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Brake Pads and Fluid - Your Favorite Brand vs. OEM?

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#21 ·
RavForTwo said:
For probably close to a couple of decades, I've swapped OEM pads for ceramic pads for all of our street driven vehicles. Several of them were driven pretty hard so it was like accelerated wear testing, and in that time on a BMW, a Miata, and a Corvette, I tried the majority of the major makers of ceramic pads. I've always used the premium tier pads but there are significant differences. Some pads create almost zero dust but felt mushy and imprecise on hard brake applications. Some pads squealed about the first three cold stops every day but then quieted down afterwards. Since I've always changed pads myself and have a consistent approach to installation and bedding of the pads, I believe it's a pretty good indication of performance both in normal use and in situations that would approach the extremes of what would be considered appropriate for a ceramic pad. I've just had the most consistent experience with Akebono pads.
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I think for the avg driver, especially for a Rav, not gonna notice a thing, nor know anything about bedding new pads onto new rotors, most are just swapping pads and driving normally.

Is there any ceramic pad that will come close to the extremes on a Rav? I guessing not many are road-racing their Rav.
 
#23 ·
Rav4-lim said:
most are just swapping pads and driving normally.
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I agree. If you are not getting any pulsation from the old pads and rotors, and the old rotors aren't scored or burned, then there is no reason to get new rotors. Just stick in some new pads. I don't think on our RAVs we need to worry about special bedding procedures for the pads. Just driving normally did fine for mine.
 
#24 ·
Andylax said:
Buy only oem rotors and pads they have better specs than aftermarket
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I really like the brake pedal "feel" and the stopping performance of my '21 XLE OEM pads and rotors-no complaints. They are silent and no brake dust. I have read good things about Akebono ceramics but never used them myself. I have used Hawk semi -metallics on my Jeep Liberty. They improved braking to a large extent but were very noisy when cold and made a lot of brake dust. In the old days we used Repco Metal Masters like many state troopers and highway patrol cars did. You had to ride the brakes for 5 minutes in the morning to heat them up or they wouldn't hardly stop the car at all. Times have sure changed with the ceramics!
 
#25 ·
Rav4-lim said:
I guessing not many are road-racing their Rav.
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You'd be surprised what I've seen RAVs, Highlanders and Camrys doing. In many states the speed limit is 80 MPH and on the German autobahn there is no speed limit. Everyone needs the best and safest brakes they can afford on their car even if they are not on a race track.
 
#26 ·
Rav4-lim said:
I think for the avg driver, especially for a Rav, not gonna notice a thing, nor know anything about bedding new pads onto new rotors, most are just swapping pads and driving normally.

Is there any ceramic pad that will come close to the extremes on a Rav? I guessing not many are road-racing their Rav.
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Bedding new pads ensures the most consistent response from the start. Certainly driving around normally will eventually transfer the pad material onto the rotors over time and that's why those who don't go through a bedding process still end up with good brakes. Think of bedding the pads as pre-oiling a new filter during an oil change. The premise is the same.

I've come to realize that pads are probably more necessary on the gas Rav rather than the hybrid, which uses regenerative braking and engine braking when the battery is full to spare the mechanical brakes. In either case, higher end ceramic pads like the Akebono can handle a fair amount of heat which is probably sufficient for everything except fully loaded down driving in the mountains.
 
#27 ·
Just replaced rotors & pads on all four wheels for a neighbor's vehicle not a Toyota, a Honda he went with aftermarket cheapest he could find. sold the vehicle 2 days later. When asked by the buyer what what he had used for break parts his reply OEM of course. I stood there waiting for the buyer to ask for the receipts, he's reply cool okay.
 
#31 · (Edited)
A lot of people are commenting on this thread that Akebono's work great for their Toyota. That's because they're Toyota's oem brake supplier. I believe Sumitomo also does a small amount of Toyota pads.

Akebono is the largest supplier of OEM brakes in North America. Toyota is their biggest customer. An old auto shop trick is to order Akebonos instead of from Honda/Toyota dealerships directly for example, they're the same exact pads but you don't have to pay the dealer markup. It's not just Japanese cars either, Akebono is the oem pad for Fords, GM, and Chevies. I don't know about euros though, that's probably Bosch or one of their subsidiaries.
 
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#35 ·
thousandwords said:
Just curious- did they come with hardware or you had to reuse the oem hardware?
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Skinny guy replied. But for me I didn't use the new hardware (did not need to), and, I use a "better" hi-temp synthetic grease for doing brake pins. I rarely grease back of pads because I have found over the decades that exposed grease just collects dirt.
 
#36 ·
Rav4-lim said:
Skinny guy replied. But for me I didn't use the new hardware (did not need to), and, I use a "better" hi-temp synthetic grease for doing brake pins. I rarely grease back of pads because I have found over the decades that exposed grease just collects dirt.
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When you say you did not need to use the new hardware, is that because you prefer to clean and reuse the OEM ones? I would personally think its much more convenient to throw away the old dirty ones and pop in the new ones...but I could always learn from other's experience.
 
