Wagner Thermoquiet no longer has integrated shim for my CRV

[nwjones18]

I've always been a big fan of Wagner Thermoquiet pads and have had excellent service from them in multiple applications. Installed a set (front and rear) on my wife's CRV roughly 6 years / 60k miles ago and they are now getting down to around 25% so I looked up some replacements. Worth noting that I just put pads on the factory rotors last time without turning or anything, and the rotors still aren't warped and have a minimal lip so I will probably just be putting on pads again. Impressive rotor life (vehicle has 150k). Anyway when I did the job 6 years ago the pads had the integrated shim design Thermoquiet's are known for and I distinctly remember them being GG rated. Looking at the current offering they have traditional metal backing plates and are FF rated if you zoom in on the picture:

Amazon.com

If you toggle over to the new OEX line and zoom in you can see that they also have a traditional backing plate, but are GG rated.. Best I can tell they have cheapened up the thermoquiet product since the introduction of the OEX line of pads which is disappointing. I guess I am going to use OEX this go around, but will be losing the integrated shim design of the Thermoquiets. I looked up some other applications and they also appeared to have normal shims/backing plates.. Just a heads up for anyone that may be looking.

Their website and marketing still touts the 1 piece design..

ThermoQuiet Brake Pads

With a specially-designed sound insulator, Wagner® ThermoQuiet® brake pads offer quieter braking with the same performance you've come to expect from Wagner®.

www.wagnerbrake.com

 

[hrv]

I have always used the Honda OEM brake pad kits for all of my Hondas and they have been great and fit right...

 

[The Critic]

That built-in shim was not very effective. Some pistons would cut thru it.

 

[nthach]

Some TQ p/ns don’t have the “molded insulator”. I’ve installed a set on a Subaru that had glued-on shims.

 

[lbhsbz]

That wasn't a shim at all...it was just friction material molded to the backside of the backing plate too. Kinda dumb, but cheap....that's why they did it.

 

[nwjones18]

I'm surprised I remembered making this post, but I finally got around to ordering the brake pads. Went with the Thermoquiet's again despite the pictures (price was $20 for rear and $25 for front pads on Amazon) They came in with integral shims despite what the pictures show. Will be installing this weekend.

 

[camrydriver111]

Where are they made?

Last time I used ceramic TQ they were made in USA, but if they changed the design it's likely they changed supplier as well.

 

[lbhsbz]

Wagner has gone through several different ownerships in the last 15 years, and friction material (with the copper free initiative) has also changed multiple times over the last 10 years. Nothing is the same as it was.