Hi Folks .. hope all is well ... seeking advice on alignment and related ...

Ruffus is my 2004 RX8 6-speed with 43K miles. I just put new Michelin tires on it and got new brakes in the past year or two. For a while now I've been getting a vibration when I apply the breaks (especially hard stops) at medium-to-high speeds --presumably from the wheels. I was hoping the old tires were the culprit and the new tires seems to have improved a bit but vibration persists. I think I read somewhere that you can't do wheel alignment on RX8s ... please let me know whether or not this is the case. If you can share your experience and suggested remedies on this Ruffus and I would greatly appreciate it.

Regards,
Ric

 

Replace rotors and yes you can do alignments on RX8s.

 

shaking when applying brakes is 9 out of 10 times related to warped rotors.. Good time to do a caliper refresh (new seals/boots and clean) and make sure the hub is clean before putting new rotors in place... any rust build up can lead to pre-mature wear due to uneven surface contact.

 

Yeah not sure where that info came from. Do tires and wheel balance. Then pads and rotors......dont get autozone pads. Go for oem mazda pads or hawk/ebc street level pads.

A factory alignment is fine for daily use, or if the shop is cool you can have them max the caster > camber > then zero the toe. Using the factory alignment cambolts. Keep in mind this wont be best for tire wear, there is always a tradeoff there.

 

JB --
Thank you very much for the quick reply. Do you recommend a particular brand or vendor for the rotor replacement kit? I looked it up on Amazon and there are several brands and price range. It seems pretty straight forward to change them but please let me know if you have any words of caution.

Thanks again!

Thanks also DadBodMod17 and MincVinyl!
R/,
Ric

 

For rotors for the most part you just don't want drilled. If you get slotted make sure you put them on directionally correct. You can also look for zinc or other anti rust coatings pre applied. Or just high temp paint them so the edges dont look ugly, masking off the wear surfaces.

 

If they're original rotors from 2004, you might have to fight the screw that attaches the rotor to the hub face. If you don't have an impact screwdriver, this might be the moment to find one. Given that it only had 43k of - I assume - daily driving, I don't know that you need to rebuild the calipers, but definitely clean and lube the caliper slider pins. Inspect/replace rubbers as necessary.

If you're also doing the rears, you'll also need a caliper rewind tool with the right shape for our cars. You can surely get one at a local parts/car supply store. I wouldnt change the rear rotors, they don't wear as quickly as the fronts. In fact I wouldnt change rotors at all at 43k and just get them resurfaced, but thats your call. Vibration is either warped (rare) or inconsistent pad material deposition (less rare) from dragging brakes or another cause.