I need to change my brake pads. The rears are at 5%. The fronts aren't too bad at 50% but I would like to change all of them at once. I bought these Wagner quick stop pads that someone at my tire shop recommended. He said he hasn't had any complaints. I've been buying akebono ceramic pads in the past (because I didn't want brake dust) and have been disappointed twice already. I don't need new rotors as they are still in pretty good nick. Should I get my rotors cut before installing my new pads?


I'm curious what brand and type pads do guys buy?

 

For me OEM off the internet. Who wants to do the job again? Not me

 

OEM. I used akebono in the past, but i agree with you. Not only it's more expensive than the OEM, performance isn't that better than the OEMs.

 

I have PowerStop on all my cars. They are ceramic and wear nicely. And yes you need to cut the rotors when changing pads. Then bed the new pads in for best performance.

 

For me, removing the glaze on the rotor surfaces using sandpaper worked well.

 

For me Wagner pads are working pretty good in my Mercedes. One of the complaints I had was that the OEM pads that came with the car is that they generate massive amounts of black dust. When it was time to replace the pads someone recommended Wagner Thermo Quiet pads, ever since (for the last 6 years) I have been replacing pads with Wagner and no complaints.

Not long ago my wife's corolla needed new front brake pads. I purchased OEM Toyota branded pads and a few weeks later she was complaining she could feel something was scratching when coming to an stop. She was right, I test drove the car, when coming to an stop I could feel like heavy scratching on one of the rotors. I removed the caliper and the pads looked good. My impression is that the pads are too harsh on the rotors (semi metallic). I purchased Wagner Thermo Quiet pads and problem solved. Now I am stuck with a set of OEM Toyota brake pads that I am not sure I want to install in her car because I am afraid the scratching might come back. I am also pretty sure the dealer is not going to exchange for a set of new ones.

Thinking of buying Wagner pads for the Rx when the time comes.

------------------------------------------
05 RX330 AWD - Fully Loaded - 93K Miles
05 Mercedes E Class
06 Toyota Corolla

 

Nice that's what I was hoping to hear! The Wagner Quik Stop pads came in the mail yesterday. The front pair look really beefy. The rear pair look almost small enough to go on motorcycle. Wow, what a difference. But the overall quality looks superb.

So I decided to get two new rotors instead of getting the old ones re-surfaced. The brake place was going to charge me $90.00 just to re-surface two of them. So instead for $50.00 dollars I bought two new ACdelco rotors.

May do a brake flush as well, but I'm still deciding on that. That is also a $90.00 job.