peter_bigblock

I had the infamous steering wheel shimmy while applying the brakes, thought it was a warped rotor. Long story short, I installed Hawk HPS pads in the front (even though the OEM pads had a ton of life left) and bedded them in properly and -- voila! -- no more shimmy! I couldn't tell you if the stopping power is better or worse, I am extremely easy on brakes, but the friggin shimmy is completely gone. Rotors are original, didn't have them turned or sanded or anything.

Think about this before you mess around with having rotors turned or new rotors, esp. if you're out of warranty and, quite honestly, even if you're in warranty (I am). $90 and one hour to eliminate that annoying shimmy and not have to screw around with taking your car to the dealership and take your chances with that whole deal.

jlukja

on my list.

EuRTSX

+2

jwood_06TSX

I just had this done last week and i don't have any more wheel shimmy either! The stopping power is about the exact same as it was before (i still have the OEM rotors, i had them resurfaced though) but NO shaking at all! I just need to get my wheels balanced but i putting the stock wheels on friday for the winter!

But kudos to Hawk HPS pads!!!!

LuvMyTSX

Same for me (kinda). I was so happy when I got my Hawk ceramics & Power Slot rotors....that vibration during braking was making me insane!!!

peter_bigblock

I have to also give kudos to Acura for the easiest brake pad replacement I've ever seen. If you can remove your wheels, you can change your brake pads.

joerockt

Its kind of hard to understand how only replacing pads and doing nothing to the rotor surface (which is almost always the problem) would make this problem go away. Maybe the bedding-in process cleans the surface? I could buy that...

jlukja

From what I've read, that is exactly what happens. The OEM pads are too prone to transfer pad material to the rotors. The pad material imbeds itself to the rotor surface and feels, for all intents and purposes, just like a warped rotor. The pulsing you feel is the pad catching on the pad material every time it rotates past the pad. Better pads will not transfer material to the rotor and, if bedded correctly, will scape the old pad material off of the rotor surface.

At least, thats how I understand it.

moda_way

You are absolutely on mark with your comments.

dom

Although I never had the shimmey on my MT, I put on HPS pads on about a month ago (although I changed rotors as well, Brembo blank, thanks moda) the stopping power is great. Alot more bite. No noticeable increase in dust.

peter_bigblock

+1 on that

TSX559

I love my hawks pad.

Mugenpwp

Went from Hawk HPS to hawk ceramic....wow...and i thought there wont be much of an improvement.

Dusts less and still waiting on whether they do last longer LOL

TSX 'R' US

I had my OEM pads replaced with Hawk HPS's and no more issues with my brakes....unfortunately another vehicle had to shimmy into me...

ILoveMyHonda

So whats the diff between HPS and Ceramic?

D'OH!

loulinjai

I wanted to get these pads as soon as my stocks were done...but I live in the snowbelt, where temperatures get -20oC to -40oC frequently, anyone know how they perform in freezing (and wet) conditions?

Vegito

man... i feel sorry for all the tsx owner that got rip off by the dealer.. i had my problem, they gave me new rotors.. i went home and took out the pads and replaced them... while i was there, the guy next to me had to pay 600 to get everything replaced.. he had 18k on his and I had 24k..

joerockt

Im driving a loaner TL right now that has 21000 miles on it and the rotors are warped to hell. Unreal how this problem could get chalked up as "wear and tear"

vwong

So does the Ceramic give you more stopping power than the HPS? I have HPS for probably more than a year now. Initially, I thought I put on stock brake pads because they didn't have the grip I was expecting (I could have set my expectation too high at the time because my previous experiences have always been with more aggressive pads...like Hawk HP+ and Hawk Blue). So I removed the pads and used a fine sandpaper to remove a very thin layer of the pad material. The stopping power was better, but still not to my expectation. I've always wondered if the Ceramic would provide more braking power.

I could go back to HP+ however they produce a lot of dust, and that was the main reason I was looking for something that generates less dust.

Mugenpwp

I have the HPS for about 6 months....

The ceramics for about 3 weeks.

I have a polished lip so its easy to tell how much dust comes off as they coat the lips.
With the ceramic pads I noticed they dont dust as much as the HPS. IN terms of stopping power, they seem similar. They both grip well and stop a whole lot better than OEMs.

In terms of how long they last, I need to give it a bit more time to see and compare with the HPS. WHen i took out my HPS pads i still have plenty of padding left.

