What brake pads do you like for stock rotors ?

[nrgetic99]

98 limited, stock twin piston calipers and stock rotors (in good shape).

I used to use the excellent Performance Carbon Metallic which seem to have dissapeared.

What do you like ??

David

[Robinhood4x4]

Stock Toyota pads.

[04 Rocko Taco]

I use Auto Zone cheapies, but they are lifetime warranty, so yes they wear out faster, but as easy as toyota pads are to change, its worth it to me to go ahead and do it more often for less money. You buy the first set, and put them on, when they wear out, you buy a new set, and put them on, then you take the old set (in the new box) back to Auto Zone, they give you your money back. See, Free Brakes for life, as long as you dont mind changing them a little more often. I usually still get at least a year out of them.

[Bighead]

OEM pads.

[nrgetic99]

Thanks all..that was my default and the trade pricing I get softens the blow.

E

[MTL_4runner]

I've been moving towards using the cheaper metallic pads, but the Tundra upgrade doesn't seem to require anything special to stop the beast in a hurry and without warping the rotors. If you want low dust then the Akebono ProACT ceramic pads are an excellent choice.

[clark2334]

i want an oem brake pads (http://www.jcwhitney.com/brake-pads/c15862j1s17.jcwx) also for mine for a very cheap price. well i just bought it at ebay.

[DHC6twinotter]

I went OEM on my 2nd gen, and when my 3rd gen needs pads, I'll probably do the same.

[YotaFun]

I went aftermarket once, Never again...
OEM pads are about the best you get get for a Toyota IMHO...

[corax]

I went aftermarket once, Never again...
OEM pads are about the best you get get for a Toyota IMHO...


Have you ever tried the Hawk LTS pads? They've been great on my 4runner and about comparable in price to the factory pads - no noise, low dust, excellent performance. If you buy cheap aft mkt pads, that's what you get . . .

[fenrisx]

I'm probably going to be buying pads for mine again soon...and probably rotors. I'm definitely not buying cheap the next time. Running the cheapest Duralast pads and rotors from AutoZone. They probably have about 30k on them, so I don't know if that is bad necessarily, but I know it's not good! They're grinding a good bit when I stop now, and squeak.

Brembo and Hawk pads will be my next purchase.

[paddlenbike]

I am normally a huge advocate of using OEM parts but I think I found a pretty good alternative. I used some "Brake Best Select Ceramic brake pads," sold at O'Reilly's Auto Parts and manufactured by Bosch. When I did an internet search I read quite a few posts on bimmerforums and corvette forums about how much they liked these pads. They do not fade as easily as semi-metallic, they don't squeal and they create no/little brake dust. I put them on my girlfriend's Volvo and they seem great. I've never heard a Volvo that didn't have squealing brakes and I've never seen one that didn't have wheels that were totally blackened by brake dust. Not now, and it stops better too. I will probably try them on the 4Runner.

On a side-note, I also bought aftermarket rotors and the quality of them was so bad I returned them and had her buy the OEM ones. The aftermarket ones were poorly casted, were thinner than OEM and didn't have the cooling slots down by the rotor hat.

[Seanz0rz]

my experience with brake pads is mixed.

when i swapped to the tundra calipers, i put HAWK pads in. they were great. dust was not great, but they stopped great and lasted a REALLY long time.

i took them off (they still had plenty left) to replace them with some autozone gold or whatever the top tier one is. i figured a tiny drop in performance was worth not paying for new brake pads all the time. i had put these pads on my mom's car and the improvement over the old pads (unsure of make/model) was actually pretty amazing. the wife's car was a similar experience, great pads.

on the 4runner, those pads scare me. I was so used to the hawk pads, i nearly blew a stop sign the first time i stopped. i had them in about a year, and hated driving the truck for it. i switched back to my slightly used hawk pads and will never use the autozone pads on the 4runner again.

it is all relative. if you have trash pads now, pretty much anything is going to be an improvement. if you are used to good pads, keep the same ones.

i would recommend the hawk lts pads. anything that is meant for SUV or towing and has decent reviews. the real weakness on the 4runner and tacoma is the thin, warp prone rotors.

[fenrisx]

Sean, are you talking about the Duralast Gold CMax pads from AutoZone? I tried those in my 4Runner, and didn't notice a difference in the pads I removed. Likewise, didn't notice a difference when I switched those out for cheap bottom of the line Duralasts.

[Seanz0rz]

yes, the cmax gold pads. i cant compare between other pads and the cmax gold other than the hawk lts, which is far superior.

[fenrisx]

I will say for the price they are definitely not worth it. You can order Hawk pads online for that price.

[CJM]

I like the hawk lts pads, they work great but do make a bit more dust than others. I also swear by brembo rotors if your not going oem.

[YotaFun]

Have you ever tried the Hawk LTS pads? They've been great on my 4runner and about comparable in price to the factory pads - no noise, low dust, excellent performance. If you buy cheap aft mkt pads, that's what you get . . .


Those pads are the reason that I am sticking to OEM,

The set I got have been nothing but junk,
there stopping power is OK at best imho
and the dust is just unbearable, I think i may actually have to replace my stedads two front rims.
And at half life they started to squeal like a city bus...

