I will probably replace my rear shoes in the near future, too. At that time I'll make sure the adjusters are working properly, and also lube them. At 97,000 it'* probably time for a rear brake job anyway! At last tire rotation they were still at about 50%.

One thing that'* been handy for me is the one year warranty that AutoZone provides on their cheapest rotors. With all the miles I drive I can typically get rotors replaced for free and I buy the cheapest pads too and they carry a lifetime warranty. Brake jobs are cheap around my house!! Just the time invested!!

no. i heard that from an ase certified technician. if u look at some pads they have a slot down the middle of them... they help release the gasses... like slotted and drilled rotors

right to one of the tech guys at Brembo and he said the biggest problem is crap rotor material,second is the tol of run out,third is you need to properly "bed" in new pads with a series of hard and soft breaking during break in. If you go to their web site it tells you about this too.

Andy, thanks for pointing out that the bolts should be tightened in a star pattern. But I have to respectfully disagree on the dry vs oil on the lug nuts.

An example of "noted otherwise" would be the owner'* manual on changing a flat where it says: "Never use oil or grease on studs or nuts. If you do, the nuts might come loose. Your wheel could fall off, causing a serious accident"

And, in my ('92) service manual under wheel removal it states: "Penetrating oil is not effective in removing tight wheels; however, if used, apply it sparingly only to the wheel'* center hole area. Caution: If penetrating oil gets on the vertical surfaces between the wheel and the rotor or drum, it could cause the wheel to work loose as the vehicle is driven resulting in a loss of control and an injury accident."

No argument that oil is needed for accurate torque mesurement. I use it everywhere BUT wheel lugs. I have had good results by making sure the threads on the bolt are clean and running the nuts with my fingers to make sure they don't bind. You are correct, the torque reading cannot be as accurate done dry, but it is still way better than no torque wrench, or worse yet, the local tire shop. And, I have suffered no rotor warpage this way. (knock wood!)

Yes, I've seen that, too. I think when they say that, they have in mind some guy at the side of the road trying to tighten the things with a lug wrench. When you're cranking it down to 100 lbs./ft. with a torque wrench, I do believe that one drop of oil will ensure an accurate torque, and there'* no way the lug nut is going to back off as a result of that drop.

Anyhow, as you said, if the threads are clean and dry and in otherwise good shape, you're probably going to get something pretty close to 100 lbs./ft. anyway. Even more important, by simply using a torque wrench in the first place, your readings on each of the five lugs will be as close to each other as you're going to achieve (which is the main goal here), regardless of whether they're all at 100 lbs./ft. or all at something slightly less.

Ayup. Mine'* at 121,000 right now with the original rotors still straight and true. (Lots of highway miles, don'tcha know. )

ive heard of putting anti-seize on the studs, but ive never heard of anybody using penetrating oil on them

Yes,the service manual says you can use penetrating oil in the _center_ of the wheel if it'* stuck to the hub (if I remember right), but that'* the only case, and you need to be real careful to avoid getting it on the brake surfaces. (Duh. )

$90 ea. + $50 Raybestos Quiet-Stop Ceramic pads.

This might explain your pulsating.
http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm