 4 year old car from Chicago. There was no rust, but the pads were jammed into the calipers pretty good. A lot of 4 letter words and prying finally got the pads out. I cleaned things up with a wire brush, brake cleaner, and then greased the contact points with grease.

The new rotors went on and then when I went to put the pads on, I noticed something very strange. They had "ears" that stuck up proud from the caliper. Fortunately they did not hit the wheel. I'm not sure what they're for, other than to give you something to grab onto with a pair of vice grips when you need to pull them out.

I've been running them since March, and they have been very good. I always thought the car came with kind of weak brakes, but figured it could have been my old setup that wasn't serviced. That might be the case, but I have no issues with the Bosch. They are silent and produce less dust than the OEM pads. If you don't mind the "ears" they are a good choice. The coated rotors are also still holding up fine and look nice through the wheels, though they haven't had a very hard life so far.

 

[ngng]

what do you mean by ears? any photos?

I know your pain...I won't even buy a vehicle from anywhere it snows!

regarding "weak" brakes, for street driving most braking systems are adequate. when braking starts to feel "weak" or "soft" a brake bleed is a good choice.

 

[Huachipato]

I did a similar thing. I also purchased a 4 year old car from Chicago and the pads were shot. Also had the vibration similar to warped rotors. I used Centric rotors from Tirerack and new pads from Brembo.

I only did the front brakes, and I don't recall the pads having those Mickey Mouse ears. Image of the removed pads...

 

[ngng]

I did a similar thing. I also purchased a 4 year old car from Chicago and the pads were shot. Also had the vibration similar to warped rotors. I used Centric rotors from Tirerack and new pads from Brembo.

I only did the front brakes, and I don't recall the pads having those Mickey Mouse ears. Image of the removed pads...

it's pretty rare to see warped rotors these days, generally the vibrations you feel are from uneven pad deposits. usually happens when people cook their brakes and overheat their pads. you see this a lot with people who take their cars to the track or ride their brakes

can usually be solved with a more aggressive pad compound (that wears the uneven deposits off), cleaning up the rotor, or replacing the rotor/pads. whatever is cheaper/whatever parts you have around will probably dictate the course of action you take!

 

[beatle]

what do you mean by ears? any photos?

I know your pain...I won't even buy a vehicle from anywhere it snows!

regarding "weak" brakes, for street driving most braking systems are adequate. when braking starts to feel "weak" or "soft" a brake bleed is a good choice.

There is a picture attached to my post. You can see the "ears" sticking proud of the caliper. The original brakes had no bite and required a lot of effort to get them to lock up.

It's possible I could have cleaned up the rotors with a flap wheel, but the replacement was inexpensive and the lower dust is nice.

 

[rooter]

Warped rotors are almost always caused by uneven tightening of the lugs or tightening out of pattern.

 

[Huachipato]

Guys - warped rotors is not the topic of this thread. I'm sorry I mentioned it (though not sorry I changed the rotors for new ones). It's the pads used by OP for his brakes. Look at his image - there are those 2 circles per pad that seem to go straight up toward the wheel barrel. I posted the pictures of the pads I removed for comparison sake.

Personally I think OP got the wrong pads.

 

[beatle]

You know, maybe I did order the wrong pads... Other than the ears, the pads fit the calipers perfectly, but Bosch does not show a ceramic pad fitting the front. They call out the BP1001 semi-metallic pad as the choice for the front.

What's also really strange is RockAuto no longer even lists a single Bosch pad for the Model S. My receipt from March of this year shows that both the pads and rotors were for a 2015 Model S, so it must have been there at the time.

At any rate, I'd say the pads still technically work and do a good job, albeit with some interesting cosmetic features. I've put nearly 2k miles on them so far. I wonder how the BP1001 would fare.

My main reason for posting this was to show that brake parts for this car do not have to cost an arm and a leg, and they do not have to come from Tesla. I didn't post it back in March in case the pads or rotors ended up being junk.

 

[Huachipato]

After a little googling of "brake pads with weights" or "circle weights on brake pads" I'm realizing there are some pads with and some without those weights. I see now in our application it is no different. Best as I can tell they are weights to help reduce vibrations that cause squealing noise. If you hunt around you end up in a lot of car forums asking about it - but noise reduction seems to be the main reason.

 

[beatle]

That's very interesting - artificially adding unsprung weight to reduce noise. I will say they are silent, but I have the same pads on my truck (no ears) and they are silent (and good performers) as well which is why I sought out a set for the S.

 

[ngng]

Warped rotors are almost always caused by uneven tightening of the lugs or tightening out of pattern.

this is incorrect information. uneven wheel torque is bad, for obvious reasons (losing a wheel nut, shearing a stud). an incorrectly torqued wheel can manifest it as a vibration, which many think is a warped rotor