The brakes are not too small for the car as the very same units are used on the much heavier models like the Malibu. G6 and other cars in the GM line with no issues.

Factors like out of adj rear brakes and bad hub are the real issue.

Also people need to put away the made in China being an issue. My company sells rotors made in China and the US and we have issues and no issues with each. I had to return my last set of American rotors as they were screwed up right out of the box as they left the balance weights lose in the rotor.

Just stick with a good name brand and do not go crazy with the drilled and slotted unless you like the look and you will be fine.

Many rotors and many auto parts today are also made in India. In fact many more in some cases than even in China. Try to get a stock engine mount made anywhere but India even most name brands. Same for Valves as most are made in Chile.

There is good and bad no matter where it is made and I am sad to say the American parts are also hit and miss on the same percentage as China or anywhere else. I deal with warranties on auto part for a living and no one has a lock on quality anymore. People want cheap parts and spotty suppliers are willing to supply as long as people will buy.

 

interesting feedback. I didn't know about that many parts are being made in India.

If the hub does definitely show itself to be the culprit in the morning when I switch rotors around, I'm seriously considering just buying some new Moog hubs from Advance Auto parts and replace both and be done with it. After coupon they would run about $230 for both tax included, and they come with a 3 year warranty. I'm going to switch rotors around to see if the rotor on the left which is showing .001" will show the same on the right. That way I'll know for sure if its the hub bearing on the right that's bad. If the right one is bad, I may as well replace the left on too as I would imagine that it would be soon to follow. The dealer at best is only going to replace them one at a time as they go bad, and in the meanwhile, if I do finally get them to replace the right one, I'm probably going to run into the same pulsing issue shortly down the road when the left hub bearings go bad.

 

If the bearing is in spec it may not also go. There is a lot of factors involved here such as hitting a curb or hole in the road that could have done the damage. It won't hurt to replace both but if it is in spec you don't have too.

Just buy the best bearing you can as I have seen people buy cheaper ones and often they fail again. I have not had to replace mine but the guys at work normally go with the Timken bearings and never have an issue. Note many of these bearings are all made by one company. The other companies will rebox them as their own. You could buy two bearings and get the same one in two different boxes. There are only a couple MFG of hub bearings.

 

The Timkens can be had for about the same price as the Moog ones. Amazon has them for $120 ea. The Timken ones only come with a 1 yr warranty whereas the Moog ones have a 3 yr warranty. I guess I'll figure it out here in a bit. What you said about one going bearing going bad but not the other makes sense, but I think that if I end up doing the one that I'd rather do both and be done with it for a while. I just will have to decide whether or not to keep my Raybestos Advanced Tech rotors or go ahead and put the NAPA Ultras on. I really don't know if the one is better than the other or not.

 

Interesting...I didn't realize until I did a bit of research that the NAPA ultra premium rotors are merely rebranded Raybestos rotors. Raybestos has them on its own website.

 

Were you able to get the rotors and pads replaced this morning? If so, how are things with the vehicle?

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service

 

Most part store parts are all private brands that are made by someone else. Most times they are nothing but reboxed name brand parts, sometimes they are spec made cheaper parts and other times they are some generic part made by a small MFG>

We carry a line of private brands where I work and 80% are as good as anything on the market some are ok and the rest you get what you pay.

Even some of the parts like the cold air intake kits still come in the KNN box and are identical.

Most people just do not understand or even consider how small the auto parts market is. There are only a couple spark plug wire MFG. Most companies just have the wire MFG to their spec. Many regular production cams are turned by the same company that does it dose it for most companies. Same for Valves and many other parts.

So if you check things out somtimes you can save a little money and still get a good name brand MFG parts for a little less. At times it can be hard to find who makes what as even my firm will not tell us who makes what to keep it quiet.

 

I didn't realize there are so few companies making some of these parts.

I took the hub on the right that is in spec and swapped it to the left and low and behold, it dialed in spec. meaning that the left hub isn't bad after all. The Oreilly's that turned the rotors somehow got the left one off. When I put the left hub that is out of spec onto the right, it dialed at being over spec., so the one rotor is definitely not right. I also took a micrometer and measured the thickness, and they took off quite a bit more than they said. Oreilly's said that they took off only about .005", but my micrometer showed about .020" difference between the turned rotor and the new one.

I decided to be done with it and went ahead and put on the new rotors and NAPA Adaptive One pads and all is smooth now. I drove around and bedded the brakes in. Hopefully I won't have any more brake problems for a while.

 

I stopped turning rotors when I no longer had a lath to do them myself. I never liked cutting much on the new rotors anway and many places have a hard time mounting them to the lath. Many MFG recomend only turning them on the car anymore but mostly dealers only have this kind of tool.

I just buy new Bendix and toss the old ones. New solid rotors, the best quality pads and bedding them in properly has left me with no brake issues for a long time. To this point I have never had a hub go bad but I am due.

 

I would hope that you put the old "iron" either into the recycling or sell it. I know that someone in your neighborhood is willing to take it off your hands, check Craigslist.

I don't know how a tech could be so incompetent as to turn a rotor "out of spec". I did know that it is possible!