#37 ·
Brake pads have mandatory coefficient of friction ratings on them. The ratings start from E and go up to G. With E being the lowest and G being the highest. The friction rating will have 2 alphabets for examole FF. the First alphabet would imply the rating at cold temps and the second alphabet would mesn the friction rating at high temps.
pan FG or Gg rating I’d far superior to EF rating whuchnis most after market pads from thr stores like auto zone etc would be rated. I have not Toyota oem pads rated below FF and many are FG or perhaps GG rated. Please Google brake pad coefficient of friction rating and read about it.
 
#38 ·
Just flushed brake fluid using Prestone Max DOT3. Have had no issues with ANY brand of DOT fluid. No need for OE fluid. Honda, GM.... also have excellent DOT3 brake fluid. Sometimes the closest store for a quickly needed part isn't walmart or the dealer... but a competitor dealer.

Concerning pads/rotors.... prefer quality brands and didn't ever use OE rotors or pads. I have one Toyota in the driveway with 4 different brands of rotors, another car with 3 different brands. Also have used different front/rear brands.

I only use solid rotor blanks... don't care for or recommend drilled, slotted, or combo drilled/slotted rotors. And, I look for a rotor with some type of rust proofing. Can't go wrong with Bosch or Raybestos better offerings.

I can tell you that the attention to detail during the brake job is very important. And, most that complain about various brands or PN's usually have an installation problem. Don't slam the brand when you or the installer is a hack.

Akebono, EBC, Hawk, Advics, Bosch, Raybestos, Bendix, Fremax, Carbotech, Wagner... all have quality pad or rotor choices. Within a brand, I tend to prefer their 'better' or 'best' pads and not their ho-hum entry level offerings.

My favorite SUV pads are EBC yellows. I have blues on one sedan. Another sedan has Akebono ASP since I hate the proacts. I've run EHT and OEX pads on other SUVs.

There is more to a pad than frictional rating, so don't get hung up on the alphabet rating.
 
#39 ·
Greasy said:
prefer quality brands and didn't ever use OE rotors or pads.

[proceeds to list largest OEM supplier in North America]
Akebono
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:LOL: 😭 more NPC antics from Greasy
 
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#40 ·
Greasy said:
Just flushed brake fluid using Prestone Max DOT3. Have had no issues with ANY brand of DOT fluid. No need for OE fluid. Honda, GM.... also have excellent DOT3 brake fluid. Sometimes the closest store for a quickly needed part isn't walmart or the dealer... but a competitor dealer.

Concerning pads/rotors.... prefer quality brands and didn't ever use OE rotors or pads. I have one Toyota in the driveway with 4 different brands of rotors, another car with 3 different brands. Also have used different front/rear brands.

I only use solid rotor blanks... don't care for or recommend drilled, slotted, or combo drilled/slotted rotors. And, I look for a rotor with some type of rust proofing. Can't go wrong with Bosch or Raybestos better offerings.

I can tell you that the attention to detail during the brake job is very important. And, most that complain about various brands or PN's usually have an installation problem. Don't slam the brand when you or the installer is a hack.

Akebono, EBC, Hawk, Advics, Bosch, Raybestos, Bendix, Fremax, Carbotech, Wagner... all have quality pad or rotor choices. Within a brand, I tend to prefer their 'better' or 'best' pads and not their ho-hum entry level offerings.

My favorite SUV pads are EBC yellows. I have blues on one sedan. Another sedan has Akebono ASP since I hate the proacts. I've run EHT and OEX pads on other SUVs.

There is more to a pad than frictional rating, so don't get hung up on the alphabet rating.
Click to expand...


Now you piqued my interest on EBC. I have motorcycles and EBC is huge in the motorcycle world, but for cars I always looked at them as niche. And they tend to be on the high end of the price spectrum. But next time I need pads I might give them a try if quality is noticeably higher as you suggest.
The funny thing is that EBC is also known in the enthusiast market for their drilled and slotted rotors lol. I don't care about drilled, and in fact there is data to suggest it might weaken the rotor integrity. But I can see value in slotted for brake pad dust removal, although I have never had slotted rotors either.

I also absolutely love to use different rotors on same car, just to compare and contrast quality with future purchases in mind. I typically change one axle at a time when pads are getting thin, and I always buy two different rotors, one for each side.

Now, here's something that confuses me- why are people still using DOT3? DOT 5.1 is so inexpensive, and one cannot argue against higher boiling temp- to me the fact that DOT 3 and DOT 4 still exist on the market is sheer mystery.

And yeah, the main reason I do my own brakes is not money saving, it's the fact that I know how anal I am about every single detail about it. I know car shops and dealerships employ professionals well above my skill and auto knowledge, but for something as simple as brakes I have a very hard time believing they spend an equal amount of attention to detail as I do for my own car- after all they make money by being effective with their time, which is a huge incentive to move very fast.
 
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Tazio Nuvolari
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