RGB All the Things!

It can tell when your rotors are worn... hmm I need to check my brake pads I'm at 88k miles on the originals.

But the rotors, you should know when those are worn, the squealing and grinding. Maybe it means advance notice of that event which you want to avoid.
 
It can tell when your rotors are worn... hmm I need to check my brake pads I'm at 88k miles on the originals.

But the rotors, you should know when those are worn, the squealing and grinding. Maybe it means advance notice of that event which you want to avoid.
if only people paid any attention to stuff like that any more. 'Oh dearest wife, how long have the lights been on on the dash next to the empty fuel gauage in your car???' 1500$ later, and that is doing most of the work myself.
 
easier to install than cold cathodes so sure this is a good thing...
 
I have to admit that my first thought was that it was going to light up the rotor and that it might not be a bad thing for the knuckleheads that don't pay attention to maintenance... (But then again I have read to much /r/Justrolledintotheshop/)
 
It can tell when your rotors are worn... hmm I need to check my brake pads I'm at 88k miles on the originals.

But the rotors, you should know when those are worn, the squealing and grinding. Maybe it means advance notice of that event which you want to avoid.

It's not the rotors that make the noise usually. Squealing and grinding are almost always a result of worn pads. The pads have a tab on them that contacts the rotor when they get worn down too much - intentional squealing.

Rotors only start making noise if they have something like unusual corrosion, putting, overheated which can warp them.

All that being said, I think this is a stupid idea. The pads are going to wear down before the rotors. If you're replacing pads and not checking the rotors you're doing the job wrong. Some cars are designed so that the rotor wears with the pads and you just replace both. VW was doing this for a while, not sure if they still do.
 
It's not the rotors that make the noise usually. Squealing and grinding are almost always a result of worn pads. The pads have a tab on them that contacts the rotor when they get worn down too much - intentional squealing.
You're the only other person that I've known to know this. I think this is only applicable to GM though. I know back in the day it was, but other manufactures may have followed suit.

But yea, so many people don't know about that intentional squealing tab.
 
Yeah, when I said squealing I meant that tab on the brake pad that touches just ahead of the pad being worn out. And the grinding, when its metal on metal, but again that is the pads so I didn't think that out very clearly.

...Some cars are designed so that the rotor wears with the pads and you just replace both. VW was doing this for a while, not sure if they still do.

This might be what it is meant to detect. But seems fairly useless as even in that scenario, I bet they still have the tab that makes noise to alert you. Far as I know all (disc) brake pads have that tab. Not sure about the old kind where it was a drum.
 
I think it's most these days- at least three of my motorcycles have had them (pad squeelers, that is)...
 
Ain't stuff like this on cars illegal in most places in the US?
I believe so, if not, it should be. Causes road distraction. I see yahoo's around my area all the time with lighting on their trucks, now granted it does add to your horsepower, more so than putting a decal on but it looks stupid.
 
I believe so, if not, it should be. Causes road distraction. I see yahoo's around my area all the time with lighting on their trucks, now granted it does add to your horsepower, more so than putting a decal on but it looks stupid.
I agree. I am ok if you using it for shows and stuff but is a big no while you are driving around. The worst are the damn lifted trucks with huge LED bars on the front that blind everyone. A few years ago it was a huge thing but they must of cracked down on it cause I never see it any more. Another driver side swiped me once cause of those lights.
 
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You're the only other person that I've known to know this. I think this is only applicable to GM though. I know back in the day it was, but other manufactures may have followed suit.

But yea, so many people don't know about that intentional squealing tab.
My favorite is when someone bends the tab out of the way and keeps driving on the pads until the backing has eaten through the outer layer of the rotor...
 
I agree. I am ok if you using it for shows and stuff but is a big no while you are driving around. The worst are the damn lifted trucks with huge LED bars on the front that blind everyone. A few years ago it was a huge thing but they must of cracked down on it cause I never see it any more. Another driver side swiped me once cause of those lights.
I passed a sumbitch like that just today. It was noon and sunny and that damn bar on his truck still almost burned my eyeballs out. The only reason to run that thing in the middle of the day on a highway is because you're a look-at-me asshole.
 
Yeah, when I said squealing I meant that tab on the brake pad that touches just ahead of the pad being worn out. And the grinding, when its metal on metal, but again that is the pads so I didn't think that out very clearly.



