Raybestos Professional Grade Brake Pads

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meangreen01

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Looking for feed back on those that have tried them. I'm looking at the semi-metallic(I know- brake dust and all, I just like the bite better than ceramic). They have a nice rebate on them right now that make them look like a good deal, but I've always been a Bendix fan. It's for the 3rd vehicle(Durango) that doesn't get driven a lot, but see's typical use(mostly light, but at times really get laid into).

Noise, smoothness, and progressive bite are bigger factors than dusting or longevity.

Thanks
 
raybestos is a good pad. No guts or glory in them. They simply work.
I get more brake dust with ceramics believe it or not. But the sacrifice to metallics is a non question. They handle heat better and offer better grip under most circumstances.
brake dust wipes off.

Bendix pads are cool, rated GG, the raybestos are FF.
Can't go wrong either way, especially for a 3rd car.
 
Originally Posted By: EricF
But the sacrifice to metallics is a non question. They handle heat better and offer better grip under most circumstances.
brake dust wipes off.

Bendix pads are cool, rated GG, the raybestos are FF.
Can't go wrong either way, especially for a 3rd car.


What handles heat better with better grip, ceramic or semi-metallic?
 
I put Raybestos PG pads on my Caravan. About half way through the life of the first pair, the riveted on shim pads corroded and detached (at the rivet point). The store replaced them for free and the second set did the same thing. Not a deal killer, but the shims worked loose enough to catch between the caliper and rotor and make noise, etc..

Besides that, the pads worked well. But, it kind of soured my interest in Raybestos.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Have you considered the OE pads?

They are guaranteed to work and are often priced quite competitively:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/00-01-02-...#ht_2994wt_1007

Aftermarket has been a hit/miss from my past experience, and for most daily drivers, if the OE part is about the same price, I would use it.


I would, but the Raybestos come in at <$20 after MIR. That's a sizable difference.
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
I put Raybestos PG pads on my Caravan. About half way through the life of the first pair, the riveted on shim pads corroded and detached (at the rivet point). The store replaced them for free and the second set did the same thing. Not a deal killer, but the shims worked loose enough to catch between the caliper and rotor and make noise, etc..

Besides that, the pads worked well. But, it kind of soured my interest in Raybestos.


How many miles on them at the time of failure?
 
Originally Posted By: meangreen01

I would, but the Raybestos come in at div>


$40 isn't much money for an item that you only replace every few years. Besides, $40 is less than 1/2 of a tank of gas for your Durango.
 
Good brakes. Got mine from Rock Auto with a rebate. Very low dust, no noise, excellent braking. Every bit as good as Nissan OEM. Glad I didn't pay the extra for the OEM. They were ceramics though, front and rear.

No reservations about recommending them.
 
IMO Raybesto works about the same as OEM, about the same as Monroe, but not quite the same as those high performance street pads.

For these pads I usually look on Amazon and ebay for whoever with discount, and usually there's some killer deal once in a while.
 
Originally Posted By: meangreen01
How many miles on them at the time of failure?


It was around 20 to 25 thousand miles. My original pads lasted about 44K miles. Then I went through the 2 sets of Raybestos PG. Now I am on some Duralast Golds (glued shims) that are doing well, so far.

The Raybestos Advanced Technology rotors seem to be top notch.

My wife does a lot of city stop and go driving and this brake design may not be the best. And.....the road salt.
 
I have them on my car now. I've only had them for about 3K miles so far, but their stopping power is definitely better than the Duralasts they replaced.
 
I'm gonna give 'em a whirl. Sounds like the majority of you think they're fine and the price is right. Thanks!
 
Originally Posted By: Anies
Ceramic's take longer to "bite" and heat up.


Funny you say that...I've heard this elsewhere also. However, most OEM pads are ceramic these days and recommend ceramic replacement so I doubt this is really true anymore with the advanced compounds.

I've used exclusively the Raybestos Professional Grade ceramics and Advanced Technology ceramic pads and rotors on a few cars now...mine, friends, relatives, etc. They are fantastic and cheap always from Rockauto.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: meangreen01
They have a nice rebate on them right now that make them look like a good deal, but I've always been a Bendix fan.

Noise, smoothness, and progressive bite are bigger factors than dusting or longevity.

Thanks


I'm not 100% sure, but it's very, very likely that the Raybestos pads will be made in China. I don't know if that bothers you or not.

I went with Bendix CT-3s and they've performed very well. Mine were made in Canada. But, I sort of wish I had got semi-metallic for the reasons you listed. Brake dust doesn't matter to me, as I have steel wheels.

But, the CT-3s are GG rated and the originals were FF. They bite hard after a few minutes of driving, but don't seem to have the same initial bite as OE pads.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: JMHC
Originally Posted By: Anies
Ceramic's take longer to "bite" and heat up.


Funny you say that...I've heard this elsewhere also. However, most OEM pads are ceramic these days and recommend ceramic replacement so I doubt this is really true anymore with the advanced compounds.

I've used exclusively the Raybestos Professional Grade ceramics and Advanced Technology ceramic pads and rotors on a few cars now...mine, friends, relatives, etc. They are fantastic and cheap always from Rockauto.


It's not funny, they really do take longer for initial bite. Of course if your car had OEM pads you would not notice such a thing, but my car had semi-metallic pads and I definitely notice less initial bite with current ceramic pads.

It's a matter of what you're accustomed to.
 
and please note the word "ceramic" is no longer useful in describing formulas as they may have nearly no ceramic at all but they want the word in their marketing!

Fact is I have never seen a low/no dust pad that was worth a hill of beans in braking performance.
 
I like Raybestos pads and rotors and bave used them a lot. I don't like how they are making them in China now though and charging about the same price. I think ceramic pads have most all of the advantages over metallic and organic for most drivers. Ceramics generally have less noise, less dust, less wear on the rotor and last longer.

There's too many variables in pad design to say that ceramics don't bite as well as metallics or vice versa. Ceramics I think generally don't need to heat up to grab well as opposed to metallics. I think it is the organics that have the best initial bite, and since there is a lot of blending between metallic and low-metallic organic its hard to say what a so-called "metallic" pad's properties would be vs ceramic.

Given the choice, and Raybestos usually gives you a choice in pad material, I just go with ceramics. Bottom line is I think using a quality brand of ceramic pad makes all the difference. And I consider both Raybestos professional grade and advance technology being good quality. Not all "ceramic" pads are equal.
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
There's too many variables in pad design to say that ceramics don't bite as well as metallics or vice versa. Ceramics I think generally don't need to heat up to grab well as opposed to metallics. I think it is the organics that have the best initial bite, and since there is a lot of blending between metallic and low-metallic organic its hard to say what a so-called "metallic" pad's properties would be vs ceramic.


This is precisely what is going on with the word "ceramic"!

Blending in even one percent allows you to use the word. Thus its advantages are being distorted by the marketing folks.
 
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