Revisited Tires & Brakes need a deicision this week!

[Whelan]

Ok everyone, so this week I will be coming into about $300 extra cash and I need to do both things, one is going to have to wait a few more months.My tires are on their way out, stock Eagle RS-A's, they are getting soft and starting to show their age (i.e. wear bars about to come through)My brakes on the other hand cause the steering wheel and car to shake when heated up, bad shaking and uneven braking ensues.The car has 45,000 miles on it, I drive 50 miles round-trip commute every day, not including after work driving.Brake Setup:Drums stay as are for awhile, they last longer anyways. Fronts get a set of Powerslot Rotors and Stillen metal matrix pads.Tire Options: please note I am going for all-season w/ some performanceContinental Conti Extreme ContactVery high reviews and a price that is unbeatable at $80 a tire!Bridgestone Potenza G 009Good numbers, poor reviews. I had RE 950's on my Saturn that were great, but again, these did not fair so well with reviews, also $99 a tire.If you have others to recommend in the sub $100 per tire price range, let me know

[Vibr8tr]

It's a hard choice, cause both are a safty issue. I would say brakes though. If you blow a tire, even though it's unsafe, you always have a spare... if you brakes go out... also unsafe.... you are out of luck and have to get it towed in forrepairs... plus repair.Either way, I think 7you should look at whatever will last longer, and go with the other one. Think about safty less than performance. If your brakes are just annoying, but still work, and will work, go with tires. If your tires may last a bit longer and the brakes are gettign close to going out, or making it hard to drive safely, go with brakes.but in my opinion from what I heard, I say get new brakes.

[kevera]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan ».My tires are on their way out, stock Eagle RS-A's, they are getting soft and starting to show their age (i.e. wear bars about to come through)My brakes on the other hand cause the steering wheel and car to shake when heated up, bad shaking and uneven braking ensues.. If your brakes are shot,I would do them first.

[nygiantzz1]

I think I would have the rotors turned and slap on some new pads before I bought slotted rotors. It would save you some money too. Your rotors are probably glazed, not warped. As for the tires, I've been looking at the BF Goodrich Traction TA/T (touring all season) or TA/V (performance all season). Both get great reviews and cost about $80.00 each. So turn the rotors and buy some tires.

[djb383]

Quote, originally posted by nygiantzz1 »I think I would have the rotors turned and slap on some new pads before I bought slotted rotors. It would save you some money too. Your rotors are probably glazed, not warped. As for the tires, I've been looking at the BF Goodrich Traction TA/T (touring all season) or TA/V (performance all season). Both get great reviews and cost about $80.00 each. So turn the rotors and buy some tires. Ditto!

[Whelan]

That is a good call Giantzz. Having them turned may buy me a bit more time with them. If I had to choose right now I would go brakes anyways cause I can def. get another 5-10k safely out of my tires. I'll keep you updated on the progress and what I decide.My only concern with being so adamant on the powerslots and stillen pads is that combination I have had on my last two cars with phenominal success and it has proven itself to me over and over in braking ability over stock!

[GrayFox]

That's about how many miles my Vibe had when I ditched the RS-As and only one was pretty bad. I'm not sure that you could get another 10k out of those but I would guess you need to switch in the near future. I agree with Vibr8tr. If a tire blows, yeah it could be dangerous but if your brakes go out... your screwed

[Whelan]

Very true once again. I appreciate the input guys and gals. The rear tires are in fairly good shape, so I am leaving the worn ones up front. Better to have your drive wheels slip so you know your limits than the rear kick out and go bye bye (although AWD may help that a bit). I am not nearly at this point yet, the tires still hold and do not let go. Rain performance is still good. I think brakes are first, this way I can paint up the calipers and drums too. Stay tuned. I am heading to SF next week with my gf for our vacation, so it wont be till I get back, plenty of pics )

[DavidPIL]

Hi Whelan.I've heard that the cost of having rotors resurfaced is as much as the cost of new "OEM" rotors. Is it worth that cost when you will be replacing them anyway? When my rotors seem warped or uneven in hard stopping, I check the torque on my lugs. Have had several shops, including Tires Plus (bad, bad place to go) and my regular shop over-torque my wheels. I loosen and retighten to 76 ftlbs and a lot of my warped sounds and feel goes away.Long story short on this, check your torque then see if all you need for now is to replace the pads. Replae the pads with something less expensive so when you can afford a complete change, you can get what you want.As for the tires. I've owned the Extreme Contacts. Actually have 2 reviews up on tire rack on em. They're very soft. If you over-inflate (which the place where I got em suggested I do), when changing lanes at 45 mph+ you will feel like you're driving a boat. After adjusting the pressure to what seemed to work best, they were still sluggish but better... and they lasted well. I replaced them after about 45,000 miles but I could have gone at least 10,000 more. I then switched to Toyo Proxes 4. They were a little soft feeling at first but have done better with an increase in pressure. The shop suggested 37 psi and they're very nice. I'm thinking for cost savings of trying the General Exclaim UHP next. Very inexpensive but good reviews.When I was looking at the Proxes, the shop suggested the Potenzas which you have pictured. A couple people later had recommended those to me as well. They would not be a poor decision.Dave

[Whelan]

Hey Dave,Thanks for the tire info. The Proxe 4 I had on my Civic. Good tire but seemed a bit softer than the Potenza RE950. From what I gather the RE950 is the old version of the now G 009. I had nothing but raves on that tire. It let you know when it was at its edge, Driving in rain felt no different than driving on dry pavement it was amazing. Not to mention the rooster tail the V-tread shot up It's always fun to be able to spray an SUV in their windshield since they do it to me all the time! I may look into those more, but the reviews seem oddly negative.

[VivaVibe]

I would say brakes come before tires. But as stated by others be sure which is the most urgent.For tires, I've been considering Kumho Solus $70 and Firestone Firehawk $90. Both have better comfort and performance ratings than my current tires. I've read other GenVibers like the Kumhos. I'm more into comfort than performance though.

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by nygiantzz1 »I think I would have the rotors turned and slap on some new pads before I bought slotted rotors. It would save you some money too. Your rotors are probably glazed, not warped. As for the tires, I've been looking at the BF Goodrich Traction TA/T (touring all season) or TA/V (performance all season). Both get great reviews and cost about $80.00 each. So turn the rotors and buy some tires. X3I have BFG's on my wifes cavy and it totally changed how the car handled and braked.Do the brakes first.... then tires..

[WaveAction]

i got Nankang NS-1 sports for $100 each..they're really good tiresahh delete this post..i didnt read the part about "all seasons with performance" my bad..but they're good summer tires

[kevera]

Where did you get those for $100.That's a good price.They are 16 right.Too small for me.

[Whelan]

Yeah 2k I have driven a car with the Nan's on it. Good tire, but I'm lookin for all season as you mentioned.I do like the T/A tires, they have great reviews, but I was lookin for something with a more sporty tread to it, such as the Continentals of G 009's. I am a big fan of a slight V-tread.