I purchased a front brake kit on Amazon for the Impala, since I wanted cheap cheap. This car is getting nothing but the lowest because, well, I just don't care. It was a free car.
The Detroit Axle kit was $66.25 for ceramic pads and plain old rotors. Link:
Detroit Axle brake kit
I have to say, I'm impressed. The rotor's are actually laser engraved with the "Detroit Axle" name, leading me to believe that they machine their own blanks. The pads also looked great, they even had a "coating" on part of the pad surface, I'm assuming to help break in. Everything fit perfectly, and the pads have great bite. The first couple stops were a little grabby, in a different way than I've noticed before with new pads, but that went away after a good 60 MPH stop. Now, they just feel solid and smooth.
Overall, the price was right and the parts fit great. I'll be putting some good miles on the car this weekend so I'll have plenty of wheel time to evaluate further.
Detriot Axle brake kit review
- Thread starter 14Accent
- Start date
Hopefully the pads are not made from compressed cardboard. That was a problem 30 years ago.
Tell us how they are in a few months after dealing with real world temp fluctuations, review on rotors right after installation is useless....in my experience the ultra cheap rotors warp in cold climates after a few months. But who knows..may have gotten lucky and there are cheap rotors that will last more than a year.
i put one of these Amazon kits on cousins 2012 pilot. the machining was very nice . so far 7k miles and no shaking wheel when braking, which was why it was changed.
Last summer I bought a cheap set of brakes from MAX BRAKES because of the youtube videos and priced at 60 bucks from Amazon. The rotors were from China and the pads are low quality (dont stop great and make a lot of dust) can't really complain because they do work at a reasonable level.. Plan to change the pads to Centric 300 series for increased stopping power and low dust.. Just wanted to add my experience of a comparable product - Carbon Metallic Brake Kit.
If someone is looking for cheap brakes I would recommend brakemotive.
The pads should have had a friction code on them. You didn't happen to snap a picture? If they are FF friction rated as I find most ceramic pads are, they should be a decent brake.
I've used the slotted and drilled rotors on both a astro van & equinox with ceramic pads and have been very happy with them. Kits came with all the clips and brake cleaner.
Pads and rotors are a low risk purchase IMO. If they stink or rust out in a few thousand miles its easy to swap them out with powerstop, centric, some other cheap brand. I wonder more about the dirt cheap DA suspension parts. In another forum, people are outfitting 6k lb Tahoes and Suburbans with DA entire front end kits that cost the same as 1 OEM control arm. How can DA manufacture something that cheap? Where does the metal come from? What corners were cut? Losing a ball joint or a wheel hub separating on a 6k SUV on the highway would be a very bad thing.
Originally Posted by WhyMe
i put one of these Amazon kits on cousins 2012 pilot. the machining was very nice . so far 7k miles and no shaking wheel when braking, which was why it was changed.
Originally Posted by mazdamonky
The pads should have had a friction code on them. You didn't happen to snap a picture? If they are FF friction rated as I find most ceramic pads are, they should be a decent brake.
I can see this on a car you are selling but not one you are keeping. Braking is important.
I've bought enough cheap brake parts to know they're always the most expensive, since they generally only make it 6 months.
Similar threads
