You may not need rotors. Have a mechanic measure to see if they can be turned. As for Chinese parts, if that is a deal breaker, you may be in for a shock on numerous parts on the car--Chinese, Mexican, and some American made.

 

You have a 2007 with the original front pads still on it (and they've still got 50% remaining)?

Wow.

 

Power stop ones are a great option.

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Roy

 

Take a hard look in www.placeforbrakes.com - EBC slotted rotors and Redstuff pads.

The break-in will scare you to death for 100 miles but you wind up with glass-smooth strong brakes that are very fade-resistant.

Research & Development - EBC Brakes

EBC Brakes are the leading online brake company offering brakes, pads, discs, rotors for automotive, motorcycle, mountain bike & racing - Research & Development

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I just replaced my rotors as below:

ACDelco Gold 18A2414 / GM 19201430 Black Hat Front Disc Brake Rotor (x2)
ACDelco Gold 17D1159CH Ceramic Front Disc Brake Pad Set

This totaled $200, bought on Amazon, and working fine - quiet, good braking, and it was an easy job to replace. Only pain was the 15mm bolts holding the calipers - a bit stiff, so need the impact driver to remove.... and they needed tightening to 133lbft upon replacement, which seems excessive, but there you go. Oh I added blue threadlocker to these on replacement also.

 

Just did mine yesterday - front & back. In addition to the brakes, I put on a new set of tires - the car brakes and handles like new.

Here is my shopping list, fluid came from Amazon, rest of the order came from Rock Auto:

• Prestone AS400-6PK to flush the system
• Akebono ASP1159 up front, ACT1172 in back
• Raybestos 580387 rotors up front, 580405 in back
• Raybestos 781PG parking brake shoe, H7319 parking brake hardware

 

I got my pads with slotted and drilled rotors from Brake Performance. I got the ceramic pads and am very happy with them. The car stops very well and doesn't shudder when braking at high speeds. No brake dust either.

 

I have OEM pads and OEM rotors meant for the 2006-2008 models in the rear. The rotor is the same but with a older anti-rust coating.

In the front, I have Akebono ACT1159 and Raybestos coated rotors. The pads stop great and there's not a lot of dust. However, the rotors are giving me some shudder. I think its related to one of my calipers though.

 

Our car has had the shudder problem since about 50K miles it has 129K now.
Front pads and rotors didn't fix it, tried the improved AC Delco pads and Advanced
Auto parts premium (was in a rush for pads). I most recently put on the slotted
version of this rotor, but it is out of stock, I'd probably use the drilled and slotted
version if I had to do it again:

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Shop R1 Concepts performance brake parts, brake pads, rotors, kits and more. R1 Concepts is the leading manufacturer of braking systems for all vehicles

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They were good for about 5K miles but the shudder is back not as bad with these rotors
but I suspect now that something else is contributing to the problem.
One member says greasing the slide pins fixed his, which I forgot to do last pad change.
I also suspect that the flex lines might be partially clogged, causing them to drag and
overheat causing pad material to deposit and bond to the rotors. Might change the
flex lines next.

 

Our car has had the shudder problem since about 50K miles it has 129K now.
Front pads and rotors didn't fix it, tried the improved AC Delco pads and Advanced
Auto parts premium (was in a rush for pads). I most recently put on the slotted
version of this rotor, but it is out of stock, I'd probably use the drilled and slotted
version if I had to do it again:

R1 Concepts - Performance Brake Parts, Rotors, Pads, Kits: Custom & Aftermarket

Shop R1 Concepts performance brake parts, brake pads, rotors, kits and more. R1 Concepts is the leading manufacturer of braking systems for all vehicles

www.r1concepts.com

They were good for about 5K miles but the shudder is back not as bad with these rotors
but I suspect now that something else is contributing to the problem.
One member says greasing the slide pins fixed his, which I forgot to do last pad change.
I also suspect that the flex lines might be partially clogged, causing them to drag and
overheat causing pad material to deposit and bond to the rotors. Might change the
flex lines next.

