how can you tell if you need to replace a rotor or not? i know i need to replace the brake pads for sure.. but.. not sure about the rotors.

when i step on the brakes and as it comes to a dead stop.. it feels like the rotor is kinda warped.. cuz it give that wobble feel to it. so besides bring it in.. is there any way to tell?

also, which brake pad is best to use for replacement for my 2002 civic lx?

yeah either get new rotors, brembo blanks work well. Or, you could pull the roters off and have them trued @ a brake or machine shop. as for brake pads, i would go with some hawks..

ah.. well.. the brake rotor has seen 159K miles on it already.. so if it's warped.. then i'll just change it with a new one.

Usually rotors are not warped... they get uneven deposits from the brake pad material which makes them feel warped. Turning the rotor (which grinds the surface smooth again) fixes this, but because it removes material you have to measure the rotor to make sure it still has minimum thickness.

Since I don't own a turning machine, I would've had to have a shop do it, which charges like $70+ per hour. It was cheaper for me to get $30/each Brembo blanks.

One thing for sure: you ALWAYS either need to turn the rotor, or get new ones as the rotor usually has mated to the pad (with pad deposits).

You could just slap new pads on, but you'd lose braking performance due to the unmated surfaces. Eventually they'd mate together, but you'd have a period where you'd have reduced, non-mated performance. Do it right.

chimchim.. where did you buy the brembo blanks? did you also get brembo pads? this is going on a 2002 civic lx. if you can give me the exact link, that would be great. Thanks.

no hawk pads, and brembo blanks. Use the search engine i had a site listed in here where u can order everything and free delivery on orders over a hundred dollars. They also have steel break lines and have a nice fact and answer section. Also the brembo part is very user friendly.

I got my brembo blanks from importrp.com. Their website sucks and doesn't have everything on there, so it's best to AOL IM them importrp. I've bought from them on two separate occasions.

which site are you refering to? post a link mang~

A rotor needs changed if:
1) it reaches it's minimum thickness (should say on the rotor what's the minimum).
2) starts to pulse when you brake

aaaa... hhhhhaa! that's it.. it pulses like a mofo.. i thought it had ABS or something.. but i'm pretty sure the 2002 Civic Sedan doesn't have the ABS, right? is there a way to find out from the vin #? my brother can't recall getting the abs function, and i certain haven't notice any ABS light turn on when i start the car.

oh well.. look like brembo brakes here we come...