Recommendations for Tension Struts and Rotors/Pads

Hey guys,

So my rear brakes had been intermittently squealing on the tabs for the past few weeks. Today I took the car into the Dealership (they had a nice 4 oil changes for $50 within 2 years deal) and told them to check the brakes and eyeball everything else since my warranty wears out in June.

Anyway they say I need the front control arm tension struts and my front pads are at 10% rears at 15% and that the rotors look like they'd need to go.

My car is an '06 with just over 40k miles (17k of which has come in the past 11 months). Anyway I'm not letting them do the work since it is a rip off. I know you guys like Exhaust Works on North Aurora for exhaust are they good for brakes too?

Parts wise is there an aftermarket tension strut that is about same price as OEM but is sturdier? How about rotors/pads, should I do something like R1 rotors and Hawk Pads? I was quoted $475 to $540 for pads/rotors depends on ceramic or metallic Mopar Value lines... plus 4 hours of labor which is $500!

For the tension struts stock is $134 each and 3.6 hours of labor!

Also is there any other stuff I should consider replacing at the same time like brake lines or other inexpensive suspension parts? I have 1 year old outer tie rods and I replaced the sway bushings recently.

I appreciate any advice, thanks.

Paging Mr Adam(Moparcharger06)

Hes who you will want to talk to

Hmmmm, well the brake prices seem VERY high, I can beat those. As for a brake brands, I have drilled n slotted and I know other people woth R1's, they do tend to sqeak from time to time, but they work good. If you'r gonna go with a stock type rotor, I use Napa ALOT and they are pretty good. Stay away from Auto Zone, all their shit sucks.

And as for a brand of tension struts, they are all equally good, Moog is a good name, but to be honest mostly all parts are made by the same distributer, and just sold to different companies for them to put their name on it. So l have used Carquest tension struts and control arm, and they are a good brand, and good on price as well, they usually have most all front end parts for our cars as well in stock over other parts houses. If you've done sway bar bushings and outers those are usually the first to go bad so you should be good. If you want me to work you up a price let me know and I can save you ALOT of cash and a guarantee that it was done correctly as well cause I know our Chargers VERY well



Thanks Vic btw lol

I have some brand new MOOG front suspension parts I never used. Give me half what they are worth new.

Shawn -- What are the part numbers do you have the tension struts?

Adam -- Where is your shop at up north right? I looked on Rock Auto and see Dorman, Mevotech and Moog for the control arms ranging from $39 up to about $85 all better than OEM at $134.30 (OEM = 5180606-AB and 5180607-AB).

I'm open to bringing the car on a Saturday assuming you're available, I'd much rather have someone who takes pride in the work and knows what they're doing.

For the rotors/pads I'm open to aftermarket if priced comparable to OEM and assuming they function better. You said you have drilled and slotted what brand? I'm leaning toward something like the R1 slotted premiums or maybe EBC but want a solid recommendation.

Thanks.

To be honest mine are just some cheap ones, but they work better, and were cheaper than R1's. And if Shawn's front end parts were for his Charger, I guarantee they will fit you'rs, UNLESS you'rs is all wheel drive. Then they are completely different, my shop is in Deerfield that I work at, BUT I can do it all at my house, (where I do MOST of my work out of), I have everything basically a shop does, except a lift and a compressor lol

Well Deerfield and Hainesville are both far from Naperville so either way it is a hike, do you normally work at the shop on Saturday or are you off weekends?

My car is RWD, I'm sure Shawn's stuff would work but just checking what he has, he said he has front suspension stuff didn't know if it was one of everything

Any advice on the pads, I'm going to look around and see if there are any group buys going on around the forums for the brake parts.

I work on Saturdays till 5. and I'm off on Sundays..They will charge you ALOT more than me personally would, thats the only thing ya know.

As for a recomendation on brake parts... I have Wagner thermoquiets on the front and some Carquest ceramics on the back with the drilled n slotted rotors and they are great. Semi-metallics MIGHT squeal, so I'd stay with a ceramic pad.

I have inner and outer tie rods. Doesn't sound like that's what u need

Shawn hold those for Jackie's car I just gotta see if she needs them

Darn Shawn was hoping you had the tension struts too, oh well.

Adam, I sent you a PM re: the work I need done.

Anyone else have any part recommendations? I'm going to order the Tension Struts from Rock Auto likely the Mevotechs but they sell Dorman and Moog too anyone have a recommendation?

As far as the rotors I see there is a group buy on the R1 Concepts Premium for $350 (front and rear) if they are still honoring that I might got that way, I emailed them for details. I'd probably get the slotted ones.

For pads I'm leaning towards PosiQuiet Ceramics... they seem to be a good balance between noise, dust and performance.

Anyone feel that there is a pad that is better than stock for performance but not too loud? I don't care too much about sound and dust but don't want them to be really loud. I'm not racing the car so I only need one really good panic stop from highway speeds

Thanks for you guys that chimed in.

That R1 group buy has been going on for a couple years I am sure it is good. The rotors are nice I have the slotted dimpled on both the Charger and the Chally the charger is nice and quiet with the posi quiet pads but the Chally squeals like a bitch at light pressure sometimes

Headtripp wrote:

That R1 group buy has been going on for a couple years I am sure it is good. The rotors are nice I have the slotted dimpled on both the Charger and the Chally the charger is nice and quiet with the posi quiet pads but the Chally squeals like a bitch at light pressure sometimes

My Charger did the same thing, and yes the group buy is still valid.

