Ceramic brake pads...?
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,726
Likes: 10
From: down south
Ceramic brake pads...?
Are they really all that and a bag of cheese doodles? I bought some anyway from the autozone, had never tried them on a vehicle of mine before. What are your opinions and real world experience?
Former ******
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,901
Likes: 2
From: Salt Lake City, Utah
I love my ceramic pads. They are holding up better than any other pad I've used. Ceramic pads do tend to be hard on rotors however. They build up more heat than conventional pads, which tends to wear the rotors at an accelerated pace. I have a cooling groove in my rotors which helps them hold up better.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 176
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You have a lifetime warranty on your pads. Here's what you do to get your replacements:
1. remove worn pads.
2. take pads to store.
3. give the counterman your telephone number that they took when you purchased them, and the worn pads.
4. receive new pads in exchange.
If you want to pick up the pads first, you'll have to pay for them again, and when you bring the worn ones back they'll refund the purchase price on the most recent purchase.
You bought the Duralast Gold, I take it? Good pads. I've used them for quite some time, and they do make a difference. They are a little harder on the rotors, but mostly it's how you drive on them. I don't notice any appreciable difference myself, but I drive like the old guy that I am. I also don't do any heavy hauling with the B25.
HTH.
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,155
Likes: 1
From: sunny fla sometimes windy
Watch the cold stops on ceramic or metallic pads they tend to not grab well until they
reach a certain temp. A few good stomps before entering heavy traffic and they should
be good to go!! Of course they will eat rotors faster and it all depends what you would
rather replace brake pads or rotors/bearings, I would rather go with the cheap pads
and have them wear out then have to replace all of the above since new rotors need
new pads and redriving the outer race out of the old and into the new isn't really good
for them.
reach a certain temp. A few good stomps before entering heavy traffic and they should
be good to go!! Of course they will eat rotors faster and it all depends what you would
rather replace brake pads or rotors/bearings, I would rather go with the cheap pads
and have them wear out then have to replace all of the above since new rotors need
new pads and redriving the outer race out of the old and into the new isn't really good
for them.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,726
Likes: 10
From: down south
I dont have the issue of replacing bearings. Its a 4wd and the rotor just slips off by itself. I will just have to see what the wear issues are like over time as they are on the truck. As I said, never used them before...I dont notice an increase in braking at this time.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: central ohio
i would never run those. i have the older 4wd (with the hub/rotor as one $100 unit) i would rather change brake pads yearly than have to buy rotors for it. i get the mid-grade pads, and they do fine. brake dust? i use eagle wheel cleaner when i wash it. comes right off.
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Elder User
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 601
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From: Denver
Ceramics generate much, much less brake dust at the expense of slightly less braking capability in my experience. I buy the ceramics when I replace brakes, just because I hate brake dust on my wheels...
Former ******
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 4,901
Likes: 2
From: Salt Lake City, Utah
I have loved my ceramics and they work really well, even with my cheap rotors. Th trick is to cut a cooling groove in the rotor right through the center of the friction surface. My brakes and rotors are holding up extremely well, and the brakes have excellent grip.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,726
Likes: 10
From: down south
usage review...I dont know, stopping seems to be the same. But the front wheels are dirty as can be...I mean much dirtier than before or with the cheap pads I have used in the past. So far, not really impressed and considering the extra cost, not worth the money.
Elder User
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 761
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From: Southeast MI
Used to be gr8 site on Nismo stuff
Was Kojima's Garage on sentra.net which is coming up with pretty much dead links now. He was a GT-class racer for Nissan/Nismo. He believed in ceramics, but also with vented rotors and with very aggressive seating of the pads so green fade wouldn't occur. Drag the brakes doing smoky 35-50 or so mph. Also in annual flush of system. But another way is to drive with a stick-shift on Rangers!
A Nismo reference for a Ford forum may be stretching things even if Ford owns part of it, but it was a great website for general performance & reliablity stuff. I liken Kojima to Sven Pruett as far as improving autos. He also had a systematic detailed comparison of pros & cons of assorted brake pads as they apply to Nissan S12, S13, N13, etc. Sentras & Pulsars. Based on that & this thread, i wouldn't be surprised if best value in pads & shoes for older 4x4 Rangers would be genuine Motorcraft semi-metallic. For Kojima POV, I'm going mostly from memory. But his team often had better race results with dealer pads on the GT cars than racing pads for some reason. Go fig.
A Nismo reference for a Ford forum may be stretching things even if Ford owns part of it, but it was a great website for general performance & reliablity stuff. I liken Kojima to Sven Pruett as far as improving autos. He also had a systematic detailed comparison of pros & cons of assorted brake pads as they apply to Nissan S12, S13, N13, etc. Sentras & Pulsars. Based on that & this thread, i wouldn't be surprised if best value in pads & shoes for older 4x4 Rangers would be genuine Motorcraft semi-metallic. For Kojima POV, I'm going mostly from memory. But his team often had better race results with dealer pads on the GT cars than racing pads for some reason. Go fig.
Thread Starter
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,726
Likes: 10
From: down south
well here is an updated result of the ceramics pads. I have had them on for about 2 months now. Yesterday I looked down and saw wear patterns that looked like that they have been on there for a year. I have never seen anything like this. I am going to be talking with autozone about this and get some good cheap lung killing pads.
