PLEASE HELP - Cross Drilled Magnum Rotors + PBR Deluxe Pads

[Gil13]

Please Help,

About a month ago my cousin (Honda Mechanic) installed my Magnum Cross Drilled Rotors, PBR Pads and Goodridge SS braided lines. Right off the bad the pedal felt a bit spongy and it didnt seem like there was not much stopping power for brand new rotors and pads not to mention top of the line SS lines, but I waited it out because I knew that there was a breaking in period and the rotors are plated in cadmium. Then I noticed that my car was pulling to the left a bit while highway driving. Now I notice that they squeal like crazy (like a truck or bus at times) When I'm coming to a slow stop they squeal until I'm fully stopped. If I brake hard they dont squeal. Also sometimes when I come to a stop just before my car comes to a halt the wheel all of a sudden jerks left on me and I need to crank it straight also sometimes on the highway I need to fight with my steering wheel a bit and hold it so that I dont end up in the guard rail...
I dont know if when my cousin installed the parts if he missed a step(s) I've been reading that when doing pads you need to put anti squeal on the back of them where the shims go, I dont know if he did this part.

This is really annoying because my new setup is giving me more problems then my stock setup, so right now Im feeling like i wasted $$$.

I know that the parts are good quality, but obviously something is not right here...

Any feedback, opinions, suggestions, help would be GREATLY! appreciated:)

Gil

[MajesticBlueNTO]

was the brake fluid flushed, or at least bled at each corner after the SS lines were put in?

have you bed-in the pads yet?

have you checked to make sure there are no kinks in the SS lines?

were the caliper pins cleaned and lubed prior to putting them back in?

the squealing could be due to no anti-squeal on the back of the pads, or they could be from the pad compound. put anti-squeal on the back of the pads first. while you're doing that, lube the caliper pins as it sounds like a caliper may be sticking (or locking up too early) if your steering wheel jerks while stopping.


try bedding your pads first...if that doesn't stop the spongy feeling, you'll need to flush or bleed the brake fluid. while doing that, make sure there are no leaks around the brake lines.

there's little reason for the magnum rotors and PBR pads being worse than stock.

[Mazda3TO]

Pretty much I have the same set up minus the new brake lines. I installed the set up May 2007 of last year and right off the bat the right rear brakes wear sqealling like a mofo. I thought that would require a brake in period, but i was wrong. Its been a year and now my car brakes like a downtown cab in need of a brake job. With the weather warming up, its hard to keep the windows down since the noise is so loud.

In general, my brakes don't squeal until they get warmed up. After that all hell breaks loose. The PBR Ceramic and the Magnum Roters with the cadium plating just doesn't make a good combo in my opinion . In fact, i found the PBR brakes feel soft and definitely do not recommend to any other Mazda3 owner. I still have a good amount of life left on the pads, but I don't see it improving anytime soon. I think another member has complained as well about the lose of braking power compared to stocks with the PBR pads (i beleive he is running stock rotors), just do a search.

I will be replacing the pads to Hawk HPS Front and Rear pads next week at Jimmy's shop. I can let you know if this makes a difference.

Oh ya, Installation was performed by a certified Mazda Mechanic.