Brakes

bcammons21

Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Location
Durham
So I usually use bendix titanium metallic brakes on my vehicles, usually with wearever rotors, because I usually shop at advance and have not had any problems.

But my question is, who do you think sells a better brake in town?
Napa?
Carquest?
Advance?

Thanks
 
I know its a stupid question but was just wondering if anyone else had some kind of opinion?
 
i use advance brakes. cant beat it 13$ for my brake shoes, and 25$ for the brake pads. they last me about an year.
 
yeah thats what i was thinkin but everyone else says bendix doesnt last long enough, but i mean i like them, so i was just wonderin
 
NAPA and Carquest get thier parts mainly from the same manufacturers.

Advanced and Autozone buys from the same manufacturer also.

NAPA and CQ parts are much stronger parts, made from stronger materials and such, tested to higher strengths.

Advanced and AutoZone are lighter metal grades, however autozone and advanced still have to follow D.O.T. laws and manufacturers recomendations when ordering parts from suppliers. So thier parts hold up just as well as the expensive parts from NAPA and CarQuest.

NAPA and Carquest have alot of the hard to find items though and usually the counter people at NAPA and Carquest don't look at you stupidly when you ask for a set of points for a Jeep.
 
Hmm

i use advance brakes. cant beat it 13$ for my brake shoes, and 25$ for the brake pads. they last me about an year.
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I hope you do a lot of braking in that year, because that's not very good really.
 
Brakes are one of the things to NEVER do cheap, they are the only thing that's gonna stop your rig in an emergency.
Don't base pad choice on price alone.
 
atblis said:
I hope you do a lot of braking in that year, because that's not very good really.
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Mud, and water really dont help them though.
 
Yea, you don't want to cheap out on the brakes. The 4 runner has warped rotors again so I'm going to Toyota to get the replacements. The first time they were so warped the dash board moved about 6 inches up and down when stopping. I swear I thought a wheel was coming off! Tha last set of advance pads lasted 10k or so, mix of city/highway and two trips to URE.
 
Yeah, well cost isnt the issue really was wondering which sells the better parts.
But sounds like when i do brakes on the GMC its gonna be brakes from NAPA or CQ.
 
i know for a fact the brakes carquest sells are made by raybestos, and my opinion is raybestos are some of the best aftermarket brakes you can buy,but you know what they say about opinions
 
I've been using Hawk pads for a while with good results and Brembo stock replacement rotors. As far as easily found locally you can't beat the rebadged Raybestos at CQ or NAPA, but buy a decent grade (at least the blue boxed pads through CQ) the lower grade pads kinda suck if the get the tourture of larger tires or towing.
 
so whats better for a truck, semi metallics or ceramics? for just normal driving and towing.
 
Most rotors are the same. There are a few exceptions but the difference is silly and only a scientist would be able to tell. Pads are huge in difference. There are 3 primary factors, material, pressure, and heat when created. Cheaper pads are created with less of each. You can tell the quality by the finish. Cheap pads with have a rough surface and high quality will be smooth to the touch. Ceramic pads are better.

Here's a little tech about ceramic pads.

source link

We want our vehicle's brake system to offer smooth, quiet braking capabilities under a wide range of temperature and road conditions. We don't want brake-generated noise and dust annoying us during our daily driving.

To accommodate this, brake friction materials have evolved significantly over the years. They've gone from asbestos to organic to semi-metallic formulations. Each of these materials has proven to have advantages and disadvantages regarding environmental friendliness, wear, noise and stopping capability.

Asbestos pads caused health issues and organic compounds can't always meet a wide range of braking requirements. Unfortunately the steel strands used in semi-metallic pads to provide strength and conduct heat away from rotors also generate noise and are abrasive enough to increase rotor wear.

Since they were first used on a few original equipment applications in 1985, friction materials that contain ceramic formulations have become recognized for their desirable blend of traits. These pads use ceramic compounds and copper fibers in place of the semi-metallic pad's steel fibers. This allows the ceramic pads to handle high brake temperatures with less heat fade, provide faster recovery after the stop, and generate less dust and wear on both the pads and rotors. And from a comfort standpoint, ceramic compounds provide much quieter braking because the ceramic compound helps dampen noise by generating a frequency beyond the human hearing range.

Another characteristic that makes ceramic materials attractive is the absence of noticeable dust. All brake pads produce dust as they wear. The ingredients in ceramic compounds produce a light-colored dust that is much less noticeable and less likely to stick to the wheels. Consequently, wheels and tires maintain a cleaner appearance longer.

Ceramic pads meet or exceed all original equipment standards for durability, stopping distance and noise. According to durability tests, ceramic compounds extend brake life compared to most other semi-metallic and organic materials and outlast other premium pad materials by a significant margin - with no sacrifice in noise control, pad life or braking performance.

This is quite an improvement over organic and semi-metallic brake materials that typically sacrifice pad life to reduce noise, or vice versa.
 
NAPA is the way to go for me. My Dad's best friend owned a NAPA store for probably 25 years. He was a hard core drag racer and used 95% of the parts from NAPA. He beat the hell out of those parts every weekend and I can't recall any catastrophic fails with all the abuse. It was mentioned above, he could always get the hard to find parts, and usually the next day. I purchased a bad out of the box alternator from Auto Zone a little while back. I also bought an easy out a few days ago for a broken bolt and the bits were so cheap I broke 2 within the first 2 minutes of using it. If I ever have the option I always use NAPA. Better quality in my opinion.
 
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