Advice-New Pads and Rotors on my 2005.....

[dkryan]

......Toyota Highlander with 158k miles on it.

I am considering Akebono Pro Act pads for the front and rear and maybe NAPA premium rotors all around.

A friend in the "business" said the Pro Act throws off more brake dust than OEM BMW or Audi pads. Personally, I've never heard that before.

Being a Highlander, it obviously does not get auto-crossed too much.

But I need an all-around quality set of pads and rotors that we can rely on for the next 70k miles or so.

The current pads and rotors lasted 82k plus, so no whining from me. The rotors were turned once, so those are gone. I want the new pads and rotors to play well together.

As always, constructive advice is welcome.

 

[The Critic]

TCMC Premium Pads with new shim kits.

Front: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F322632447679

Rear: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F222605859896

04465-AZ108 and 04466-AZ104 are the TCMC Premium kits. They are not factory original but work decently well. I have installed two sets and they have both turned out fine. You will need to order shim kits if yours are not reusable.

I have had a lousy experience with the recent ProACT pads. Had to redo several brake jobs recently due to pulsation from heavy pad deposits.

Genuine Toyota or Advics rotors.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Akebono ProACT pads are ceramic and dust much less than any OE BMW or Audi pads. Advics also has some good pads.

For your Highlander, get the Akebono or Advics pads. They will not let you down.

Advics offers rotors for the rear, but not for for the front, of your Highlander. They are the OE rotors and made in the USA. They are a great choice. For the front, get Wagner's coated rotors.

Another good option is EBC's plain rotors and the Ultimax pads

 

[HangFire]

I have a high mileage Pilot, so kind of similar vehicle. We are both in the rust belt. And I've been using NAPA brake products, so maybe you'll be interested in my input.

The Pilot front has NAPA Ultra Premium (coated) with NAPA Adaptive One pads (made in Canada). I can't recommend this combination enough. Good strong braking, low noise, low dust, non-rusty gleaming, looks like new rotors after 20 months and 39K miles. I'm going to do the same combination on my Toyota Corolla soon.

On the other hand, since NAPA did not have coated rotors available at the time, and I was feeling cheap, I put uncoated NAPA Premium rotors on the rear, and Wearever Gold pads. I have nothing good to say about this combination. At 52K miles and 29 months, the pads are holding up OK, but are noisy. The rotors are ugly and rusty. No pulsation though. Maybe if I had better pads, I would ignore the rusty rotors.

Well, I do have something good to say, I was able to put on both the Premium and the Ultra Premium well within the runout specs with no problem, and both passed the parallelism check with flying colors.

 

[dkryan]

Thanks, guys!

 

[anndel]

I have Akebono Pro Act front/rear pads and StopTech drilled/slotted front rotors and EBC slotted rotors in the rear for 3 years on our 2005 Av and not much more brake dust than stock OEM pads.

 

[Rolla07]

Havent been impressed with Akebono. Wore down fast and medium amount of brake dust but..most importantly i found stopping power to be much worse. Replaced with Bosch ceramics and they are much better. I have a set of advics waiting for spring upon Travs advice. How much are OEM? Id consider looking online and getting OEM. You know they will work good and for along time. Rotors seem fine. I got wagner rotors and so far, no complaints!

 

[CharBaby]

I used Akebono ProACT pads(I liked them OK) on my Lexus RX(similar to Highlander) and they had little dust to speak of. However, they did wear quickly as Rolla07 mentioned but, so did my OE pads.

As-far-as rotors, get the least expensive coated rotors you can find(or paint them yourself as I did). All the rotors at this level of vehicle(RX/HiLndr) are quite good/quality for these particular vehicles IMO, even the cheap ones!

These are quite a heavy vehicles(3900-4000 lbs) for the brakes as they're supposed to be more luxurious feeling, not hardcore or direct feeling. And this is what I like about them and I never had issues stopping.

Over 15 years of ownership with our RX, I had used several different pads & rotors and I didn't find any difference in any brand of rotor for longevity(in the salt belt).

However I do prefer ceramic pads with a coefficient of friction(CoF) of FF(better BITE) compared to GG(better at higher speeds...I guess but, I don't like'em!). No pad seemed to last any longer that OE unfortunately. At least this is how it was for me.

 

[knerml]

Love Akebono pads....

 

[Donald]

+1 on Akebono pads.

If salt is used on roads get coated rotors. Wagner makes some coated rotors at a reasonable price. If no salt then NAPA premium will be fine.

 

[doitmyself]

I wonder why the Akebono Pro Acts are getting mixed reviews? They have been near the top of the pedestal at BITOG for many years.

