[Kranium31]

I have an 07 malibu and im not too happy with the brakes. The whole car shakes when braking quickly. So im thinking ditch the one piston calipers for impala calipers maybe???

Is there anything that isnt really expensive that will work for me?

 

[bignick]

you've probably got warped rotors...

 

[GTPMALIBU]

yeah mine work awsome..... stop better than the ones on my GTP and their drilled and slotted rotors with ceramic pads

 

[DOACanada]

you've probably got warped rotors...

Was gonna say the samething....What is your highway to city driving ratio? Do you have rims or are the black steel rims with hub caps?

From my own personal experience I have a 05' GP and it has steel rims with hub caps on it, however I find that the heat disipation is not that great which cause the brakes to get quite hot and thus end up warping the rotors.

Now 95% of my driving is highway driving and 60% of it is into a major city (Toronto) so traffic tends to get quite stupid sometimes. Now my passive-aggressive driving style doesn't help much either.

 

[Kranium31]

Was gonna say the samething....What is your highway to city driving ratio? Do you have rims or are the black steel rims with hub caps?

From my own personal experience I have a 05' GP and it has steel rims with hub caps on it, however I find that the heat disipation is not that great which cause the brakes to get quite hot and thus end up warping the rotors.

Now 95% of my driving is highway driving and 60% of it is into a major city (Toronto) so traffic tends to get quite stupid sometimes. Now my passive-aggressive driving style doesn't help much either.

i do have the steel wheels. I drive on the highway about 80% of the time, and the drive from Rhode Island to Boston is nothing but traffic most of the time. So what can I do besides just change the brakes? Its my daily driver so i dont really want to spend a ton of money on it either

 

[1fastdog]

i do have the steel wheels. I drive on the highway about 80% of the time, and the drive from Rhode Island to Boston is nothing but traffic most of the time. So what can I do besides just change the brakes? Its my daily driver so i dont really want to spend a ton of money on it either

Vibration on braking isn't always a case of "warped" rotors. It can be uneven distribution of pad material to the rotors. Your rotors should be checked by a shop you are comfy with. The rotors MAY be warped and need replacement, or they could just require being "turned" to remove the uneven pad material if there is enough rotor material left to allow safe turning..

In racing, there's a process of "bedding in" the brakes. This just means a routine of making a few different speed and intensity stops and alloung the rotors and pad to completely cool down. It's a good idea for new pads, or new rotors... either after service or when the car is new.

It's also very important to install wheels with a torque stick rather than an impact wrench. This will prevent any misalignment of the rotor passing throuh the calipers...which is what leads to "warped" rotors in about 7k miles.

There's a lot you can try in brake pad material to achieve different braking characteristics. Really aggressive brake pad compounds which will work under street driving < which means the pads have to function cold > will dust a lot and squeal to a degree.

Race pads will never get hot enough to work on a street driven vehicle and will not stop the car if they are cold. Never run a race only pad on the street! You will not have stopping ability.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[snobrdrdan]

These cars are notorious for brake issues as well (posted MANY times on Saturnfans.com)

The car should be under warranty still, so take it to the dealer & they'll see if the rotors are possibly warped & replace as necessary (if they are)


OR spend some money on a nicer set of rotors/pads that'll last longer & give you better braking performance (you only really need to worry about the front brakes anyways since that's where most of your braking is done)

 

[Kranium31]

These cars are notorious for brake issues as well (posted MANY times on Saturnfans.com)

The car should be under warranty still, so take it to the dealer & they'll see if the rotors are possibly warped & replace as necessary (if they are)


OR spend some money on a nicer set of rotors/pads that'll last longer & give you better braking performance (you only really need to worry about the front brakes anyways since that's where most of your braking is done)

well the car has just over 40k on it now and the only thing that is under warrenty is the powertrain at this point.

I might have the dealer do the brakes but knowing the dealer they will want new rotors whether they need them or not

I cant do anything untill my mileage check comes in for last month anyway

 

[Kranium31]

OR spend some money on a nicer set of rotors/pads that'll last longer & give you better braking performance (you only really need to worry about the front brakes anyways since that's where most of your braking is done)

i was hoping that there was a cheap caliper upgrade from another car too. Just to give you an idea my 89 Mustang has 2 piston calipers from a 00 GT. Cheap upgrade from the crappy 1 piston brakes that were on it from the get go.

What kind of rotors are available and should i look into a set of alloy wheels off of another car?

 

[Malo83]

Maybe you can get some upgraded stuff off an SS Impala,SS HHR or SS Cobalt, never know what might fit

 

[Kranium31]

Maybe you can get some upgraded stuff off an SS Impala,SS HHR or SS Cobalt, never know what might fit

thats what i was thinking but i dont know what fits