This might be what it is meant to detect. But seems fairly useless as even in that scenario, I bet they still have the tab that makes noise to alert you. Far as I know all (disc) brake pads have that tab. Not sure about the old kind where it was a drum.

Not to worry, I find it pretty useless as well :) I don't even bother to install it when I put new pads in my car.

Drum brakes are entirely different. There's no tab involved. At least I've never seen such a thing. Drum brakes last a lot longer anyway. They also grab like crap.
 
You're the only other person that I've known to know this. I think this is only applicable to GM though. I know back in the day it was, but other manufactures may have followed suit.

But yea, so many people don't know about that intentional squealing tab.

I don't know if the squeal tabs was something that GM started, but they're on every car these days. I drive Asian Cars so that's mostly what I end up working on and I can confirm that they're on Hyundai, Mazda and Toyota. Have yet to own a Honda for some reason though.

And VW can eat my cornhole. Has nothing to do with this thread, but I like to give them plenty of opportunities.
 
Ain't stuff like this on cars illegal in most places in the US?
The limitations vary by state--and may only apply to moving vehicles. Texas, IIRC, won't let you use red lights that could be confused for an emergency vehicle, but if the car's parked, I think it can be anything. I've seen parked cars with a ton of RGB in metro Dallas and on the beach on weekend nights in Galveston. (I've also seen cars driving with green/blue/purple lights, generally *not* the same blue and green colors that cops the like use.) Both of these are places where there are generally enough cops around that you'd be at serious risk of a ticket if laws are being violated and the cops take those laws seriously.)

Edit: by contrast, NY, as you might expect, has an eye-wateringly long section telling you who is allowed to have certain colors of lights on cars, and it looks like "static white neon underglow" is all that's legit (but, again, the rule may be different if the car's parked.)

Edit 2: this site seems to have a pretty decent summary, including by state: https://www.neonlaws.com/
 
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Who needs LEDs to make brakes glow?

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And VW can eat my cornhole. Has nothing to do with this thread, but I like to give them plenty of opportunities.
Having deal with the 7 fucking oil drain plugs on an LP550-2 today, I'll agree with this statement.
 
I was going to make a Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon joke about the neon, but this is for real. :D

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The unit actually looks like the Mark V's chest-plate body armor!

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There a reason why it cost like $20k for a oil change on a Veyron. You got to take half the damn car apart just for a oil change.


I saw the video that guy posted a few years or so ago. Fucking nuts the amount of shit one has to do just to remove some of the shit but aerodynamics and lubrication are pretty dang important for the speed they operate.
 
I saw the video that guy posted a few years or so ago. Fucking nuts the amount of shit one has to do just to remove some of the shit but aerodynamics and lubrication are pretty dang important for the speed they operate.
Yea the maintenance on these super cars is ridiculous. I don't I would even purchase a car like the Veyron even if I was filthy rich. I would still love to take it for a spin still.
 
Yea the maintenance on these super cars is ridiculous. I don't I would even purchase a car like the Veyron even if I was filthy rich. I would still love to take it for a spin still.


I thought the same thing. Then I thought about it again. The *filthy rich have so much income per hour it negates the fact we think this or that is expensive. If I were just rich. Yeah no chance. Modified Viper\C8\I8\CTS-V\GTR something like that but definitely nothing crazy.
 
There a reason why it cost like $20k for a oil change on a Veyron. You got to take half the damn car apart just for a oil change.
that's because it's still VW, like the Lambo. that being said, you'll get 95+% out from only 3 or 4 of them, the rest is to catch all of a half of a cup per drain. the small amount that gets caught in a low pocket. they added drain plugs to all those areas.
 
This is a weird intersection of post-The Fast and the Furious ricer aesthetic and neon cyberpunk aesthetic... and it does not look good.

I think I'll stick with typical powder-coated red or gold Brembo finishes. Besides, those lights need wiring, and there's enough wiring to deal with in cars as it is. (Moreso in my older vehicles that predate having a CAN bus and thus have discrete wires for everything, but are also thankfully easy to splice upgrades into and look up schematics on when something doesn't work.)

On top of that, I need to figure out what I can slap those Brembo calipers on that I yanked off a junkyard Sentra SE-R Spec-V. Most Brembo conversion kits that I've seen use calipers from GM platforms instead, largely due to availability.
 
I honestly don't care what color the calipers are, as long as they work.
 
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