I pulled the wheels off the front today to do the brakes...and the rotors were VERY hard to turn. Now i know that's not normal, they're supposed to spin pretty freely...do you think that means my brakes binding? Also, i've been pretty disapointed in my cars performance lately, and if the brakes are binding, which is causing the wheels to be so hard to turn, then that explains why my car has felt so slow, and explains why my pads lasted only 11 months. Any suggestions? Thanks guys

 

if they're original, the calipers probably need to be replaced. OEM's are pretty cheap, I think I only paid 14 buck each for mine. Here's another thought, did you ever take the rotors off and maybe torque down the spindle nuts to much? If you did, it can damage the wheel bearings and compromise the wheel turning.

 

I've never had the rotors off (i've only had the car a year), and when i took em off today, the spindle nut was lose enough for me to loosen them w/ my hand....and the rotor spun fine one the calipers were off....so i'm pretty sure that's not the cause. I'm thinking it is the calipers, and they need to be replaced. I remember last time i changed my pads, i bent a C-clamp getting one of the pistons to go back in, thought it was locked up. Where'd u get ur $14 calipers? Thanks

 

venting the fluid resevoir will help the caliper pistons move back, but still shouldn't be hard enough to bend a C clamp. After awhile the pistons will just score in the bore and start to bind.