"New Formulation" Autozone Duralast Gold Brake Pad

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The Critic

The Critic

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I was talking to one of the techs I know at a local chain tire shop, and he told me that their shop has had excellent results with the "improved" Duralast Gold brake pads. He claimed that they had been using them for several months now with zero comebacks at all.

The only experience I have with Autozone pads was on my old Saturn, which was negative, but the set on there was from the 2004 era.

Have the Duralast Gold pads truly improved significantly with their latest "reformulation?"
 
I've heard the same thing from a bunch of svc mngrs at Goodyear. We use cq blue premium line at the shop if we can help it. Duralast gold is our second go to choice. They are both made by raybestos. So are the Wearever platinum pads from AAP. I DO like the CQ brand rotors the best though.
 
Originally Posted By: bourne
I've heard the same thing from a bunch of svc mngrs at Goodyear. We use cq blue premium line at the shop if we can help it. Duralast gold is our second go to choice. They are both made by raybestos. So are the Wearever platinum pads from AAP. I DO like the CQ brand rotors the best though.



I did not know Raybestos made Autozone Gold pads! I always like Raybestos products and use their brakes a lot and when I cannot get them I use the AZ Golds. I've always had good results with the Golds...now I know why.
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy

I did not know Raybestos made Autozone Gold pads! I always like Raybestos products and use their brakes a lot and when I cannot get them I use the AZ Golds. I've always had good results with the Golds...now I know why.


Check out the part #s
smirk.gif
wink.gif


Best deal then become the AAP Wearever Platinum pads with coupon code A124 ( if over $30/set )
 
When was the reformulation? I used the Gold pads about 3 years ago and was unimpressed; lots of dust, fast wear with no increase in performance. They wore about 30% faster than the OEM pads. The replacements were free (which is weird), and one of the spring clips was incorrectly stamped?? QC in India is pretty shoddy, IME, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I bought OE replacements for the front rather than install another free set of Duralast Golds, if that gives you any idea...
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: bourne
I've heard the same thing from a bunch of svc mngrs at Goodyear. We use cq blue premium line at the shop if we can help it. Duralast gold is our second go to choice. They are both made by raybestos. So are the Wearever platinum pads from AAP. I DO like the CQ brand rotors the best though.



I did not know Raybestos made Autozone Gold pads! I always like Raybestos products and use their brakes a lot and when I cannot get them I use the AZ Golds. I've always had good results with the Golds...now I know why.


My understanding is that Autozone's brake pad line is supplied by Morse.

Originally Posted By: JOD
When was the reformulation? I used the Gold pads about 3 years ago and was unimpressed; lots of dust, fast wear with no increase in performance. They wore about 30% faster than the OEM pads. The replacements were free (which is weird), and one of the spring clips was incorrectly stamped?? QC in India is pretty shoddy, IME, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I bought OE replacements for the front rather than install another free set of Duralast Golds, if that gives you any idea...


I believe it was quite recent, sometime this year. The boxes now say "improved formulation" with a red banner.
 
I think it depends on what car you put them on. I have Duralast gold on the Trans Am, 3 years of 1/4 miles stops from about 118 mph and daily driving in the summer. I have no complaints.
I think unless you go pricey all brake parts are hit and miss.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
I was talking to one of the techs I know at a local chain tire shop, and he told me that their shop has had excellent results with the "improved" Duralast Gold brake pads. He claimed that they had been using them for several months now with zero comebacks at all.

The only experience I have with Autozone pads was on my old Saturn, which was negative, but the set on there was from the 2004 era.

Have the Duralast Gold pads truly improved significantly with their latest "reformulation?"


I have used several of these but not recently.

Note that the materials used vary by application, so any advice must be platform-specific. The pads sold for a Saturn sedan are hardly the same as for my one ton service trucks!
 
I would like someone to verify that AZ pads are made by Raybestos.

It's my belief that a number of aftermarket pads use the same part numbers as Raybestos just like aftermarket oil filters copy Fram's numbers. I.E. , for my Caravan, Rock Auto shows similar numbers for Raybestos, Brembo, and others, with just different letters in front ...SGD857 vs. BRM857.

Last time I inquired to AZ, they said their pads were made by Morse and/or Satisfied.

Brake formulations are really a guess, at best. They could have changed the formula 1% just for marketing and to introduce "new and improved".

I have had excellent success with AZ pads on several vehicles and I love their free replacement policy (even for wear). However, my butt dino is very calloused and insensitive to these things.
 
Hi guys, work with az and was involved with the rollout of the DG2 pad. It is in fact manufactured by Bosch, and was developed for autozone. The new pad has improved formulations and more of them. The old pad had 3 formulations for all pads. They also have 5 different shim packages to match oe and are all chamfered and slotted to exact oe specs. They are fully cured not laser cured wich provides a more consistent product, and are made in much smaller batches for better consistency. They are great pads and carry a lifetime warranty.
 
Originally Posted By: stroked93
Hi guys, work with az and was involved with the rollout of the DG2 pad. It is in fact manufactured by Bosch, and was developed for autozone. The new pad has improved formulations and more of them. The old pad had 3 formulations for all pads. They also have 5 different shim packages to match oe and are all chamfered and slotted to exact oe specs. They are fully cured not laser cured wich provides a more consistent product, and are made in much smaller batches for better consistency. They are great pads and carry a lifetime warranty.



So Bosch is the mfg now, not satisfied. Interesting.

Did this change affect both the Duralast Gold and Duralast Gold cmax lines?

Also, did the rotors change as well? I noticed on the website that the Duralast rotors now have the unswept friction area painted black, so the rust ring won't develop. I don't remember seeing this before.
 
Rotors are aimco Cmax pads did not change. Sill the premium option. As far as painted areas on rotor, as far as I have seen only duralast gold rotors with coating.
 
I'm a Parts Sales Mgr at AZ and the last time we looked at our supplier list, the brake pad supplier was listed as Bosch. Many of our commercial accounts now have gone to the Gold pads as their first choice and have had very good results (no returns as far as i know.)
 
What about Duralast Gold Severe Duty pads? Might sound silly but I can get them for the front disc brakes on my Civic and it makes sense if they indeed have superior brake fade resistance and good gripe performance, and the lifetime warranty. $50 in Autozone. It's mostly for daily driving but it's nice to have that extra layer of toughness when it comes to brakes.

Is Severe duty better than Cmax or regular Gold in terms of the important things like brake fade and grip power? It might be noisier and harder on rotors?
 
Last edited:
They are very aggressive , will stop shorter than anything else we sell but gonna be some noise. Semi metallic/carbon fiber combo
 
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