When I bought my car at 80K miles, the dealer resurfaced the original rotors and put some semi-metallic pads on. They were silky smooth until about 95K miles. I just lived with the shudder until I reached 126K miles and I needed new front pads.

 

Before you go throwing parts at it, put the front end up on jackstands, dismount the front wheels/tires, and check the sway bar bushings and end links. Remove the pads and rotate the calipers off the rotors. Then surgically clean the hub flange, rotor inner and outer mounting surfaces, and wheel mounting surface. Replace the parts and start the lug nuts in a sequential star pattern. Check the assemblies for in/out movement by hand-rocking at 12, 6, 3, and 9 o'clock. Lower the front end so the tires just grip the pavement and torque the lug nuts in a star sequence to 100 lb/ft.

 

I just bought R1 Concepts e-line rear drilled and slotted rotors and their Optimum Oep
pad set for $122.96 total with a 25% off coupon BRAKEFEST for the next 10 hours.
Free shipping!

I used the better Geomet drilled and slotted on the front but I didn't feel they were needed
on the back. Their pads were not my first choice but they were on sale and claim to be
an upgrade over stock.

I've been saying on here, by mistake, that I used the Geomet slotted only rotors on the front,
when I looked outside at the actual rotors they are also drilled. I thought a lot about which to
use and misremembered what I actually ordered.
The shudder problem came back but I don't blame anything from R1 Concepts. We shall see
as I replace more parts.

I actually called R1 Concepts tech support and the guy suggested going to a higher performance
pad, especially on the front since that is where I actually saw pad deposits on the inside only of
the rotors.

 

.....I actually called R1 Concepts tech support and the guy suggested going to a higher performance pad,..

Be careful about using a "high performance" type of pad. I've made that mistake a few times. Finally learned to look at the friction codes and understand their meaning. Plus I asked the sales reps a bunch of questions after buying "high perf" pads, and why they sucked so bad for normal, everyday driving. Many "high perf" pads are designed to work great when warm/hot (as on a race track), but the trade-off is cold bite (i.e., everyday driving) is not so great.

And honestly, I do not expect to be seeing your DTS on the race track any time soon, haha!

 

I learned about this about 40 years ago from my older brother who reads a lot.
The R1 Concepts guy was just suggesting a notch or two above OEM stock.
But, I've had 3 pads in there and they all did it, none were performance pads:
Originals
AC Delco "improved"
I was going to try Akebono next but got the wrong part, and ended up with
whatever Advance Auto parts had in stock.
Perhaps I'll try Hawk or Raybestos next.

I've also had 3 different rotors on the front:
Original
Raybestos coated
R1 Concepts Geomet drilled and slotted

I do feel like I'm just throwing parts at it, but it now has 130K miles so I guess it
deserves new rotors and calipers all around.

 

If you have a "...the sound and the pulsing..." you may have a problem that does not connect to the rotors and pads.
Not saying you should not check for warping but I got a feeling this is not the problem.
After you replace the rotors and the Pads let us know if the "...the sound and the pulsing..." has gone away.

 

Something just hit me, each time I replace the rotors it is good for about 3-5K miles
which suggests that the problem IS the rotors. It cannot be anything else rears, hubs or
whatever. But something, such as bad calipers, slide pins, or flex lines is probably causing
the rotors to overheat and cause pad deposits.

Anyway, I bought R1 Concepts drilled and slotted rotors for the rear, and plan to also do
the rear calipers since one sticks when the parking brake is applied. I'll test after the rear
work and then probably due calipers on the front also.

 

Remember that the rear caliper pistons screw back into the caliper bore - they DO NOT compress back in. A sticking parking brake may be due to a cable sheath - rust or corrosion.

Something is wrong - good quality rotors should last for at least 75,000 miles with proper maintenance and pad changes. Read the StopTech (Centric) and EBC brake whitepapers.

 

I’d stay away from R1 Concepts. Purchased slotted rottors and brake pads for my 07 Performance Edition and they are crap.

 

Why do you say they're crap? What the problem is?