# Installed EBC Slotted Rotors and Greenstuff Pads



## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

Last night I installed the EBC USR slotted rotors with Greenstuff pads, front and back. Wasn't too bad of an install. I rented the piston tool to screw back in the rear caliper pistons from O'Reilly. Free rental, just have to place a deposit until returned. That was worth it, they were a pain to get screwed back in. 

Install went smooth, but did take some time. I did a complete brake flush with DOT 4 at the same time. Nothing different from a typical brake job other than the rear pistons screw in instead of press. Brake flush took a bit to get done correctly. I used a syringe to suck out most of the old fluid and then did the bleeding until new stuff was clear, or relatively so. Took 44 ounces to get it completely done. 

I am now bedding in the brakes. These rotors come completely painted black, including the pad surface. The black coating has already scrubbed off the pad surface in only a couple miles. No harsh noises or anything. The first couple miles you could hear the paint scrubbing off, but that went away quick. Even though I'm not getting on it hard while bedding in, they are noticeably better than stock. The pedal is very stiff now. They response is much better. I'll report back my experience.


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)




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## 97vr6blu (May 7, 2008)

Nice, hope to hear some good results. While I wasn't impressed with Greenstuff for my car, I'm sure they'll work out nicely for the van. I currently run Yellowstuff on my Focus, and I am mostly happy, but will be going back to Hawk shortly.

I have the '12 SE with the bigger brakes and haven't noticed anything other than overheating of the brakes. Got them hot enough to smoke coming down 120 on the way home from Yosemite and luckily that instance didn't cause any lasting issue, so I think these newer brakes will do fine. I will most definitely be upgrading to a better pad when it's time, though.


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## 58kafer (Jun 27, 2007)

Cool deal. I just bought the brakeperformance.com dimpled and slotted with the free semi-metallic pads. I did a few emails back and forth with DozerCSX(after I pulled the trigger) and reassured myself of the decision. I just ordered on Wednesday and will have them this coming Friday. But I just went back on and they are having a sale with 10% off then I googled for a promo code and turned up MEDIA31 and you can be OTD for $312.51 SHIPPED for all 4 corners with pads AND LIFETIME WARRANTY on the rotors. The warranty is what sold me and also the reason I went with their pads. I don't want to hear that it was something with the pads I used and voided the warranty crap.


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## Volvos Rock (Oct 13, 2011)

Ordered the front slotted/dimpled from brakeperformance.ine will be paired with Akebono ceramics. This set up has worked well on my Volvo S80 and my Ckevy K1500. 


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

Update on the brake performance with EBC rotor and pads installed.

A few weeks of driving and the pads are fully bedded. I thought I would provide an update. 

The process to bed the pads was easy and uneventful. There was a slight increase in dust, but nothing too substantial. The painted rotors I am sure contributed to increased dusting in the short term. Break in was easy.

Regarding performance, absolutely improved braking. The pedal is more stiff, but not overly so. Stopping is improved. Upon hard braking, I can hear an ever so slight difference in what I typically would hear, hard to explain. Meaning I can hear the pads gripping, or biting seems to be the term. My wife says she can't hear anything. Otherwise, there is no noise whatsoever in this slotted rotors and pad combination.

Regarding improved stopping power, I have read many many articles about the science and engineering of automobile brakes. I would attribute the improved braking to a combination of things:

1. Brake fluid flush: Improved pedal feel.
2. Slotted Rotors and Premium Pads: Definitely a noticeable improvement in grip, attribute to premium materials and possibly the expelling of gasses, as claimed by slotted makers, improves the pad-to-rotor friction. Certainly improved friction over stock, hence the better stopping power.
3. Slotted Rotors: I believe they will improve braking if not for expelling of gasses, definitely by removing glazing and constantly resurfacing of pads; maintaining ideal pad to rotor contact and material freshness. Although that may come at a cost of more frequent pad wear. How much is yet to be determined. It's difficult to identify how much the improved performance is associated with the slotted rotors either directly or indirectly. Improvement none the less. 

With that said, at this point in time, I would most definitely make this purchase again. The van stops much better and provides comfort to realize this safety improvement for the benefit of my family. However, if it does not last long enough or the rotors warp again in short order, then I would reverse my opinion and bag the idea of ever going this route in the future. Hopefully the realized performance gains don't come at the cost of longevity and will be sustainable for at least as long as the stock pads, thereby achieving at least the goal of better braking. Time will tell, sorry for the overly long comment.