Yeah that's the group buy, looks like they update the price every few months. Thanks for the feedback, didn't know they offered dimpled ones too.

Does anyone use stainless lines? If so do they make an appreciable difference in pedal feel etc.?

BigM wrote:

Yeah that's the group buy, looks like they update the price every few months. Thanks for the feedback, didn't know they offered dimpled ones too.

Does anyone use stainless lines? If so do they make an appreciable difference in pedal feel etc.?

I believe Jontoad is using them. But he road races quite a bit. Really dont think they are needed for an everyday driver. I could be wrong though.

You're probably right Shawn. The only reason I look to aftermarket parts when things wear out is that usually you can find a better part for a better price. As long as the new rotors and pads work as good (hopefully better) than the OEM that's all I need on a daily driver. I asked about the lines since they aren't too pricey.

Same goes for the tension struts. If I was looking for a serious upgrade I'd try to get an SRT8 Brembo used set but then I'd need spindles and bigger wheels which is $$ I don't want to spend!

BigM wrote:

You're probably right Shawn. The only reason I look to aftermarket parts when things wear out is that usually you can find a better part for a better price. As long as the new rotors and pads work as good (hopefully better) than the OEM that's all I need on a daily driver. I asked about the lines since they aren't too pricey.

Same goes for the tension struts. If I was looking for a serious upgrade I'd try to get an SRT8 Brembo used set but then I'd need spindles and bigger wheels which is $$ I don't want to spend!

srt8 brembo set is big dough used

I am happy with my R1 slotted set of rotors but I should have stayed away from the posi-metallic pads because they squeal a lot. Also, Adam did the installs for me, and he did a great job. Well worth the trip up north and you might learn something from watching him work, too.

Well I had Adam install Mevotech tension struts and R1 premium rotors (blanks) with Hawk HPS pads today. Before driving the 50+ miles home I did bed them with 6-8 moderate stops from 35 mph and 2 or 3 hard stops from 45 mph. So far so good with no noise.

The rear passenger side had a crusty rusty caliper pin so it probably hasn't worked since I bought the car last April. Adam had to take a torch to it to get it to slide out! It would explain why the driver's side rear was at 15% material and the passengers was probably at 40%. That right there is going to help the brake feel!

The pedal was nice and firm after bedding them and the HPS pads seem to have good bite.

Anyone that needs work done on your LX make sure to get in touch with Adam.

If they start squealing like a poked pig next week I'll come back and update

BigM wrote:

Well I had Adam install Mevotech tension struts and R1 premium rotors (blanks) with Hawk HPS pads today. Before driving the 50+ miles home I did bed them with 6-8 moderate stops from 35 mph and 2 or 3 hard stops from 45 mph. So far so good with no noise.

The rear passenger side had a crusty rusty caliper pin so it probably hasn't worked since I bought the car last April. Adam had to take a torch to it to get it to slide out! It would explain why the driver's side rear was at 15% material and the passengers was probably at 40%. That right there is going to help the brake feel!

The pedal was nice and firm after bedding them and the HPS pads seem to have good bite.

Anyone that needs work done on your LX make sure to get in touch with Adam.

If they start squealing like a poked pig next week I'll come back and update

Glad to hear it. Yes that rusty slide pin is the culprit. Why did you go with blank rotors, where they cheaper??

Hells yeah man, glad the brakes feel good and we took care of the "frozen" caliper slide pin for ya, it was STUCK!!! Gotta keep our fellow CAMM members safe!!! It was nice to meet you too man. I was just gonna pm you and ask you how they felt lol

Shawn1112 wrote:

Glad to hear it. Yes that rusty slide pin is the culprit. Why did you go with blank rotors, where they cheaper??

Well I was at first leaning to the slotted rotors but basically slots and cross drilling have about as much use as tits on a bull. Cosmetically the drilled slotted rotors do look nice but there isn't a performance benefit and there can be some drawbacks like increased wear on pads and weird noises etc. I did lots of research and most folks in the know admit that cross drilling and slots are more cosmetic than functional.

They are a bit cheaper too instead of the $350 group buy on LX I got them for $270, I do like the finish on the premium rotors, no more rusty stockers.

I hope I don't end up regretting the Hawk HPS pads but so far so good. I definitely got them hot during the bedding procedure I could smell 'em. Let them cool down while I got a bite to eat before heading home.

Moparcharger06 wrote:

Hells yeah man, glad the brakes feel good and we took care of the "frozen" caliper slide pin for ya, it was STUCK!!! Gotta keep our fellow CAMM members safe!!! It was nice to meet you too man. I was just gonna pm you and ask you how they felt lol

Yeah I'm just glad I got the hardware kits because that bushing/grommet was vaporized. It was good meeting you too, nice to have someone work on the car that treats it like their own.

Dont the slotted/drilled rotors stay cooler??? I was always under that assumption.

Shawn1112 wrote:

Dont the slotted/drilled rotors stay cooler??? I was always under that assumption.

That's one of the common myths but for most applications more material is better to dissapate the heat. There are some good threads on LX where a guy posts thoughts on it from some top carmakers and many admit that the cross drilled is for looks. Most OE that are slotted and cross drilled are already way oversized (think Porsche, Lambo etc.) so they can get away with it

For a street driven car it doesn't really matter get what you like I just figured the blanks were fine for me and can help with pad life/noise.