Wagner TQ vs Raybestos Comparison

[The Critic]

http://www.raysbestbrakes.com/Images/uploads/Truthflyer_Friction_vsWagner.pdf

Yes, the test was done by Affinia, but I've heard about the piston cutting through the IMI material for many years now. Additionally, there have been many recent noise complaints about TQ pads on iATN. Perhaps this flyer really does confirm it.

Side note, I did install a set of their Wagner TQ w/CeramicNXT technology pads on a last-gen Elantra this morning. The friction rating is now FG. Car stops extremely well after the standard "pad burn-in" that I do after every brake job; quite surprised actually.

 

[fdcg27]

The '97 Accord is retired now with a set of TQs on the front, while I put a set of TQs on the rear of the Forester a couple of months ago.
These pads seem to wear well and deliver relatively little dust.
They're also pretty inexpensive.
We've found them to be quiet on our cars.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
The '97 Accord is retired now with a set of TQs on the front, while I put a set of TQs on the rear of the Forester a couple of months ago.
These pads seem to wear well and deliver relatively little dust.
They're also pretty inexpensive.
We've found them to be quiet on our cars.

Did yours use the riveted black shim, or the IMI shown on the flyer?

I suspect the applications that use the conventional shim are quiet.

Did your part # also begin with QC, and had the red "CeramicNXT" logo on the box? If so, you probably have the new material.

 

[SuperDave456]

I have a set of Raybestos on the front end of my 2002 Ford Taurus.
Not a race car, but I put the time and effort to shop around and buy Raybestos Rotors and Pads from Amazon, checked with the Raybestos website to make sure they were the right ones and to make sure that I was getting the highest quality parts Raybestos made for my Taurus. Their Advanced Technology Rotors and pads, along with the Anti-Drag clips I ordered off of Rock Auto, have been great.

I want to do a brake job right the first time and leave it for as long as possible. (Sure you can cheap out and get chinese made brakes and do your front end for $40, but can you trust your life to them, and how long will they last?) Spending more up front can help ensure that. I've been fighting warped rotors for a couple summers now, and I just decided that instead of turning the rotors I had that I would get something much better.

I have been very happy with them. Very quiet, low dust, and although they aren't as aggressive like some sports cars I have driven, I'm not sure I want that in my daily driver. That being said, they will stop NOW which has been tested in traffic on the highway.

BTW, the best thing about buying the higher end parts is that a bunch of the low end rotors needs to be turned on a machine to true it up first. The Raybestos products that I got via Amazon were ready to go on my car as soon as I pulled them out of the box. No turning required.

 

[fdcg27]

The ones I put on the Subie I believe are the latter.
Not sure about the pads I put on the old Accord.
I do know that the pads on the Accord still look very good after probably 50K, have been quiet and generate very little dust.
I believe that both sets used a normal clip-on shim.
I have been known in the past to simply toss badly rusted original shims and run the pads with no shim where the pad set came with no replacement.
The only application I recall being noisy in this configuration was our '81 Vanagon, although the piercing squeal went away after some thousands of miles.

 

[doitmyself]

Both times I used Raybestos Professional grade pads on my Caravan, the riveted shim plates detached at about 2/3 of the pad life, slipping into the rotor to cause a squeal. I found them to be just average.

So much for marketing.

 

[The Critic]

OT update: Drove the car that I had put Wagner TQ w/CeramicNXT on. It has been 500 miles since the brake job and the pads are now well broken-in. This car stops VERY well, better than I would have ever expected.

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: SuperDave456
I have a set of Raybestos on the front end of my 2002 Ford Taurus.
Not a race car, but I put the time and effort to shop around and buy Raybestos Rotors and Pads from Amazon, checked with the Raybestos website to make sure they were the right ones and to make sure that I was getting the highest quality parts Raybestos made for my Taurus. Their Advanced Technology Rotors and pads, along with the Anti-Drag clips I ordered off of Rock Auto, have been great.

I want to do a brake job right the first time and leave it for as long as possible. (Sure you can cheap out and get chinese made brakes and do your front end for $40, but can you trust your life to them, and how long will they last?) Spending more up front can help ensure that. I've been fighting warped rotors for a couple summers now, and I just decided that instead of turning the rotors I had that I would get something much better.

I have been very happy with them. Very quiet, low dust, and although they aren't as aggressive like some sports cars I have driven, I'm not sure I want that in my daily driver. That being said, they will stop NOW which has been tested in traffic on the highway.

BTW, the best thing about buying the higher end parts is that a bunch of the low end rotors needs to be turned on a machine to true it up first. The Raybestos products that I got via Amazon were ready to go on my car as soon as I pulled them out of the box. No turning required.


I also have the Raybestos Advanced Technology rotors and pads on my CTS and I love them. I've used Raybestos for years and will stay with them. I have used the PG line also with good results but with the AT line - I now use them. The only other brake pads I have used with good results on customer cars is Duralast Gold and Gold cMax. I've not used Wagner since the 1980's so cannot comment on them.