Warning: Dangerous errors in aftermarket rotor listings for LH vehicles

I need to reiterate a warning about an error in some aftermarket front
brake rotor listings for LH cars (2nd gen - maybe 1st gen too - not
familiar enough with 1st gen to know for sure) that could screw up your
brakes. I decided to post this here after someone just posted to the
300M ezBoard forum that their car was failing inspection for this
problem, and they didn't understand the cause (even though I have posted
there about this several times in the past).

Here's a tailored re-write of what I just posted on the 300M forum to
address this problem:

The aftermarket listings for rotors on our cars are screwed up with the
same mistake for several aftermarket sources - NAPA included. I
personally discovered and verified this error in NAPA's system a couple
of years ago by having them pull the rotors listed for PHP/PGP
applications off the shelf to let me look at them. At first, I thought I
was going crazy or that the counter guy was a moron and couldn't look up
a simple part correctly, but finally figured out that their system was
wrong (when I got the same crazy result at two different stores).

If you go to a NAPA store and have them look up PHP/PGP rotors for our
cars, the computer will give them the part number for the smaller rotor
(the ones for 15" wheels). I know this error was in their system about
two years ago - I don't know if they ever corrected it. I suspect that
there are at least a few LH owners going around with pads overhanging
the edge of their rotors by about 1/4" and wondering why their brakes
aren't feeling or sounding right.

This is why I always give the correct part number for the PHP/PGP rotor
(86777) when discussing them and advise to ignore the counter guy if he
tells you it's not the correct rotor for your car. (BTW -
www.napaonline.com has the part numbers correctly listed for each
application - i.e., smaller rotor for 15" wheels, larger non-PHP rotor
for 16" and larger wheels, and larger PHP rotor for 16" and larger
wheels.)

Some additional points of info. to avoid confusion:
(1) PHP and non-PHP larger (meaning not the smaller) rotors are 100%
interchangeable (only difference is venting design),
(2) You can't convert a smaller rotor LH car to larger rotor car by
simply buying bigger wheels - the steering knuckle also has to be
changed out to a different part in order to move the caliper further out
- I did that on my '99 Concorde that orignally came from the factory
with 15" wheels, and
(3) For reference, in case you want to take on a local NAPA store about
this, the smaller rotor is Ø282mm = 11.1", and the larger rotors are
Ø297mm = 11.7" - also print out and carry in with you the applications
page for rotors on the LH vehicles from napaonline to show them that the
Napa web site agrees with you and disagrees with their counter computer
listings regarding vehicle application and rotor part number.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

This is why I (almost) always take the old part in when buying the new one,
and compare them at the parts place. I've had this happen with parts other
than brake rotors, unfortunately.

Ted

 

If you compare the new part with the old part before installing it, you
should catch the problem before you get into a dangerous situation.