Best quality brakes? USA Cars

[777funk]

I've driven MB Diesels for years and it was never hard to find the good stuff for those cars. It was almost like Apple, the OEM products were almost all anyone recommended and it was usually pretty reliable that you were getting high quality.

I'm not a Mac user but that's one thing I have to give Apple, not as many options but there's also not a sea of trash... just mostly good stuff.

However for USA cars (Fords and GMs) AutoZone and OReilly's have made it difficult to find real parts.

Any suggestions?

 

[zfasts03]

Akebono Proact (a little expensive)

and

Wagner Thermo quiet ceramic have been my favorite


Characteristics for street driving I like is quiet, low dust, long life, no noticeable fade or stopping issues for normal street use.

 

[bdcardinal]

For Ford, the Genuine brake pads(not Motorcraft) are the ones the car came with new. You can tell because the basic number, the middle part, will be 2001 or 2200 on brake pads with Genuine and 2v001 or 2v200 on Motorcraft.

 

[lugNutz]

Are you on a budget? Do you have an AAP close by?

If you want to look for manufacturer specific pads at a lower price, I always start by going here:

Beck Catalog

Search for your car and the 089 series pads. The 089's are OEM from the manufacturer just thrown in their box. Search the part number on Amazon or RA for the best prices.

I tend to use Napa premium brake rotors due to their durability, lifecycle, and low price, however I recently found out that (at least in my area) Advance's wearever brake rotors are the exact same as the Napa premiums but cheaper thanks to coupon codes.

As mentioned above, Wagner thermoquiets are pretty darn good, also more attractive with coupons lol. Oh, the pair of TQ's I bought this weekend are GG rated FWIW.

 

[marc1]

I have used these in my performance cars and my daily drivers and have found them to be excellent.

http://www.hawkperformance.com/

They are widely available, I generally buy this brand from Summit Racing however The Tire Rack carries them as well.

 

[Bud_One]

Originally Posted By: zfasts03
Akebono Proact (a little expensive)



+1

they're worth the cost though...running them on both my Accord and Vibe

 

[901Memphis]

Advance Auto, Wearever Platinum. (Made in India) Good stuff.

 

[Nick1994]

Wagner brake pads are great, $55 in store for my car but if you buy them on Amazon they're $22

 

[Merkava_4]

They got 3 levels of quality at RockAuto:

1. Economy
2. Daily Driver
3. High Performance/Heavy Duty

 

[mrvrsick]

I put Akebono on my Miata, as well as a Tiburon. I didn't have the Tiburon for long, and I don't drive the Miata as much, but I remember doing a lot of research for them as Miata pads.

 

[i6pwr]

Napa Ultra Premium rotors and Centric fleet pads. That's about the best you are going to get in terms of stopping power and fade resistance.

Forget brake dust issues and long life pads.....how well do you want to stop?

German vehicles stop VERY WELL.....why? OE pads on German vehicles or go with my opening sentence.

 

[davinci]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Advance Auto, Wearever Platinum. (Made in India) Good stuff.


I just put those on front and rear as well as all new rotors of the same brand. So far they are some of the best aftermarket I have used. The advance auto 40 off of 100 order is tough to beat. If these continue doing a great job and last I will buy them again.

Anyone used these and the Wagners on the same vehicle for comparison?

 

[wirelessF]

Originally Posted By: i6pwr

German vehicles stop VERY WELL.....why? OE pads on German vehicles or go with my opening sentence.


How come? My truck has a similar brake setup like most luxury cars and the brakes aren't grabby like my bro's Lexus or my aunts BMW.

 

[i6pwr]

Originally Posted By: wirelessF
How come? My truck has a similar brake setup like most luxury cars and the brakes aren't grabby like my bro's Lexus or my aunts BMW.


What truck do you have? There are likely a couple reasons and one is that most German vehicles if I'm not mistaked use a Hydro boost pump for the brakes which is in conjunction with the power stering.
Another area is the pads which tend to lean on the side of faster wear and more dust but really grab when needed.

These cars are designed with high speeds in mind (ie autobahn) and I know our older E23 7 series would dirty the wheels in a few days but would always stop when needed with minimal fade from high speeds unless repeated.

My SUV with Akebono ceramic pads stops well and have almost zero dust but don't have the linear feel of the fast wearing, dusty pads.....there is always a trade off.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: marc1
I have used these in my performance cars and my daily drivers and have found them to be excellent.

http://www.hawkperformance.com/

They are widely available, I generally buy this brand from Summit Racing however The Tire Rack carries them as well.

+1 on Hawk. I used their HPS pads on my Accord and they've been the best pads I've ever used. I will never use anything else on that car. I just put a set of HPS pads on my Bronco too.

 

[artificialist]

I used Raybestos premium on mom's Jeep Grand Cherokee, and they are better than OEM.

 

[Donald]

Wagner TQ or Akebono. I would not bother with anything else.

 

[tommygunn]

Best pads: Wagner Thermoquiet, Axxis Deluxe, Akebono ProACT

Best rotors: centric Premium, Fremax (they are also sold under the name VGX Platinum)

 

[Trav]

I like the Bendix CT-3 a lot but now they seem hit or miss.
They were GG rated and made in USA but now some FF rated trash made in China are showing up.
They are worth looking for if you can find some NOS. I got a few sets on ebay from Fleetpride for $20 a set.