Argument with Brake specialist
Well, I went to get my rotors turned at a local place that specializes in only brake parts. These guys have rotors and drums all over the place.
BTW, my 99 XJ had cast discs. They were not composite type.
Well, the guy checked the rotor and said that the rotor was too thin to be turned so they offered me some new ones.
He first came out with a couple that were NOT in a box and he told me they were Raybestos. I couldn't find any Raybestos marking on there,(only numbers) but he said he bought them from a supplier who had them in boxes outdoors and they got rained on which ruined the boxes.(so he was selling them for half price) I measured the height, and they were a little taller than the ones on my XJ so I was hesitant to get them since I couldn't tell what they were. He didn't like that.
Then he offered me some that were supposedly made in China but they were "premium" not the "economy" discs and they were made well.
This guy says he's been in business 20 years so I trusted him. I asked him a lot of questions which he didn't seem to like, he got defensive.
Saturday afternoon I installed the disks and wanted to test drive the XJ. The XJ WOULD NOT MOVE!!
I took off the disks and found the problem. The seating area around the bolts was too thin so when I torqued down the wheel, the disk bottomed on the hub.
I did some research, measured the disks, and concluded that he gave me the wrong part number.
I was pissed.
I went back Sunday morning and told him these were the wrong ones. He got visibly irritated.
I was irritated too since I wasted my Saturday afternoon taking off his disks and putting my old ones back on.
He said that from 84 to 2001 the XJs use the same part number. I even showed him a page from an online catalog showing the part number difference starting in 1999 and that there were 2 overall heights available 3 1/16 and 3 3/16.
He was stubborn and said that it was the same disk even when the sheet shows 2 different part numbers. I got irritated that he was insinuating I didn't put them on right or that I was wrong.
I told him he could take the damn tire off and see for himself that the ones he gave me wouldn't fit.
He went out and looked at my disks. Then he said that I must have an oddball truck or there is something wrong with it. He said the disks on there looked like the ones he gave me. He saw that there wasn't much clearance between the disk and the plate behind the disk, so he finally realized that the ones he gave me wouldn't fit.
He gave me the so called "Raybestos" rotors he had originally offered me. They appeared to be similar in size as the Chinese ones I installed except that the seating area was thicker, so I figure they might fit.
This guy was stubborn though. He tells me that if these don't fit, he'll personally take the wheels off and replace them with Bendix parts.
For all of you with 99+ XJs:
Starting in 99, the XJs are offered with 2 different disk sizes. Don't let anyone tell you different. I looked up several disk rotor manufacturers and they all show 2 different sizes for the 99+ XJs. Prior to 98 there was only 1 part number available.
Wish me luck with the new install. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
Sorry for the long post. I had to vent.
Manuel