Thoughts on Wagner Thermoquiet brake pads/shoes?

[firemachine69]

They're on sale on Amazon.ca, plus there's a mail-in rebate for $15 a set.

Brakes all-around for fifty bucks is tempting, but I want to check the quality on BITOG first...

 

[walterjay]

Excellent product that I use on all of my vehicles. Very quiet, great stopping power and long pad life

Go for it.

 

[Bryankkkk]

I put some on my crv earlier this year, they are awesome for the price.

 

[skyactiv]

Installed them on a neighbors Chevy Colorado and he likes them.

 

[EdwardC]

I've heard good things, which led me to buy them, but my personal experience wasn't as good. This was in the front of an '09 Civic. The pads would squeak for a few miles every morning. Plus, I felt that the pads were a little grabby until they warmed up a little bit.

After a few months, I went back and cleaned the bracket and slide pins, and put more anti seize on the pad ears, but it kept squeaking. I've lived with it for a couple years now, but I think I'll swap them out this summer (with plenty of pad material left).

This could be user error though, I lubed the back of the pad, where I've read some posts where the Thermoquiets have an "IMI" Integrated Molded Insulator backing that is suppose to be installed dry.

 

[Mr Nice]

Got them front/back on our Accord SE and love them.

Less dust than Honda pads and lots of bite even when pads are cold.

 

[Nick1994]

They were the most expensive pads when I replaced the brakes on my grandmother's brakes on her Chevy Trailblazer. I replaced the rotors at the same time.

They squeak and squeal. They've been on for a few years now, I'll be taking them back under warranty for replacement soon.

 

[Sayjac]

Put them on the front my 01 Tacoma last year also with the $15 rebate per axle. Seem to be working just fine. No noise and very low(meaning nothing noticeable) brake dust. And no complaints about their stopping power. So in my limited experience, thumbs up.

At the same time I also put on new AAP Wearever rotors.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: firemachine69
They're on sale on Amazon.ca, plus there's a mail-in rebate for $15 a set.

Brakes all-around for fifty bucks is tempting, but I want to check the quality on BITOG first...


They make my short list. I think Akebono are better but only by a hair.

 

[nthach]

I had an bad experience with them on a 1996 Nissan Quest and a newer Honda Civic(Hondas tend to work best with OEM or certain aftermarket ones), but they work fine on a 1991 Lexus and 2012 Subaru I put them on. I'm still leery of the IMI on certain apps, the one for a Forester Forester(QC1539 I think) had glued-on shims and I slathered some Molykote M77 on the backs. I have a front and back set for a Ford Explorer waiting for me, but they are the semi-metallic series. Wagner does make Motorcraft's pads.

One thing I noticed is that Wagner pads have "looser" tolerances - the pads will physically fit but the pad ears aren't the same dimensionally as the OEM pad - noticed this on the Subaru. I told my friend if they squeal because of this, we will find some Akebono or Monroe pads instead.

 

[tinmanSC]

The Thermoquiet pads are all I install now. Fantastic pads. I agree with nthach, the tolerances are sometimes a touch different. I too have had problems with pad ears not fitting correctly. I have shaved them down using a Dremel and put lubricant on them, after that they all work fine. In Wagner's defense, this is a common problem I've seen with many pads on many vehicles. It happens.

 

[MNgopher]

Good pads with a good price. They are my go to brand when I need new brakes. Low dust, long life, and acceptable braking power.

I hear complaints about them squeaking, usually followed I put something on them because I didn't trust the IMI. I've never, ever put anything on the back of the Thermoquiets and never had a squeaking problem. Your mileage may vary...

And I also did have a clearance problem with one set, which was corrected with a small grind from the dremel...

 

[Quest]

Wagner thermoquiet did not work on my wifey's camry, nor was it on a couple of other clientele's car.

These are onto new rotors(fresh new blanks, not re-machined), and they began to squeal after a few months time.

Re-surfaced the fresh rotor surface 2nd time round (for proper pad material bedding) and tried again, still the same.

Ended up returning them back to my supplier for refunds.

(*still have my wifey's set of thermoquiet sitting in the garage*)

Q.

 

[nthach]

In my case, the ThermoQuiets were a few millimeters shorter on the pad ears compared to the OEM Subaru/Akebono pads. The pads still fit fine in the caliper brackets.

 

[ronbo]

Be aware that more TQ have the shims built into the pad. A call to their tech service they told me to bed the new pads. I was told to drive at 20 mph and brake and do this 20 times.

I'm sold on Akebono pads. The fit is excellent and the install goes flawless.

 

[yesthatsteve]

I have them on the xB in my sig. Mine squeak when braking in reverse, but they've been otherwise fine for 65k miles. When the time comes, I'll probably replace them with Centric Posi-Quiet or Raybestos Professional Grade.

 

[JamesBond]

Love them for their lack of dust and rebates.

 

[Market525]

I've used them many, many times. Never an issue, and very low brake dust. Use them with confidence.

 

[The Critic]

Avoid, unless your particular part number uses the conventional shim design.

The built-in shim tends to wear very quickly, causing noise issues.

If you use an aftermarket pad, make sure it has a multi-layered clip-on shim design (or one that mirrors OE). Ideally, you should take off the shims that it comes with and re-use (or get a new) OE shim kit.

Try Akebono Pro-ACT or Performance, or Centric 105.

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^Thank you, Critic!

Everyone here or at least most seem to think that if a pad is good in one app then it is the exact same pad in another app as well. Many times they can be similar, but some are completely different materials and features...