B7 RS4 Front Brakes - Anyone tried anything other than OEM

[rgw2012]

Need to replace front discs and pads due to brake wobble (what a surprise). I can get the OEM parts from Stoke Audi for £930 inc VAT (pads and discs) but expect they will suffer the same fate in shorter than desired time frame

Has anyone gone down the route of 3rd party discs & pads or combo of OEM & 3rd party - any feedback would be interesting. I am wondering about OEM discs and maybe some harder EBC pads to prevent the material build up or drilled hole blocking.

Your thoughts/experiences gratefully received!

Thanks
Rick

[Dr G]

JHM do replacement rotors that get good write ups and are about half the price of whole new discs. The EBC pads don't have the studs of the standard ones so won't cause horrible scoring marks if they're run low.

How old are your discs? They're prone to warping but can be saved if they've still got meat on them. I can recommend a mobile company that can check your wheels and hubs for run-out at the same time as the discs to ensure there isn't an underlying issue.

RS4 discs should last something like 30-40k miles with reasonably normal use.

[rgw2012]

Thanks Dr G - I've checked out the JHM discs which look good value until you include nearly £150 for shipping from the States! Still, £572 delivered is better than £640 from Stoke. Think I'll go for EBC redstuff pads, so all in it's just under £760 as opposed to £930 and hopefully will have a setup that doesn't suffer the known issues.

Interested in the recommendation for run out checking please, last thing I want is to spend a bundle then find there is an underlying issue that causes them to go bad again.

Cheers
Rick

[Dr G]

http://www.discskimmers.com/

A chap called Marcus; he's very familiar with RS4 brakes.

[rgw2012]

In case anyone is interested in the outcome - I called Marcus (www.discskimmers.com) and he came round today. I cannot recall the last time I was so impressed by someone's knowledge, attitude and approach to their work. He completely resolved the wobble, knew exactly what the problem was and how to deal with it and ensured I was 100% satisfied before he left. It wasn't just a simple skim of the discs (although he did that), it was related to other factors but I don't want to give the full details here because it is his knowledge that enabled him to determine the cause and that gives him the competitive edge in that line of work. If you are suffering the problem I highly recommend you contact him and use his services, it has completely sorted my problem at a fraction of the cost of replacing the discs.

[akadk]

good stuff, and well done for posting back on here

[Dr G]

Agreed; his work is outstanding. He'd never spin anyone a yarn and is justifiably proud of making happy customers.