The best rotors available?

[avivalasvegas]

Greetings! 

After driving a few hundred miles following its return from Moordale motors, my GT6 clear has a warped rotor. Time to get the best possible replacement - recommendations that surpass the standard club shop options anyone? 

Also, while the rotor is off the car, I plan on replacing the front shock absorbers. I'm told Koni yields the most comfortable ride?

Thanks in advance! 

[Guest]

Not sure which dizzy your car uses, but if it is Lucas then the Distributor Doctor is the best route.

If it is Delco than you are out of luck - albeit the DD is now making the correct condensers for the Delco dizzy, but with regret not rotors.

[johny]

Ha, or is it a brake disc? I think we need the symptoms to be sure?

[Colin Lindsay]

I'm assuming it's the brake discs unless we're talking about the alternator windings... if I'm right, this is one of my fav online sellers:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ONE-PAIR-OF-BRAND-NEW-TRIUMPH-VITESSE-2-LITRE-GT6-BRAKE-DISCS-213227/370261188384?fits=Model%3AGT6&hash=item5635495f20:g:wbMAAOSwT5tWJMPG

[Clive]

Pretty sure we are talking drake discs.

You could buy expensive drilled, grooved or whatever discs, but they don't achieve much, if anything.

I would be buying something that is a brand I recognise. I have seen EBC, but not mintex or anything else I know. Saying that, brake discs are usually OK. Not heard anything bad about the usual suppliers.

[Jeffds1360]

Ha! Rotors..... an American term for brake discs! Most confusing when searching. 

[Clive]

9 minutes ago, Jeffds1360 said:

Ha! Rotors..... an American term for brake discs! Most confusing when searching. 

It the Las Vegas bit in the OPs name.....

[johny]

I know cast iron (the most likely material for these discs) can deform some time after casting and for that reason its recommended that castings are left a while before machining. It might not have been done in this case and I would go back to the supplier/installer to ask them to rectify the problem...  

[Pete Lewis]

hub runout will give the same problem and often is the start of a wonky disc 

do check the front hub bearing endfloat if excessive it  can / will induce thruppenny bit braking

as can stuck on resin on the back of the disc where you dont see it 

Pete

[avivalasvegas]

Yes, brake discs aka rotors. Sorry for the confusion - it's a remnant term from my 20s spent in America. With other cars, I've had great success purchased from known brands like Brembo etc. and have always picked coated discs over any of the drilled/ slotted stuff, especially when the disc is invisible. 

These EBC discs look well made but are limited to models Girling/TRW Front Calipers. I suppose I'll need to determine which Calipers my 69 GT6 has?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EBC-Replacement-Front-Solid-Brake-Discs-for-Triumph-GT6-2-0-66-71/312053658308?epid=248980256&hash=item48a7d8f2c4:g:jDIAAOSwz7Naawjd

[DanMi]

surely if Moordale motors fitted them you should speak to them as they should stand by the parts they fit and the checks they make in fitting them. I wouldn't be surprised if all suppliers are ultimately getting them from the same manufacturer.

[avivalasvegas]

Dale didn't replace the rotors - we discovered later that it was warped. Hence the need for replacements. 

[DanMi]

I would still talk to them as if working on the brakes they should have checked. I would not be happy if finding brake problems weeks after having them fixed. I would never replace pads without disk as disks generally don't last 2 sets of pads. Anyway it's a pretty simple job and as I said they probably all come from the same factory unless you are going for extremely expensive race ones. They are after all pretty basic on these cars.

But as Pete said do make sure the hub faces are clean and not distorted.

[johny]

It does seem a bit strange that presumably the brakes were ok and then when coming back from a workshop theres a problem. Unless youve been doing some heavy braking a existing disc that suddenly warps would be surprising...

[Clive]

2 hours ago, avivalasvegas said:

Yes, brake discs aka rotors. Sorry for the confusion - it's a remnant term from my 20s spent in America. With other cars, I've had great success purchased from known brands like Brembo etc. and have always picked coated discs over any of the drilled/ slotted stuff, especially when the disc is invisible. 

These EBC discs look well made but are limited to models Girling/TRW Front Calipers. I suppose I'll need to determine which Calipers my 69 GT6 has?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EBC-Replacement-Front-Solid-Brake-Discs-for-Triumph-GT6-2-0-66-71/312053658308?epid=248980256&hash=item48a7d8f2c4:g:jDIAAOSwz7Naawjd

They all had girling calipers, and although 3 variants, they are all essentially identical. So they will be correct. (OK, should be!)

[avivalasvegas]

42 minutes ago, johny said:

It does seem a bit strange that presumably the brakes were ok and then when coming back from a workshop theres a problem. Unless youve been doing some heavy braking a existing disc that suddenly warps would be surprising..

It wasn’t Dale’s fault at all. The car had one seized caliper and one seized cylinder. It was a miracle it stopped at all. 
 

When the caliper was unseized, the rotor was mistakenly preserved. That will be rectified next along with the front shock absorbers. Any thoughts on the Koni?

 

[Clive]

Koni are hands down the best shocks available. Only downsides are (1) not height adjustable and (2) a bit of a faff to adjust. But mine are now 25 years old, been on 2 cars and still have not needed to adjust them once set. And mine have done a lot of miles now. 

Bastuck WERE the cheapest supplier, but that may have changed with Brexit

[johny]

Ive certainly had no problem with the standard discs that everybody stocks but, as you might have read, the pads used seems to make quite a difference and of course it depends on what youre going to use the car for....

 

[KevinR]

It is very unusual for a brake disc to actually warp.

The overwhelming majority of reported warped discs are actually caused by heat soak changing the crystalline structure of the area of the (hot) disk where the brake is kept applied when the vehicle is stopped.

It is something that race drivers are well aware of and need to be careful to avoid - after heavy braking to a stop (when the disc gets very hot), do not keep the brakes applied as the area clamped by the pads will undergo a crystalline change, which will then result in the symptom that is usually misinterpreted as warped discs.

The fix is still the same - new disks are needed.

[Ian Foster]

Have you confirmed that the disc is actually warped by measuring runout with a dial gauge?

If you are feeling judder under braking it could well be the rear drums. (got that T shirt)

Ian

[Nigel Clark]

Avoid so called 'uprated' drilled and/or grooved discs. Unnecessary on the road and can be prone to rapid wear of pads and discs in my experience. 

I've had standard Rimmers discs on my GT6 for almost 10 years, and no problems. 

Nigel

[dougbgt6]

I agree with Nigel, they don't do anything for ordinary road use. Also nobody tells you how noisy they are (Well, except me obviously ) and they eat pads. I fitted them but very quickly decided they had to come off! 

Doug

[NonMember]

12 hours ago, DanMi said:

I would never replace pads without disk as disks generally don't last 2 sets of pads

I can't say I've found that on the Triumphs. Perhaps on the modern, where the pads are made of carborundum and the discs of chocolate, but with good quality pads and discs on older cars I would expect the discs to last a good long time.

[dougbgt6]

Yes, I agree with NM.  Apart from my aberration when I tried the drilled and grooved my GT6 has only had 2 sets of discs in 75k miles.

What are you doing with them Dan?!! 

Chocolate discs  mmmmm.

Doug

 

[Colin Lindsay]

11 hours ago, avivalasvegas said:

It wasn’t Dale’s fault at all. The car had one seized caliper and one seized cylinder. It was a miracle it stopped at all. 

I thought it had a full MOT? The system is very tight over here, it wouldn't have got through with anything less than fully working brakes.

For normal road use go for standard discs, which you'll find at a variety of prices, and standard pads work well enough for me.