Pbr/rda/dba Which One??

[ra_28]

Getting ready to purchase some rotors for the brake up grade been searching the net trying to find out which rotor is better. I.E longer life better performance. So far i have read bad reports about RDA. Has anyone had any problems with certain brands. I see alot of people have talked about DBA but what about the others. RDA seem alot cheaper than DBA are they less quality or just better pricing??

Thanks
Alex

[JustCallMeOrlando]

RDA are arguably not as good as DBA, that said, I've got some slotted RDA rotors, they've done about 32000km since i've had them on there, and have been punished many times. Never let me down yet.

[CrUZida]

I doubt there is all that much difference between RDA and the normal DBA range.

The DBA 4000 and 5000 series stuff is definitely a better quality.

But are you ever going to feel it?
Your wallet definitely will.


I've put RDA's on a couple of cars, never had any issues (except surface rust, they dont paint the centre of the rotor, but 5 secs with a can fixes that).

[boos_rolla]

do you want a un-bias opinion from from some-one who sells RDA every day off the week( i am a assitant manager of 1 of the branches ) but with any type of rotor available wether rda/ dba it basiclly come down to how you fit them and bed them in and how much you want to spend( standard/slotted/cross-drilled(dba) or rda`s grooved and dimpled).
as long as you make sure everything is cleaned, always and i repeat always fit new pads when fitting new rotors, and make sure you bed them in correctly. by doing this you shouldnt have alot of problems, keep in mind that alot of manurfactures including mine dont accept warranties if used in motorsport( even in club track days; off road use = no warranty).
so basiclly it normally comes down to personal choice and how much you want to spend and what sort of performance you want out of the rotors.....

cheers,

[TooF]

keep in mind that alot of manurfactures including mine dont accept warranties if used in motorsport( even in club track days; off road use = no warranty).
so basiclly it normally comes down to personal choice and how much you want to spend and what sort of performance you want out of the rotors.....

cheers,

sorry to get off topic but...

i can understand why it is done but ive always felt it ridiculous that a product (not nessecarily rotors) that is marketed as a high performance/motorsport piece of equipment is then offered no warranty when used for that application.. ive always felt it would be like taking a set of Nike shoes back for warranty and having it refused on the grounds that "youve been running in these shoes havent you"


and with the RDA/DBA having used/installed both i feel the quality of the DBA is a scrape higher. and the customer service ive recieved from RDA left a little to be desired. ordered rotors though one of their distributors, rotors were avaliable in blank but not slotted. so RDA were to slot them (no stress this is the same as DBA) but then proceeded to take 3 weeks to do the job, then eventually said they had done them and wondered who they were for as they had been sitting around thw workshop !?!?!

conversly same situation with DBA had to get slots machined in as only blanks were avlaiable and recieved the rotors no fuss no BS in a day or two.

[boos_rolla]

i know exactly what you are saying asto warranty situations etc....
and its like anything automotive like filters and stuff thats marketed for the road but says' for off road use only'???

as for the slotting situation how long ago was this?? and what area are you in as to what distributor u used( not wanting names)? as this time frame to get this done is now down to around 3-4 days for stuff not in stock.....

now back on topic

what did you wanna get new rotors for everyday/ track etc???
and what car?

[oldcorollas]

but if you took say, an average pair of shoes, and ran marathons in them and they fell apart...
every part has a service limit and life. motorsport drastically increases the loads and temperatures and dramatically shortens the life, particularly if overheated etc. if you want serious race capable breaking, why not go to a component designed for it? standard brake pads will also fail at high temps, but you wouldn't expect a set of Bendix standard to be warrantied against race use

brake discs are also consumables. perhaps if you could show that a manufacturing defect caused a breakage, AND that they weren't overheated and were cooled in a proper manner...

edit: beat me to it
"for off road use only" is usually an american thing, and translates to "this is not legal for use on the road, and if you use it on the road, we can't be held liable because we told you not to"

[TurboRA28]

I had some DBA rotors that warped after their first track day. I always do a cool down lap also .

I since have fitted RDA rotors and done around 4 track days and no warping yet fingers crossed.

[ra_28]

ordered rotors though one of their distributors, rotors were avaliable in blank but not slotted. so RDA were to slot them (no stress this is the same as DBA) but then proceeded to take 3 weeks to do the job, then eventually said they had done them and wondered who they were for as they had been sitting around thw workshop !?!?!

conversly same situation with DBA had to get slots machined in as only blanks were avlaiable and recieved the rotors no fuss no BS in a day or two.

\

So it's possible if wanted i can get a standard rotors and have them slotted. Because I asked dba before and would not have a bar of slotting some of their standard rotors.

Thnaks
Alex

[TooF]

i appreciate 100% *why* it is the case for a standard product but ive enver checked but i dont think DBA offer warranty on their 4000/5000 rotors when used for track applications and these are a specifically track oriented piece of equipment.

but aside from rotors i appreciate these are a realtivly fast wearing consuamble.

dont quote me but id have to go lookit up, i think it was on exedy clutches. they not only would not warrant on track applications but "high performance applications" and this is for a product they marketed as high performance/heavy duty etc.

br: it was a pair of rear rotors for an aw11 DBA743 ? rings a bell for the DBA number.
they are not track application units but in a fiarly highly strung street car.

im in regional NSW and was told that the product would be suppled by melbourne with a turn around time of about a week which i though was pretty fair and reasonable. i dont know exactly what happened wether the apprentice did the job then went on smoko and forgot about it or is bob the machinst was jsut having a bad day or what but end result it took much longer and much more hassle then it should have.. this owuld have been about 18months ago or there abouts.

[TooF]

\

So it's possible if wanted i can get a standard rotors and have them slotted. Because I asked dba before and would not have a bar of slotting some of their standard rotors.

Thnaks
Alex

the only DBA rotors ive ever bought they offered in slotted but generally were not slotted on the shelf but required additional machining and hence extra turn around time.

that said they may not slot some rotors due to size/stress concerns sorry mate i ahvent got a better answer for you youd be best to speak to their tech guys

[love ke70]

ra 28

im guessing these are for an RA28?

if so they have a strarting thickness of 12.7mm and i minumum of 11.5 mm

this is A bloody thin
and B, no matter what you get you will probably be up for replacing them on your second set of brake pads.
DBA makes theyre stuff for falcodores over here, but almost all the other stuff is made over seas. (so ive been told)
just like RDA stuff.

so unless you are buying the good stuff i doubt you will notice a poofteenth of a difference, and seeings as they do wear out quite quickly. i would be considering that cheaper is better.

go the rda working great for me, although mine are RA60 brakes in a ke70, but theyre pullin up some serious grunt

[Bananaman]

I thought that a large part of the cost difference was that DBA manafactured theirs here, while RDA imported. I also thought that times have changed, and that DBA now import most of their gear as well - but they can still get away with charging the same prices.

I will be running RDA units myself, i'm hoping they last me a while, because the machine work i've had done to them was more than the rotors themselves.. But compared with buying DBA + machining, it doesn't feel so bad

[ra_28]

ra 28

im guessing these are for an RA28?

Sort of i'm doing the ma70 rear disc conversion.

[love ke70]

farkurnell, theyre some nice size rear brakes.
vented, 291mm, 18mm start, 17mm min.
still only 1mm of wear, so i wouldnt worry to much which ones you get