Front brakes for 1995 Olds 88

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Apr 27, 2010
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Suburban Washington DC
I just checked the rotors and they were just above the minimum thickness and while the pads were 70-80% of new, might as well change them too since they must be over 12 years old.

Rock Auto has the Raybestos R-line rotors for $33 so I add two to the cart. Shipping is a reasonable $14. Next comes the pads. Want the Raybestos Element3 for $31, and the truck symbol is next to it on the parts page meaning it would ship from the same warehouse and not increase shipping costs much. But when I add it to the cart, the pads and one of the rotors ships from warehouse A while the other rotor from W/H B for $24 total shipping.

Has anyone encountered that before? I took those pads out of the cart and added the Raybestos R-line Ceramic pads for $19. Now they all come from the same warehouse and total shipping is a reasonable $15. Total out the door with discount was $96. Any thoughts on these R-line ceramic pads? They aren't the cheapest I could have bought, but they are pretty cheap.
 
I just got my latest order an hour ago. They said the two parts were shipping from the same warehouse, and I only paid one shipping, but they shipped from different warehouses.

Something's up with their robots.
 
I have encountered it. I change my choosings so my parts ship from same warehouse.
 
Yes it is very annoying that this happens on RA's cart, maybe half the time that I try to put more than two items in cart. It often makes me just say screw it, buy two items from them and the 3rd+ from Amazon. I do understand that some items shouldn't be shipped together in the same box, like say wiper blades and brake rotors, but that usually wasn't the issue.
 
Rock auto has 3 main hubs it may come from two diff sides of the country most of the time my orders come from two separate locations
 
The E3 coated rotors are only a few dollars more :unsure:

Non-coated rotors rust within hours, while the coating lasts a few years. Pair them with the E3 pads.
 
^ Living in the rust belt, and owning 3 late '80's to '90's GMs on that platform, never had a problem with non-coated rotors. It's a waste of money unless driving in a severe manner where a little extra airflow through the vanes matters, which *shouldn't* be the case on a '95 Olds unless being used to rob banks and then ditch the vehicle. ;)

Just don't buy any vehicle where you think the braking system is so marginal that coated rotors matters. For responsible public road drivers, it is snake oil.

I have never had a braking failure using non-coated rotors, again living in the rust belt where they salt the roads if it even "might" snow.

I am not dismissing the possibility that there is some severe service situation, but you'd think if there were, that would be mentioned.
 
^ Living in the rust belt, and owning 3 late '80's to '90's GMs on that platform, never had a problem with non-coated rotors. It's a waste of money unless driving in a severe manner where a little extra airflow through the vanes matters, which *shouldn't* be the case on a '95 Olds unless being used to rob banks and then ditch the vehicle. ;)

Just don't buy any vehicle where you think the braking system is so marginal that coated rotors matters. For responsible public road drivers, it is snake oil.

I have never had a braking failure using non-coated rotors, again living in the rust belt where they salt the roads if it even "might" snow.

I am not dismissing the possibility that there is some severe service situation, but you'd think if there were, that would be mentioned.

Yeah, they're fine until you have to take them off and replace them :sneaky:

The rust will freeze it to the hub and the wheel, so you have to hammer it off! Coated rotors don't have this problem and slide right off :)
 
Yeah, they're fine until you have to take them off and replace them :sneaky:

The rust will freeze it to the hub and the wheel, so you have to hammer it off! Coated rotors don't have this problem and slide right off :)

You can coat the hub area of any rotor with some grease to keep it from rusting to the hub and wheel.
 
^ This, I usually use Raybastos DBL-2T silicone grease, same I used for the slide rails and pins. I should have written "having owned" instead of "owning", as I got rid of the last of those vehicles a couple years ago.
 
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That's one reason I don't use Rock Auto, trying to peace meal parts together from one warehouse to save on shipping cost. Ain't nobody got time for dat!!!!!
 
That's one reason I don't use Rock Auto, trying to peace meal parts together from one warehouse to save on shipping cost. Ain't nobody got time for dat!!!!!
HAHA! Most people will drive out of their way to save 5 cents on a gallon of gas. I don't mind spending a few minutes online to save $20 or $50 on a parts order.
 
The only downside to RA is heavy parts aren't worth it even if you save money they usually are beat up by the shipper ......I will check RA first on everything except rotors I have found on rotors for warranty it's best to be able to walk in and get them exchanged person to person
 
I would skip the Element3 brakes amd rotors personally, I will not run them again. As I put them on the wifes dd and within 3k miles of her commute to work, w mixed light traffic and some hwy drive about 20 miles one way, they were warped. She is not an aggressive driver and these brakes did not hold up and very disappointed w them.
 
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