Would the Raybestos EHT's be a contender for this application. Any good feedback on them yet?

 

[BigD1]

Originally Posted by doitmyself
I wonder why the Akebono Pro Acts are getting mixed reviews? They have been near the top of the pedestal at BITOG for many years.


Because Pro Act is not the same as their OE pads.

Found out this the hard way when I bought Pro Act front pads for a 2008 Honda Civic, and they only lasted about 25,000 miles. What was left of the pads was literally falling apart. Advance Auto did warranty them. Luckily, they did not have Pro Act in stock, and offered me their house Platinum pads that I accepted.

 

[krismoriah72]

You live in Ohio..rust belt same as me.

Unless you are in a hurry i advise to buy from RockAuto.. and use the discount code.

Raybestos RPT (Element 3) (Rust Prevention Technology) rotors.
Raybestos EHT pads

Put these in your cart then toggle over to NAPA and do their rotors and top pads.... its a major difference in price.

If you do the work yourself the parts are basically free.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted by BigD1
Originally Posted by doitmyself
I wonder why the Akebono Pro Acts are getting mixed reviews? They have been near the top of the pedestal at BITOG for many years.


Because Pro Act is not the same as their OE pads.


And because nothing is perfect nor the same on every single vehicle...from one vehicle to another.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted by doitmyself
I wonder why the Akebono Pro Acts are getting mixed reviews? They have been near the top of the pedestal at BITOG for many years.



Pay top dollar for pads, you expect hardware. Akebono gives you no clips. Thumbs down.

 

[dkryan]

Originally Posted by Char Baby
Originally Posted by BigD1
Originally Posted by doitmyself
I wonder why the Akebono Pro Acts are getting mixed reviews? They have been near the top of the pedestal at BITOG for many years.


Because Pro Act is not the same as their OE pads.


And because nothing is perfect nor the same on every single vehicle...from one vehicle to another.



One of the many things I've learned in life is CharBaby's above quote!

Right now I'm leaning toward Napa premium coated rotors and Adaptive pads or simply going OEM. I currently have OEM brakes on the ride (I'm unsure of the manufacturer) and we have gotten 82k miles from those pads/rotors, though mostly with my wife driving it prior to her new Outback. She generously "gifted" me the Highlander to compliment the Altima I drive and I plan to keep the SUV at least another 40k miles.

I am new to "coated" rotors. The Altima has Centric pads and rotors on it and like the previous OEM rotors, they normally have a light rust on them, at least while sitting in the garage. The rotors are more noticeable on the Altima owing to the wheels, while they are far less noticeable on the Highlander.

Is the rust simply a cosmetic issue or a performance issue? The rotors look good on the Altima after I've driven it owing to braking, but the next morning the surface rust is back.

 

[benjy]

most rotors today are made in CHINA, but EBC's are USA or UK + higher carbon. put a set of smooth + coated EBC rotors on my 2011 frontier for a nice improvement, used their yellow pads, they dust a bit but work great! i wash my vehicles as needed even in winter so some brake dust means little. shop around on-line for best prices + contacting sellers may get a better price!

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted by dkryan
Is the rust simply a cosmetic issue or a performance issue? The rotors look good on the Altima after I've driven it owing to braking, but the next morning the surface rust is back.

Both.

Surface rust on the friction surface is just cosmetic. It will go away the moment you drive the vehicle. (Curiously the Pilot's coated NAPA Ultra Premium's don't suffer from this).

On the other hand, if you switch off vehicles or are a low mileage driver, and 40K miles means 4-5 years, it is possible for an uncoated rotor to rust out from the inside (ventilation holes) to the outside. Even more so if you buy "performance" vented/slotted/holed rotors (don't buy those).

I had exactly that happen on my third vehicle, the Dakota had over 5 years but some ridiculous low mileage on the front rotors (I'm talking less than 10K) when rust holes appeared on the friction surfaces... from behind!

And I have to disagree a bit. Cheap coated rotors have cheap coatings that won't last a year. They will buy you only that much more life and appearance time. Been there, done that.

20 months on the NAPA Ultra Premium's and they still look new, and this on the vehicle we choose first to drive when it snows, and I salt my steep driveway heavily.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Originally Posted by dkryan
Is the rust simply a cosmetic issue or a performance issue? The rotors look good on the Altima after I've driven it owing to braking, but the next morning the surface rust is back.


Rust is not simply cosmetic.

The rust can make it difficult or impossible to remove the wheel from the hub, since the rust can cause the rotor to freeze to the tire and the hub