What brakes do you guys use?

Well I just changed out my 6 month old ebc pads and rotors. I used Ebc on the back and ac delco gold rotors on the front with Wagner thermo quiet pads. The pedal pulse is gone, nothing was hung up. Got me why it happened. Compared to ebc pads, the Wagner’s stop fine and are quiet. That’s all the good I’ll say about them because the rear pads are half as thick as ebc. The fronts were similar. How Wagner can justify what the rears cost is beyond me. Luckily I got them from Amazon resale for $15, I’d never pay full price for such garbage. I’m not touching these brakes again until I have to, but considering Nissan already uses undersized pads on the rear, and some dynamic stopping system that actually activates the rear pads, it’ll probably be less than 20k miles.
 
50yr Street Mech said:
Really...I've been duped !!! Fell for the " synthetic " on the bottle. Had no idea DOT 3 or 4 was ALL synthetic. Learn something new everyday. Thanks for the heads up :)...I normally use Lucas " Synthetic" brake fluid. Seems to be the clearest looking fluid I've found. Guess it's just more refined to make it clearer ????? I dunno....Now, I'll go back to plain ole Johnsen's Dot 3 fluid in a gallon jug. Cheap stuff, but I do a lot of brake jobs, so it won't just sit there opened attracting moisture. Thank you so much for that info :)
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I use Motul racing fluid in BMW and occasionally in VW, RBF660. It is very yellow. However, it has 325c dry boiling point and costs $23-25 for 0.5ltr (I don’t pay that price). So, color doesn’t indicate quality. ATE had for long time Super Blue. They dyed it blue so you know when new fluid starts flowing.
 
I am currently running the OE rotors with Raybesto's Element 3 pads, have no complaints, they are quiet, stop good, I would have no hesitation using them again.
 
nthach said:
I think it was flushed out in 2021. I’m due for a change as far as years go. But also, this car is a hybrid - so the service brakes don’t get used as primary braking as often.
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That makes it even more important the fluid is changed. You shouldn't go more than two years between changes, mileage is irrelevant.
 
Just replaced rear pads and rotors on my 2014 Forester. I had used the Raybestos EHT for both pads and rotors, and this set didnt work well . They have been on for at least three years, but have always made a little noise for some reason. They recently started making really terrible noises, like they were down to the backing pad.

There was a ton of meat left on the pads, but odd rust and wear bands on the rotors.

Put Bosch Quiet cast pads and rotors on and was very happy with the fit and finish. Fit the clips well, seems well made, and the rotors were well packed. Will see how the performance is after they bed in.
 
2006 Acura TSX, 240K, easily 90K since last brake job.
Akebono pads and Centric rotors. I do clean and relube them periodically during inspection. My guess is there is maybe 50% pad left.
Probably should renew the brake fluid...

Doesn't make sense to me. Must be the California sunshine?
 
JeffKeryk said:
2006 Acura TSX, 240K, easily 90K since last brake job.
Akebono pads and Centric rotors. I do clean and relube them periodically during inspection. My guess is there is maybe 50% pad left.
Probably should renew the brake fluid...

Doesn't make sense to me. Must be the California sunshine?
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No rust and the fact that you regularly clean up the brakes and lube them goes a very long way VS the whole thing getting eatten alive rust jacking jamming and wearing out too soon in the rust belt.
 
Rust_Belt_Pete said:
No rust and the fact that you regularly clean up the brakes and lube them goes a very long way VS the whole thing getting eatten alive rust jacking jamming and wearing out too soon in the rust belt.
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Yeah, when I service an out of state vehicle, I shudder. You guys are bullet proof!
 
Anybody here use Pagid Silver pads? I'm running Elements 3's right now but want to move to something else next time I do brakes since they seem to have gone downhill.

I ran Akebono ProACTs before the Raybestos and didn't like them. They lasted fine and were quiet, but they had very low initial bite and little pedal feel. I'm looking for something with good bite but low dust, which I know is difficult.
 
cheesepuffs2 said:
Anybody here use Pagid Silver pads? I'm running Elements 3's right now but want to move to something else next time I do brakes since they seem to have gone downhill.

I ran Akebono ProACTs before the Raybestos and didn't like them. They lasted fine and were quiet, but they had very low initial bite and little pedal feel. I'm looking for something with good bite but low dust, which I know is difficult.
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I have heard of PAGID aka TMD Friction being one of the biggest Euro makes OEM suppliers and they have a nice reputation on the racing side of things for European makes. Not sure if their normal aftermarket pads hold up to their performance line of products. I'm open to ears as well on this as their prices are pretty good at RockAuto.

Akebono is pure trash, I had to take them off my 2022 WRX which are made and has their logo stamped by them on the OEM pads because those pads can't even handle downhill action driving at San Diego coastal hills. I nearly rear ended someone twice and got rid of them for some Magma Brakes Semi-Metallics which are by a huge mile better than every way and can even handle some heavy autocross braking action with consistent stopping and decceleration. The dust isn't as bad as people say with Semi-Metallics as long you wash your car & wheels at least twice a month which I do.
 
Usually buy whatever ceramic with coated rotors kits off of Amazon or eBay. The last ones were one Weize kit for a Camry, and one Max Advanced kit for a Pilot. They were pretty cheap, the Max ones were the black coated rotors- a first for me. They've been through a salty winter and still look great.
Both kits have a little over a year on them, both work great. Not terribly dusty, not noisy, and stop the vehicles just fine.
 
I’m about 10k into advics pads and have no complaints. A little weak until they get warmed up, but 10 miles down the road they’re fine. Seem to be easy on rotors as well.
 
I used Elements 3 on at least a dozen cars years ago and they proved to be a good pad and rotor combination, today they are the lowest crap you can buy. I am thinking with First brands going belly up if they didn't cheapen the product to increase profits in an attempt to the wolves at the door away. The only thing it did was ruin the companies reputation.
For Japanese I just buy OE (I paid $15 more for Suby OE than Akebono) and Euro by a large margin Zimmerman and ATE. with aftermarket quality going down quicker than a hooch hound on a bender I cant be bothered messing with that.
 
Crazy how the Element 3s have gone downhill. I'm running E3 pads and rotors front and rear on my Accord for the past couple years and they've been good, but I've read they've even had poor fitment issues for the pad backing plates and cracking friction material more recently. That's really too bad, because otherwise I love these pads for their feel and low dust.
 
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