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## Ipfreely49 (Jul 20, 2011)

Steve, that's good to hear. I just got my EBC Greenstuff 6000 series pads from amazon today (there was a sale this weekend) and my drilled and slotted rotors are on the way from brakeperformance.com should be here by the weekend. I'm not sure when I will have time to get the job done though. I also bought 2 quarts of decent looking fluid and will flush the system. 

One thing I noticed which I was surprised to see was how much further worn the rear is compared to the front. Every vehicle I have had before even with 4 wheel discs I got 2 fronts to each rear. Right now I have 58000 miles and the fronts could easily go another 20k-30k miles if it weren't for the horrible warping of the rotors. The backs however are completly shot. 

My Toyota Tacoma got 120000 miles out of the front brakes and the rears were still fine but got new shoes just because. No warped rotors either... Fwiw. 



Steveaut said:


> Update on the brake performance with EBC rotor and pads installed.
> 
> A few weeks of driving and the pads are fully bedded. I thought I would provide an update.
> 
> ...


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

Ipfreely49 said:


> One thing I noticed which I was surprised to see was how much further worn the rear is compared to the front. Every vehicle I have had before even with 4 wheel discs I got 2 fronts to each rear. Right now I have 58000 miles and the fronts could easily go another 20k-30k miles if it weren't for the horrible warping of the rotors. The backs however are completly shot.
> 
> My Toyota Tacoma got 120000 miles out of the front brakes and the rears were still fine but got new shoes just because. No warped rotors either... Fwiw.


You describe my situation exactly. I have about 55k and my front pads had plenty of life left, but for the fact that I had warpage, as it is called, aka steering wheel wobble. The rear pads were gone and ate up a lot of the rear rotors to the point that if I wanted to turn them, I couldn't. At the minimum, I would have to buy near rear rotors and pads and at least turn the front rotors. None of this made sense to do so I went with the upgrades. So far so good, hope it stays that way for at least 25k. That's the number I have decided make this a worth while investment.


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

*Update on EBC Slotted Rotors and Greenstuff Pads*

This is an update on the performance of the EBC Slotted rotors and EBC Greenstuff pads.

I installed this setup in May. Its been about 7 months and around 12k miles or so. Performance is and has been great, no complaints there. However, I took at look at the wear the other day. I am surprised to see that the front pads are at or near the end of their life. Not much left. Maybe five thousand or so miles left, not much. I would say about an 1/8th of inch or so of pad is left on the front. The rears are much better off and have some good life left. I could be off on this and maybe they could go much longer, but I don't think so. I am going to keep my eye on them.

The good news is that the rotors are great. No visible wear whatsoever. At this point on the two stock sets, the rear rotors had visible wearing. You could also feel a lip forming. These EBC slotted have no signs of wear, which is really great news. A lot less expensive to replace rotors and pads than just pads. 

Here's my question to all of you. What pad should I go with on the fronts? I am not inclined to spend another $70 ever 8-12 months on pads. 

1. I thought about going the Ultimax EBC pads, which are stock replacements and about half the cost. Down side is they may not perform the same and I lose that component to the reason I upgraded.

2. I could go a ceramic pad. I understand they are harder and tend to last longer.

3. I considered a Hawk HPS pad, I hear good things about them. 

Any suggestions?


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## Chedman13 (May 30, 2012)

Hawk hps or akebono if they make them.

they may squeal when cold so be aware.


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## Steveaut (Sep 16, 2010)

Chedman13 said:


> Hawk hps or akebono if they make them.
> 
> they may squeal when cold so be aware.
> 
> ...


I just installed new Akebono Pro ceramic pads on the front last weekend. I am so glad I didn't wait another day. The EBC pads were right at the point where I was about to cause damage to the rotors. I'm sure glad I didn't push it further considering the rotors were about 500 for the EBC Slotted. 

The Akebonos are awesome pads. I have no noise at all and it's cold - freezing - and they perform very nice. I would say better than the EBC greenstuff's. Near the end of the greenstuff's life they started exhibiting a grinding type noise. I just hope the Akebonos last longer than the 7 months EBCs went.


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