My stepdad by no means is hard on his brakes, hell the first time he ever got front pads and rotors done was at 100k (big fan of engine braking...)

I will admit though, I had brembo slotted rotors when I did my Tundra swap at first. They were freakin phenomenal with the OEM pads. I wish I could have stayed with them but they worn down and I had to replace them.
I went with OEM rotors and am regretting it, my stopping distance is a little longer and I was use to the shorter distance.
after the oem rotors kick the bucket I am going back to the brembo slotted rotors and sticking with OEM brake pads.

Now a note for all toyota owners.
Toyota sells two different setups for brake pads, one with a anti-rattle kit and one without.
BUY THE ONE WITHOUT AND GET THE ANTI-RATTLE KIT SEPARATE!
The kit that comes with the anti-rattle kit always makes noise about 1/4 pad wear down, some techs believe its the pads, others believe its the anti-rattle shims, honestly I feel its both combines.
Get the regular pads and the regular anti-rattle kit and you will be good to go.

[Nuthuts96]

I, too, went Brembo blanks and Hawk LTS. A good chunk of change, but the performance is phenomenal!

The only (seriously, only) downfall is the dust. These pads produce clouds of dust. For this reason, i'll be switching over to the oem pads with the brembo blanks. Can't think there'd be a better option out there. Avy- do you know how the compound of the oem pads will react on the brembos? i'm assuming the pads will be a little harsher on the rotors than the Hawk pads, but willing to take the hit there...

[YotaFun]

On my Brembo slotted, the OEM pads were just fine, not issues at all.

As far as the blanks I am not really sure, I am sure it would be just fine if not maybe a slight improvement.

I was looking on Tire Rack yesterday after making this post and the brembo slotted on special, if the deal is still going on next Thursday I may pick up a set.

[paddlenbike]

When I bought my 4Runner in 2005 I had the rotors turned due to steering wheel shimmy under braking. Now 7 years later the shimmy is back and I plan to get new rotors this time-around. I'm not sure I "need" the Tundra upgrade since my brakes feel strong but I do plan to start towing with this vehicle. So what are the pros and cons of the slotted rotors?

[Seanz0rz]

i think the pro's are well known and talked about. to me the cons are the ability for debris to get trapped in the slots and then end up in the brake pad. they are also not as strong, and are more expensive.

[paddlenbike]

Thanks Sean. Maybe I will just stick with the solid Brembos.

While we are on the subject, look at these Volvo rotors. Can you tell which one is OEM Volvo and which one is aftermarket? What differences do you notice? I hope the Brembos for the 4Runner are closer to OEM than aftermarket.

[YotaFun]

Sean, I would argue on the debris and strength.

I had taken the 4Runner and multiple off-road trips with the slotted rotors and they cleaned out just fine.
I believe it also depends on the slotted rotors you get, some have some funky design or the slots open up opposite of the rotation of the wheel, I could see them not cleaning out as well.

As for strength, I never felt that they were going to crack under heavy breaking, I even cut them twice in the time that I owned them, I find they stay cool enough not to fatigue.
I under heavy braking on the back roads around here I find my pedal fading a lot faster with the blanks then I did with the slotted...

Price is justifiable imo, especially since Tirerack has a deal on them right now.

[paddlenbike]

Sorry to hijack the OP's thread, but it's time for brakes on the 4Runner. Dealer wants $113.26 each for new front brake rotors, TireRack is having a special on Brembo rotors for $68 each, (if you have 15" wheels they are only $41 each) + $20 shipping. Amazon had them for $62.37/each with free shipping. Sweet.

I usually buy OEM brake pads but the ceramic pads I posted about above work so well on the car I am going to try them on the 4Runner as well. They are $41.99 and have a lifetime warranty. LINK (http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/OBR1/C611/03351.oap?year=2000&make=Toyota&model=4Runner&vi=1364611&ck=Search_C0068_1364611_3461&pt=C0068&ppt=C0009)

[Seanz0rz]

cool ken! those are some good prices on the brembo's. i love my blanks, and they are wearing very well.

as for the dust issues with the hawk lts pads, its a small price to pay for superior stopping power. plus, i have black wheels so i never notice! :flipoff:

[YotaFun]

Ken you'll have to keep us posted on the pads.
I can get OEM for about $50 my cost, but if stopping power is increased with little to no brake dust on the rim I may be interested.

I know for sure though, in a couple of weeks (if work picks up) I will be ordering some slotted rotors.

[corax]

While we are on the subject, look at these Volvo rotors. Can you tell which one is OEM Volvo and which one is aftermarket? What differences do you notice? I hope the Brembos for the 4Runner are closer to OEM than aftermarket.


Oh hell, the vents don't go all the way through the rotor hat! It might as well be a solid rotor with no cooling vents at all - when the wheel is spinning centrifugal force makes air go from the inside of the hat out through the outer diameter

http://www.stillen.com/images/upload/rotation.jpg

[paddlenbike]

Oh hell, the vents don't go all the way through the rotor hat! It might as well be a solid rotor with no cooling vents at all - when the wheel is spinning centrifugal force makes air go from the inside of the hat out through the outer diameter



Exactly! If those were the 'mid grade' rotors from the auto parts store I can only imagine how bad the budget ones are.

I will report back on the pads, although I will not have a chance to work on it until after Memorial Day.