KingTSX

iTrader: (1)

Where is everyone picking up the Hawk HPS and Hawk Ceramics from??? Looking for best possible options out there..thanks in advance.

LuvMyTSX

Got mine at Tire Rack.

xizor

mr heeltoe sells hawks, usually cheaper than tirerack

KingTSX

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys

TSX 'R' US

I bought mine from Mr.Heeltoe. Great prices

peter_bigblock

My mom's 2002 TL has the same problem at 42k miles. We're slapping some HPS's on there this weekend, that should fix her up! I agree it's really bad that the entire brand suffers from crappy brake pads, of all things. My brother's Accord, with 75k miles, has had no such problem.

peter_bigblock

I don't know for sure, but I'd hazard a guess that they're as good as or better than OEMs. I live in the upper midwest, gets plenty cold and snowy here and I don't anticipate any problems at all. They're not race pads, requiring high pad temps to work properly, just more aggressive street pads.

cheepung

do you have any instruction to replace the pad? I think i can remove the wheels with ease. I just finished the 30K with dealer and complaint about very soft brake feel. They told me my brakes work fine. thanks.

TSX420J

I have the hps's also and they are great but I'd like to warn people who are interested in these pads, that they only brake good when they are warmed
up. You will feel like you barely have brakes if they are not warmed up. I almost got into a serious collisions where I was driving on the highway for a while without using the brakes and forgot that they dont work well until they are
warm but to make a long story short I was driving like a maniac exiting the ramp
tryig to see how fast I can take the curve then I noticed there was a red light right after, I slammed on the brakes and almost didnt make it. I was lucky I saw the light when I did because if I saw it a little later I would have had a nice makeover to my front clip. So take it easy when you are driving and test the
bite of the pads before you consider doing some Evel Knievel type stunts.

Zasker1

I have the Brembo GT kit and just swapped to HPS pads, I have to say that maybe with stock rotors they are good, but they dont bite nearly as hard as the Comptech pads did. I have very disipointed with them and have even bleed the lines twice thinking I had a bubble. Of course if I go back to the CompTech pads, I am equaly screwed as they are dusty as well.

Thumbs down on HPS with the Big Brake Kit.

peter_bigblock

I didn't snap any photos and I don't have a scanner or I'd scan in the Helms pics. It's hard to describe how to without pictures but here's the list of steps:

1. Jack the front of the car up, support with stands, and remove the front wheel.
2. Remove the two 8mm bolts mounting the brake hose to the suspension arm
3. Remove the lower flange bolt on the caliper (bottom-most inboard bolt on the caliper) while keeping the sub-pin right behind it from turning by holding it with a wrench.
4. Pivot the caliper up and out of the way (support with a bungee or some-such)
5. Remove the old pads and thin metal shims -- keep track of which shims are which, you'll reuse them. Clean the shims off.
6. Apply hi-temp brake grease (they say Molykote M77) to the pad side of the outboard shim, both sides of the first inboard shim, the pad side of the second inboard shim, and the backs of both new pads. DON'T GET GREASE ON THE FRICTION SURFACE OF THE PADS.
7. Install the new pads and all the shims.
8. Carefully push in the caliper piston so it'll clear the new, thicker pads (use a c-clamp on an old pad or a piston pushing tool like I have).
9. Pivot the caliper back down, reinstall the flange bolt while holding that sub pin with a wrench again -- tighten the flange bolt to 36 lb-ft.
10. Reinstall the brake hose mounting bolts
11. Press the brake pedal a few times and then go bed the pads in according the the mfr procedure -- the pedal may be a little soft at the very first but will return to normal after several applications.

Good luck!

cheepung

Wow, thanks a lot for the step by step.

Schizm

I've gotten scared a few times myself.

They are amazing once you've gotten them hot, though.

peter_bigblock

I've never had that feeling, even when it's been 8F in the morning. Actually, except for the lack of pulsation, the HPS pads feel like they're basically stock. I'm very easy on my brakes, so it may depend on how hard you're using them -- maybe that's why some of you sense a difference when cold. They're not racing pads, so they shouldn't require "warming up".

theone55699

i dont kno if its true or not but i heard that the hawks will eat up the rotors? is this true?

rpmIII

I was planning on purchasing some rotors because of the shimmy, but it sounds like the pads are the culprit. I'm going to order the pads first and see how that works out. Thanks for the info.

Deepfreezed

Mr.Heeltoe???

is that a site?

joerockt

No, he's a vendor on this site, but he does have a website as well.

http://www.heeltoeauto.com/