Duralast brake pads

[Chevelle3221]

Had great luck with the Duralast Semi-Metalic lifetime brake pads over the years for my older cars. Just bought a new front pad set for my 70 Chevelle and noticed there is less brake material width wise than the ones I took off. Hope performance is the same.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I hope it is too. I’ve bought a lot of their ceramic pads for our Camry. They are great brake pads. We use them at work too when we run out of factory ones.

 

[PontiacHO]

Are they better about dust than they used to be? Duralast metallic used to cause this burnt red dust all over wheels.

 

[Furious]

I always had good luck with Duralast brakes and brake parts, especially the Duralast Gold line.

 

[Chevelle3221]

Are they better about dust than they used to be? Duralast metallic used to cause this burnt red dust all over wheels.

That was my main reason for getting them, no excessive dust and they stop well.

 

[doitmyself]

There are several different quality lines of Duralast and I imagine their supplier changes often (every few years), so it's hard to offer specific comments.

When it comes to choosing brake pads, about the only consistency is that there is NO consistency. There's love/hate opinions even about highly regarded Akebono. And, a certain brand might have excellent pads for one car model, but the same pad brand for a different make/model might be horrible. It's quite the guessing game.

Did we have these challenges a few decades ago?? Maybe the internet amplification is confounding everything??

 

[Donald]

There are several different quality lines of Duralast and I imagine their supplier changes often (every few years), so it's hard to offer specific comments.

When it comes to choosing brake pads, about the only consistency is that there is NO consistency. There's love/hate opinions even about highly regarded Akebono. And, a certain brand might have excellent pads for one car model, but the same pad brand for a different make/model might be horrible. It's quite the guessing game.

Did we have these challenges a few decades ago?? Maybe the internet amplification is confounding everything??

I think think decades ago the brake shops were glueing new linings onto brake shoes.

 

[Dave9]

Did we have these challenges a few decades ago?? Maybe the internet amplification is confounding everything??

There have been a few changes over the years besides just suppliers. Most manufacturers stopped putting asbestos in pads after the '90's, There's also legislation limiting copper down in stages per year, to almost none by 2025 and some manufacturers got there earlier than required.

I was running Duralast Gold Semi-Metallic for years on a vehicle (and others I've gotten rid of), was usually the first set of replacement pads I bought, then swapped those a few times, then last time upgraded to the Duralast Gold ceramic. Autozone will let you pay the difference to do that when you seek a warranty replacement from them being worn out.

The semi-metallic made gray dust deposits on rims. The ceramic, practically none to be seen. The clearcoat on my rims probably would have held up better if I'd just went with ceramic from the start. I haven't noticed any performance issues, if laying on the brakes hard enough, ABS kicks in.

 

[doitmyself]

I used AutoZone lifetime warranty pads along with their rotors for at least 15 years with no problems and I took advantage of their free replacement many times. In BITOG OCD fashion, I used to track down who manufactured them to make me feel better (Canada mfg. at one point). I changed buying habits for no particular reason, although I remember having some anxiety as manufacturing moved towards China for many brands. It "seems" that Chinese rotors are o.k. these days. It's a challenge (not impossible) to buy ones not made in China.

Most of the pros here lament the ongoing quality decline of name brand after market parts (MOOG, Timken, etc..). I guess my point is that determining the quality of Duralast and almost all brands of brake pads is much more hit or miss compared to 15 - 20 years ago.

Heavy sigh. I've moved to the camp that uses OEM parts more and more (not brake shoes......yet). Buy once, cry once.

 

[D60]

There are several different quality lines of Duralast and I imagine their supplier changes often (every few years), so it's hard to offer specific comments.

When it comes to choosing brake pads, about the only consistency is that there is NO consistency. There's love/hate opinions even about highly regarded Akebono. And, a certain brand might have excellent pads for one car model, but the same pad brand for a different make/model might be horrible. It's quite the guessing game.

Did we have these challenges a few decades ago?? Maybe the internet amplification is confounding everything??

I agree with this. I've got super cheap Callahan stuff on my '07 F150 4x4 and it's been fantastic. This is the budget arm of Powerstop AFAIK.

Some people swear at them, and I'm sure they have good reason to do so. But on my F150 they have treated me far better than I've deserved for the price...now going on nearly 6 years.

 

[FordFETruck]

I put a set of semi metallic Duralast brake pads on my coworkers 2010 Chrysler T&C. They seem like nice pads, but neither the front or rear pad set came with the brake hardware which sucks, because it needed the new stainless steel anti rattle clips. My grandfather put Duralast gold CMAX ceramic pads on his/now ours 2008 Chrysler T&C before he passed away and while they stop nice, they are the chunkiest dusty ceramic pads I have ever seen. I've never seen brake pads leave such big specs on the wheels especially after hard braking.

 

[mda1224]

I hope it is too. I’ve bought a lot of their ceramic pads for our Camry. They are great brake pads. We use them at work too when we run out of factory ones.

Wait...what? A dealer will can use aftermarket parts like brakes? How does that work in a warranty situation?

 

[AutoMechanic]

Wait...what? A dealer will can use aftermarket parts like brakes? How does that work in a warranty situation?

I’m not sure how it would work then. I haven’t ran into many brake warranties. They so far and few in between that it’s usually a time we have brakes in stock. I’d say most likely we’d have to wait on factory parts if it was a warranty situation.

 

[D60]

Wait...what? A dealer will can use aftermarket parts like brakes? How does that work in a warranty situation?

Ask your local AutoZone, Advance etc driver how often they deliver to dealerships....you might be surprised.

My Ford dealer theoretically gets a truck from Denver everyday for actual Ford parts. In my experience, it is OFTEN a no-show.

So if you've got John Q Customer who needs his car back by end of day and you don't stock the OEM parts....well, you do the math.

 

[CarDoc66]

I used some Duralast rotors on my truck and was very happy with them.