Brake Pad Rant

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krismoriah72

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When it comes to oil/filters,tires and suspension parts/shocks just about all of the top names are available at brick and mortars.. i dont understand why brake pads Raybestos/Bendix/Akebono/Bosch/Brembo etc etc are almost exclusively online only.

Every brick and mortar sells house brand pads almost exclusively.. I think I can get Wagner at Advance auto but that is the only brand name that i know of that is carried at brick and mortars.. and even at that they are twice as expensive as online.

I just recently purchased Raybestos EHT pads .. however on Amazon there are no reviews nor ebay nor on rockauto which are the top 3 places that i would buy them online.
If you go on Raybestos website its pretty much their best pad...but you cannot buy them anywhere but online.

Does Raybestos make so much money with house brands that they do not care about name recognition? Same goes for the other name brands.

Raybestos motto "the best in brakes" should read- 'the best online brakes'? You could stop at every brake shop in america and not get Raybestos brakes unless the shop owner buys them online correct?


Tires and oil are pretty simple- the big brand names are in your face everywhere you go.. they are wear items that get repeat business... i would think brakes would fit in there at least near the same category.

As of this moment if i were to have to change brakes today i would have a choice of Proformer, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Premium, Ultra Premium and Max. The big brand names would not make a dollar unless by chance they made the house pad that i chose. I guess i could try the dealer as well, but also what are the chances that the big brand name made those brakes?

To end my rant my gut said either NAPA Ultra Premium pads or the top of the line Raybestos Element 3. Why my gut? there are no tests nor analysis of either pad..just wording on a website. Both are made in China.. so perhaps i can drive with confidence knowing that they must use some kind of hazardous material that is banned in the USA that will help me stop faster and make less dust and last longer than a Silver pad which was made in Mexico or Indonesia.

I wont post my review of these pads even if they are the best pads i have ever used. I think they should be kept secret as marketed and sold only for sale to guys who read obscure reviews on the innerwebs and wait 4 days for the mailman to arrive with a sketchy priority mail box.
 
They want to sell their made in India for next to nothing garbage for mega markup and give the poor slobs a 30% off coupon so they think they got a real deal. That's why.
 
The Raybestos EHT3 pads are my go to pad. Despite the lack of reviews I've recently (within the past 6 months) installed 11 sets of them. 3 of the sets on family or personal cars. They're my new favorite over Akebono Pro ACT pads which were my previous go to pad.

Over the ACT pads the EHT3 have better cold and hot bite, better pedal feel and significantly less dust. All while being completely silent in service.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
They want to sell their made in India for next to nothing garbage for mega markup and give the poor slobs a 30% off coupon so they think they got a real deal. That's why.


That's VERY WELL SAID - Car quest/AAP strategy
frown.gif
 
any opinions on ebc greenstuff? was in a pinch and needed pads yesterday. amazon got them here overnight.

After the test drive last night been pretty happy with them.
I was going to rockauto some coated rotors either centric or raybestos, and some pads I had used before but they wanted upto 5 days to deliver

So I totally understand the everything good is only online issue.
Pictures below of "in a pinch"
and can anyone tell me if its vital to have a front rotor brake backing plate?

 
Originally Posted By: Rand
any opinions on ebc greenstuff? was in a pinch and needed pads yesterday. amazon got them here overnight.

After the test drive last night been pretty happy with them.
I was going to rockauto some coated rotors either centric or raybestos, and some pads I had used before but they wanted upto 5 days to deliver

So I totally understand the everything good is only online issue.
Pictures below of "in a pinch"
and can anyone tell me if its vital to have a front rotor brake backing plate?






The backing plate will help with gravels/dirt/mud from entering the process, also less water that could cause warpage and loss of bite. I would get one.
 
Originally Posted By: FlyNavyP3
The Raybestos EHT3 pads are my go to pad. Despite the lack of reviews I've recently (within the past 6 months) installed 11 sets of them. 3 of the sets on family or personal cars. They're my new favorite over Akebono Pro ACT pads which were my previous go to pad.

Over the ACT pads the EHT3 have better cold and hot bite, better pedal feel and significantly less dust. All while being completely silent in service.


Sir i think it was your reviews that made me lean towards them. My wife also drives this vehicle and i tow a $20K Sidebyside.. I have been testing the cheapest semi metallics that i could find just on a whim because of the whole Friction Rating curiousity. The NAPA proformers that i have been running have FF rating and the Ultra Premiums that i could have bought had FE ratings.. I have zero complaints about the bottom of the barrel proformers, in fact they are doing very well. I just cant in good conscience keep them on without trying the top of the line GG for $20 more a set.

I just dont understand why you have to belong to a secret society to know about them.. surely word of mouth on obscure forums isnt their marketing strategy.
 
Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
The backing plate will help with gravels/dirt/mud from entering the process, also less water that could cause warpage and loss of bite. I would get one.

Right but it also requires you to pull the hub which is not trivial.

Also without one I could inspect the brakes before they get that bad. I dont have a picture of the outside of the rotor but it looks perfect and the brake pad was still about 70%.

