Brake pad time.

[LynchburgCSI]

Well, the BRAKE light came on today and my brakes have been squealing for about 2 weeks now...and it's been about 10,000 miles since the last set. Time for new pads. Now, I've searched around, and I hear the OEM brake pads are pretty good. I'm looking for something that's a good balance of low dust, stopping power, and low dust. As far as my driving habits go, I do all street driving at this point, no track....although I do dog the car a bit occasionally. I'm looking around on tirerack.com, rockauto.com and trademotion.com/trdparts4u.com. So whats the best bet for moderate road driving?

[abew330]

you check the brake fluid level?

ceramic pads are the way to go

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by abew330

you check the brake fluid level?

knew someone was gonna ask... i checked it last week and it was okay. but i'll check it again tomorrow...better safe than sorry.

[96paseo]

10,000 miles is pretty quick to wear out a set of pads. Ceramics offer better heat transfer and reduced dust compared to semi-metallics. From what i've heard, Hawk pads produce very little dust.

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by 96paseo

10,000 miles is pretty quick to wear out a set of pads. Ceramics offer better heat transfer and reduced dust compared to semi-metallics. From what i've heard, Hawk pads produce very little dust.

Yeah i was wondering if 10,000 was pretty fast or not. I'd say, at MOST they have about 12,000 miles on them... and I KNOW theyre ceramics. need to check the brake fluid level... I doubt the pads are still under any wear warranty at this point.

As far as ceramics go...anyone reccomend a brand besides Hawk?

[DarkMastyr]

10k is nothing for a street driven car. You might want to add some anti-squeal goop, or do a session of brake pad bedding to get rid of the noise.

Your brake light is either brake fluid or some other malfunction in your braking system. The system doesn't know when your pads are worn.

Any ceramic compound is probably fine for low dust and noise. I don't know of any that particularly suck, so take your pick.

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by DarkMastyr

10k is nothing for a street driven car. You might want to add some anti-squeal goop, or do a session of brake pad bedding to get rid of the noise.

Your brake light is either brake fluid or some other malfunction in your braking system. The system doesn't know when your pads are worn.

Any ceramic compound is probably fine for low dust and noise. I don't know of any that particularly suck, so take your pick.

interesting. by the way...checked the brake fluid today. it's right at the low line. so i suppose i need to top that off. and i could sworn I read that more brake fluid is pushed into the calipers to get the pads to make contact with the rotor. more and more is needed as the pads wear down. correct me if i'm wrong. brakes aren't my strong area.

autozone sells their high end "duralast gold" ceramic pads for around $52 for the front set. they also include a lifetime replacement warranty for normal wear...they'll replace them a long as it isnt, for example, a problem with the rotor that killed the pads.

[96paseo]

interesting. by the way...checked the brake fluid today. it's right at the low line. so i suppose i need to top that off. and i could sworn I read that more brake fluid is pushed into the calipers to get the pads to make contact with the rotor. more and more is needed as the pads wear down. correct me if i'm wrong. brakes aren't my strong area.

That is true but should happen slowly over time. Not like a week or two but a few months. Keep in mind that when you put in new pads, you have to compress the piston back into the caliper. That forces brake fluid out of the caliper and raises the level of the master cylinder reservoir. If the level is going down that fast and you have drum brakes, you may want to have a look at your rear wheel cylinders. Pull back the dust boots on the cylinder and if you find fluid, replace 'em. You may notice a leak as soon as you pull of the drum.