antlive

Looking to replace braking system, mainly front calibers, rotors and pads. Currently stock calibers with rotora cross drilled/slotted rotors and duralast gold max pads. What would guys recommend as a change. I've been pretty happy with performance but I would to hear some other opinions.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

are your front calipers broken?
if not, no need to replace those.

I'm using powerslot slotted rotors with a ceramic pad for decreased dust.
Any pad/rotor combination will do.

Unless you're tracking the vehicle; then you'll need something that bites better.
but for street use, my rotor and pad set up probably feels a lot like yours. lol.

sauceja

iTrader: (2)

Upgrade brake lines. That will help some. And change your brake fluid at the same time.

Best thing you can do for your stock setup.

The Machine

iTrader: (8)

I have brakeperformance slotted rotors and cmax gold pads as well. There is a new vendor here adamsrotors, why not be the first to try their rotors out if you're looking for a change? They look really nice and have many different styles to make your car more unique. Next time I have to replace my rotors I will probably go with theirs.

antlive

yeah, I plan to replace the lines and fluid...seems like the inner caliber is sticking...inside pad wearing out to quickly.

Guiltyox

Change your pads to Hawk HPS Street pads for more bite + upgrade to stainless steel brake lines (can be found @ heeltoe), and change your brake fluid. Keep your rotors and calipers, no need to change those, unless they're warped.

00h2itr

Have you been performing the brake work yourself?

If so, try pulling the caliper and make sure to lube the slide pins. If the brake pads don't come with the lube, pick some up. It's fairly cheap at the Autoparts store.

You may also, depending on mileage and wear have to sand the pin down a little bit. Over time that grease in there hardens up on the pin and causes it to stick.

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

Unless you want a BBK there is not really much to do with the calipers. I would recommend Powerslot or STOPTECH rotors and STOPTECH Performance pads. The pads are definitely a significant improvement over the Duralast pads. PM me for more info.

antlive

Had the Hawks before, didn't like them too dusty...I think Duralast are just as good. I think I'm going to upgrade to the stainless steel brake lines, and change my fluid. I need to change my rotors because they are tore up...

00h2itr, I was thinking about just lubing when I change out my rotors just to see it that will work...

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ I love my HAWK HPS....I am using them with Powerslot slotted rotors....yes they dust but damn they stop

00h2itr

Before "just lubing" them, inspect the pins. I just helped a friend do a brake job on his G35 sedan. He complained before bringing it over that there was a braking vibration. Sure enough, on the drivers side lower pin there was built up grease.

Pull the pins and inspect for sure. Likely the one giving you trouble will have build up on it. Use some fine grit sand paper and just give it a light sanding to get the build up off. Not to sand the pin down. Once it's clean, then use lube and put it back in.

Your already there anyway, just take the 5 mins to sand the crude down before putting back together. You'll save yourself time going back and doing it again.

GL

Guiltyox

They definitely don't dust more than the stock type-s/6mt pads that come with the Brembo's (which I've owned 2 sets of now), but they do dust a little. Over the Duralast, however, I'd have to say they bite 10x harder. The bite compared to the stock pads vs. my Hawk HPS Street pads was no comparison, night and day difference (I'll throw your face in my dash in a second, ). I'd check out StopTech rotors from heeltoe, however, since you need to change them.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

We are just about done revamping our HTSpec brake kits. We have a number of great options for the entire spectrum of users actually.

I think one really needs to look no further than RB performance for the best rotors.

rossv1

I'm in need of new pads as well. Anybody know if the Hawk HPS pads are any better than the the Hawk Ceramic pads?

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

^^^ the HPS are composite, the bite is great and the dust is nasty....the ceramic's dont bite as well but they dont dust as much either....

truonghthe

if you drive on the street then use just low dust pad with slotted rotor, if you are planning to track your car then I would recommend BBK with race pad.

I hate cars

"Better" when comparing brakes can mean anything. Are we talking about friction coefficient, fade resistance (pad or fluid), rotor friendliness, dusting, noise, longevity, etc.

First you need to state what the current setup is lacking and what you want to improve on. Second is to remember the tires determine how quickly the car will stop, not the brakes.

Brake feel can be helped with stainless lines giving the best bang for the buck. Pads can help a little. A stiffer caliper like the stoptech 4 piston caliper will also help.

Pad fade resistance can be improved by better pads or a big brake kit and proper stopping technique.

Pad fade from boiling fluid (pedal hitting the floor) can be eliminated with a better fluid with a higher dry boiling point but just as important if not more important, a higher wet boiling point. Proper braking technique can drastically improve fluid boiling.

Dusting, pad fade, noise, rotor friendliness, and pad longevity will be determined almost soley from the pad and you have to give up something to gain something. Some of the newer pads are great because you don't have to give up as much but everything is still a tradeoff. You're not going to get a pad that works to 1,600F that is quiet on the street and nice to the rotors. I've run a race pad on the street and I think I nearly gave people heart attacks even when applying them on the freeway they were so loud.

My solution to these compromises was a big brake kit by Stoptech from Excelerate. I used to track the car so a BBK was necessary. I don't really do that anymore but it's still a great way to get around most of these compromises. With the larger brakes, the rotor, pads, and fluid run cooler. In turn you don't have to run a really aggressive pad, just a good street pad will be fine for 99.9% of street driving and some track days as well. Being able to run a less aggressive pad means less noise, longer rotor life, less dusting, and they work well when cold while still providing fade free braking due to the larger, cooler running rotors. This is how you have your cake and eat it too.

rossv1

Guess "better" was the wrong wording. haha. I think I meant what the real differences between the two pads were.

I hate cars

Those of you recommending a pad with good bite, you would be right with most cars but it's not always a good idea with the TL. Our ABS system is already a bit on the conservative side. Ideally for the shortest stopping distance possible you would want a pad with stock-like bite and release characteristics. You can go with something more aggressive but I wouldn't get too far away from stock. Ive had some really aggressive pads on the TL and sometimes it felt as if the ABS would almost give up, letting off too much of the braking pressure. If you like to threshold brake and have no plans to hit ABS, go for it with the more aggressive pads, I love pads with an aggressive bite. Think about which axle you want the aggressive pads. Most cars are set up with less aggressive pads on the rear to prevent initial lockup. The longer you can hold off the ABS the better.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

My take on the HPS verses Ceramics...

The HPS are good all around pads. They won't hold up under track conditions but will give 90% of all people 90% of what they want on the street. The Ceramics, are for grandmas. They overheat easy which coats the rotors and causes vibration and noise. They however don't make as much dust (incidentally, the HPS don't really either...contrary to what a previous poster said).

Factually, much of the dust people see on their wheels sheds off the ROTORS. This is why we prefer RB performance rotors over other brands. They have a heat treated alloy which is harder than normal rotors and therefore resist wear/dust.

Marcus