Its not my car so I have to rely on the driver to tell me about squeaks,vibrations and other issues.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
any opinions on ebc greenstuff? was in a pinch and needed pads yesterday. amazon got them here overnight.

After the test drive last night been pretty happy with them.
I was going to rockauto some coated rotors either centric or raybestos, and some pads I had used before but they wanted upto 5 days to deliver

So I totally understand the everything good is only online issue.
Pictures below of "in a pinch"
and can anyone tell me if its vital to have a front rotor brake backing plate?





Can you please explain that brake rotor? Did you pull this car out of the swamp?!
lol.gif


Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
I just dont understand why you have to belong to a secret society to know about them.. surely word of mouth on obscure forums isnt their marketing strategy.

95% of people do not care, 3% want OE parts (little do they know about Akebono being OEM, they would not be the type to know) and the other 1% that cares are probably going to want a performance pad like EBC Greenstuff. The final 1% would be similar to a BITOGer, in the know and wants a good OE-style pad that does not dust and will pay for it.

Also, it is not like you go the shop and they ask you what pad you want. The shop must either like them because they are easy to install and receive no customer complaints, or a unicorn shop that uses good parts because they are a good shop. Akebonos are the most expensive pad on Rockauto for my car, $90 CDN is a lot for a single axle and the labour on brakes is just not enough to justify a premium pad for anything other than performance reasons.

Also, DIYers and performance/unicorn shops are the ones who can spend on premium components. Normies just want their brakes to work for as cheap as possible so they can pass inspection.
 
Last edited:
The parts stores sell house-brand pads because there is massive markup. Oreilly sells Wagner, and a few others have misc. The better name brands are typically left to the wholesalers for shops to use. The best parts, in general, are usually only available to specific suppliers.
 
Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
Does Raybestos make so much money with house brands that they do not care about name recognition? Same goes for the other name brands.


Raybestos, Wagner, etc make those house brands. I'd guess that Autozone's house brand brake pads are the top-selling pads in the US too. Companies like Raybestos, Wagner, etc no doubt make a killing on volume/quantity that Autozone, AAP, and so on sell.

Also, and I personally haven't used them in many years, many people are very happy with these store-brand brake pads as long as you go with the mid-grade or top-grade pads they sell.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
any opinions on ebc greenstuff?

I had them on my Ranger. Worst pads I ever used. They squealed loudly and terribly (yes, I used anti-squeal compound). EBC says that's normal and it goes away after the pads have broken in. It did eventually go away, after a few THOUSAND miles! They also produced a lot of brake dust and they only lasted about 30k miles. Junk. I now only use Hawk HPS pads or Akebono ProACT.
 
Originally Posted By: exranger06
Originally Posted By: Rand
any opinions on ebc greenstuff?

I had them on my Ranger. Worst pads I ever used. They squealed loudly and terribly (yes, I used anti-squeal compound). EBC says that's normal and it goes away after the pads have broken in. It did eventually go away, after a few THOUSAND miles! They also produced a lot of brake dust and they only lasted about 30k miles. Junk. I now only use Hawk HPS pads or Akebono ProACT.


Yup, I forgot to comment on that. EBC are cheap junk in a pretty, expensive package. Not worth it in any way, shape or form.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
any opinions on ebc greenstuff? was in a pinch and needed pads yesterday. amazon got them here overnight.

After the test drive last night been pretty happy with them.
I was going to rockauto some coated rotors either centric or raybestos, and some pads I had used before but they wanted upto 5 days to deliver

So I totally understand the everything good is only online issue.
Pictures below of "in a pinch"
and can anyone tell me if its vital to have a front rotor brake backing plate?

No experience with EBC Greenstuff, but right now I'm using EBC Ultimax/Blackstuff pads (OE replacement) and they are good.

Also, coated rotors are awesome
smile.gif
 
Well I only paid 30 for the ebc pads and I wasnt too impressed with akebono on the 2013 subaru.

I was considering beck/arnley but they had an additional 2 day transit time.
 
Considering how quickly Amazon delivers nowadays, and how inexpensive they are on most things, I find it works just fine for me to order this sort of thing online.

Heck, if you time your purchases right, and/or if you don't mind looking at their "Warehouse deals", you can really get some smoking deals. I was able to get full sets of Wagner ThermoQuiet pads (a front set and a rear set) for less than $34 - $25 for the front set and $8.20 for the rear set. Both are "Amazon Warehouse Deals" so technically they're like 'open box' but the pads and hardware were both sealed and unused on both sets.

I do get that sometimes, you need parts immediately and just have to get them locally.. and that sometimes that can lead to issues. I've only found myself in that situation once in the past 10 years, though, so I suppose it's not a big enough problem from my perspective.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
Well I only paid 30 for the ebc pads and I wasnt too impressed with akebono on the 2013 subaru.

I was considering beck/arnley but they had an additional 2 day transit time.


BA is just a generic brand that re-boxes either OE or (typically, at least) high-quality parts.
 
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