Brake pad of choice?

whipkiller

New member
What brand of replacement pads is everybody running?

2001 SR5 3.4L 2WD

I'm getting prices from $20+ for NAPA House brand, $46 for NAPA Premium, $78 for Akebono that my master tech neighbor recommended, to $102 from the stealer, err... sorry - dealer.

What say you?
 
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I run the Wagner ThermoQuiet. Seems like a good pad so far. Been running it on another car for about 20k with little wear.
 
If you need rear shoes too, I'll sell a set of new-in-box Wagner Thermo quiet shoes for $15+shipping. I bought 2 sets and only needed one.
 
What brand of replacement pads is everybody running?

2001 SR5 3.4L 2WD

I'm getting prices from $20+ for NAPA House brand, $46 for NAPA Premium, $78 for Akebono that my master tech neighbor recommended, to $102 from the stealer, err... sorry - dealer.

What say you?


I would listen to your neighbor .. Akebono is an OE provider for a lot of vehicles.

Personally I usually go with Porterfield R4S pads, but if you are worried about the $100 from the dealer, those aren't for you.
 
If you need rear shoes too, I'll sell a set of new-in-box Wagner Thermo quiet shoes for $15+shipping. I bought 2 sets and only needed one.
Those are good shoes. I'd buy them if we didn't already put them on about a year ago.
 
I just did my rear drums about a week ago. Went with OEM drum shoes for $100 for 4 pieces. At 94k, my old ones had about 50% left on them.

When I do the Tundra brake upgrade this summer, I plan to use the OEM pads and rotors for the Tundra. For what it's worth, the OEM for our trucks are pretty good quality and last a very long time in most cases. You get more surface area for the pads, which I find important. Look at your aftermarkets, do you notice that the two ends are tapered off whereas the OEM is flat?

For the drum shoes, you might encounter issues with some aftermarkets in terms of fitting, pins lining up, etc.

There are probably aftermarkets that are cheaper and probably better. It's your call :)
 
I just did my rear drums about a week ago. Went with OEM drum shoes for $100 for 4 pieces. At 94k, my old ones had about 50% left on them.

When I do the Tundra brake upgrade this summer, I plan to use the OEM pads and rotors for the Tundra. For what it's worth, the OEM for our trucks are pretty good quality and last a very long time in most cases. You get more surface area for the pads, which I find important. Look at your aftermarkets, do you notice that the two ends are tapered off whereas the OEM is flat?

For the drum shoes, you might encounter issues with some aftermarkets in terms of fitting, pins lining up, etc.

There are probably aftermarkets that are cheaper and probably better. It's your call :)

OEM left me with frozen pins and siezed pistons in the calipers, my aftermarkets are less than half the price and i get 2 sets of pads as explained earlier and these calipers and rotors are warrentied for life!
 
I've been running the Napa TruStop ceramic pads for years and have always been pleased with them. They run about $44 for my Tundra brakes and my Taco's were only $30.
 
I'm on my 2nd set of Akebonos since I bought my 4Runner in '04 and won't even consider anything else since these incur very little brake dust,don't squeal and most importantly haven't done any damage to my front rotors which have not warped and have been turned just once.
 
I'm on my 2nd set of Akebonos since I bought my 4Runner in '04 and won't even consider anything else since these incur very little brake dust,don't squeal and most importantly haven't done any damage to my front rotors which have not warped and have been turned just once.

Good to know, thanks. My rotors all all wonky so I'll be getting them turned.

Sometimes the pulsing is so bad it feels like I have a bent wheel or a tire out of round. Very annoying.
 
Make sure you bed your rotors in as well.

I was trying to think of a response that would make it sound like I'm cool and I know what that means, but I'm not and I don't, so can you 'splain please?

I do know my neighbor who's going to be doing this for me (master tech and very good to me) said the rotors need to be turned ON the car, as opposed to removed and turned on a bench.
 
I was trying to think of a response that would make it sound like I'm cool and I know what that means, but I'm not and I don't, so can you 'splain please?

I do know my neighbor who's going to be doing this for me (master tech and very good to me) said the rotors need to be turned ON the car, as opposed to removed and turned on a bench.

Not a problem! Here you go.

Bedding is what you do to "condition" them.

This is an excerpt from BigFishAllDay's thread about the Tundra brake upgrade (just want to give credit where credit is due).

ALBPM said:
Also a Bed-In process for the new Pads would be a good thing for this Thread...

This is what 4-Ripcord and I did after upgrading our Runners.

Bedding in Advantages:

1.Gradually heat treats the rotor and eliminates any thermal shock in the rotor.

2.Burn off volatiles and moisture from the resin that is near pad surface. This will eliminate “green fade.”

3.Establishes a layer of transfer film about a few microns thick on the rotor surface. Shearing of the film during friction is an effective source of friction force. Otherwise, when using a freshly ground rotor without the transfer film, the main friction force would come from cutting, plowing, or scoring the asperities on the rotor surface. This leads to inconsistent braking effectiveness.

4.Mate the two surfaces to a near perfect geometrical match, so that the contact area is high, and therefore the friction force is increased.

5.The performance of a fresh rotor/fresh pad system would be inconsistent. This is due to ever-changing structures and properties of the two mating materials. Bed-in of pads and rotor will form a stable transfer film.

6.If bedding in procedure is not applied, a stable transfer film may not be established for a long time. In other words, the rotor surface would have to be constantly regenerating a film that is not quite stable for a long time. This effect would reduce the performance and increase the wear.

Bed In Procedure:

From a speed of about 60mph, gently apply the brakes to slow the car down to about 45mph, then accelerate back up to 60mph and repeat. Do this about four or five times to bring the brakes up to operating temperature. This prevents you from thermally shocking the rotors and pads in the next steps.

Make a series of eight near-stops from 60 to about 10 mph. Do it HARD by pressing on the brakes firmly, just shy of locking the wheels or engaging ABS. At the end of each slowdown, immediately accelerate back to 60mph. DO NOT COME TO A COMPLETE STOP!

(Note: With less aggressive street pads and/or stock brake calipers, you may need to do this fewer times. If your pedal gets soft or you feel the brakes going away, then you've done enough. Proceed to the next step.)

During this process, you must not come to a complete stop because you will transfer (imprint) pad material onto the hot rotors, which can lead to vibration, uneven braking, and could even ruin the rotors.

Depending on the pads you are using, the brakes may begin to fade slightly after the 7th or 8th near-stop. This fade will stabilize, but not completely go away until the brakes have fully cooled. A bad smell from the brakes, and even some smoke, is normal.

After the 8th near-stop, accelerate back up to speed and drive around for as long as possible without using the brakes. The brakes will need at least 10 minutes to cool down.

Obviously, it's OK to use the brakes to avoid an accident, but try to minimize their use until they have cooled.

After the break-in cycle, there should be a blue tint and a light gray film on the rotor face. The blue tint tells you the rotor has reached break-in temperature and the gray film is pad material starting to transfer onto the rotor face. This is what you are looking for. The best braking occurs when there is an even layer of of pad material deposited across the face of the rotors. This minimizes squealing, increases braking torque, and maximizes pad and rotor life.

After the first break in cycle shown above, the brakes may still not be fully broken in.

A second bed-in cycle, AFTER the brakes have cooled down fully from the first cycle, may be necessary before the brakes really start to perform well. If you've just installed a big brake kit, the pedal travel may not feel as firm as you expected. After the second cycle, the pedal will become noticeably firmer.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...ements-231mm-13wl-tundra-calipers-rotors.html
 

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