Brake & Rotors - Malibu 2001

Mar 01, 2004 5 Replies

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David 22 years ago

I recently moved to the USA from the UK and now own a Malibu 2001. The brake pads and rotors are needing replaced and I was hoping you could recommend a decent manufacture of rotors and pads as I am thinking of replacing them myself. I was looking at the price differences between places like NAPA and Autozones stores and there is a big difference in price.. I guess you get what you pay for, right? ;-)

Is this a fairly straight forward job or is there some pitfalls I should be looking out for?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers David

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John Horner 22 years ago

There are many suppliers and many quality levels, particularly for brake pads.

One good option is to use

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where you can get factory original parts generally at good prices.

Failing that, I can recommend Raybestos and Wagner as two of the widely available brands for US vehicles which are generally of very good quality.

John

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Tera News 22 years ago

Man, that place sucks for Malibu parts! I tried a search for Brake pads, alternators, water pumps and it didn't have anything.

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D F Bonnett 22 years ago

Try

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for real deal replacement parts. If you go aftermarket avoid rotors from India or China. As you noted cheap parts are cheap parts. My personal opinion is to go OEM. You're saving a pile on labor, why skimp on parts. Places like Autozone give you a "lifetime" warranty. How much is that worth when your car craps out on a rainy Sunday night in East Hockaloogie? FWIW YMMV DFB

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Steve Raft 22 years ago

The GM rotors will warp. I had four OEM sets that the dealer installed under the 3 yr/36000 mile warranty and they all warped within a few months. After the warranty ran out I replaced the rotors and pads Raybestos parts and have had no problems since.

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doug 22 years ago

David

I have a 2000 Malibu that the dealer has "repaired" the brakes on four times. The problems are the pads AND the rotors. GM has updated the recommended pad compound at least twice that I am aware of, and has also specified the "correct" procedure for resurfacing the (too thin) rotors. It's an on-the-car process that is supposed to cure run-out. IMO, a rotor that is too thin will never perform.

My suggestion is to buy heavy duty rotors. I installed after market units on my '93 Olsmobile purchased from my local NAPA jobber. These rotors easily have 50% more metal than OEM. As for pads, well, good luck. I've had good performance with Raybestos, but no matter what you buy, buy the best grade available. Good luck.

Doug

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