Ok ,I'm a new Acura owner so take it easy on me here but where would y'all recommend buying my brake pads from for my '04 TL . It has 86000 miles on it and I would assume that soon it will need new pads . Should I go to my local AZ and pick them up or would you advise against that and for what reason . I'm a trained mechanic but this is my first Acura .

 

Inspect the brakes first to see what you need for rotors and pads-miles and brakes on a TL are not relative
the aftermarket offers excellent choices depending on your driving style needs

Look at the top of every page here, on the right side- OFF TOPIC- click that and scroll down to Sponsored Sales for post by authorized sellers on here

The 6 m/t cars have Brembo front brakes and of course cost much more than the automatic trans cars with their basic brakes

 

flush the brake fluid BEFORE working on the brakes and pushing the caliper pistons in.
The TL , and every car, needs brake fluid changed every year-
acura says start at year 3
Bad things happen to those who dont follow that

 

since its an 04, a fluid change is needed. For pads it depends on what car you have, if you have an automatic or manual. As 01tl4tl said, the 6 sp manuals have brembo brakes which have a much more limited selection of pads, but they all are great. What type of driving do you do? Do you want lower stopping distances? Do you need your rotors changed or resurfaced? Are the brakes squealing?

 

I am guessing `AZ` means the zone for parts, so the OP is doing budget minded repairs to the TL
Is this correct win? cost is a concern or not?
Kragen has some good mid level priced pads and rotors, or NAPA- I would trust those on the more budget minded repair over azone, but I get Seafoam and Deep Creep there!
If you're ready to drop serious cash- I have other suggestions on brakes

 

6 speed manual or automatic?
They have different brake setups, the manual trans has brembos.

For the auto trans cars, I would look on line for pbr/axxis deluxe pads, they are everything you want in a brake pad for normal driving, low dust, no noise, inexpensive, long lasting. I have used them on many cars with great results.

For the brembo setup, ebc black label pads are the same as OEM, strong, quiet, and dusty. They are about $60.00 so much cheaper then the oem pads. If you want less dust, I dont know what to recomend, the hawk pads seem to be hard on rotors and noisy.

The pads you get at auto parts places are usually crappy compaired to a good brand.

Here is what I do with brakes:
Buy quality KNOWN GOOD pads, a quart of new brake fluid, and some high temp disk brake grease.
Remove wheel, open the bleed nipple, put a hose on it into a jar, then push the old pads in, letting the old nasty fluid flow out the hose into the jar, NOT back into the abs system.
I use a big screwdriver or two to push the pads in, prying on the rotor, gently.
Close the nipple after the pads are all the way in.
Remove old pads, grease the back of the new pads, the pad to caliper contact points, and I also put some on the pistons to prevent rust.
Fit new pads, assemble the caliper, grease the guide pins.
I then bleed a cup of fluid through that caliper, topping up the master cylinder, not allowing it to get low.
I never had a problem (on any car) just opening the nipple, leaving it open, and pumping the brake pedal slowly, fluid only seems to come out, air does not get in because of the hose (into the jar).

Close the bleed nipple, replace its dust cover.
Grease the wheel to disk area, refit wheel, do up the lug nuts in a do one skip one pattern till all are tight, using a torque wrench set to 80 foot pounds.

If I have the disk off, I grease the disk to hub area to aid heat transfer and prevent rust. I NEVER have rotors cut or resurfaced, if they look bad, I get new ones, which generaly run about $30.00 each.

I have done many cars this way, and NEVER had noise or warped rotors.

Most cars, to do the front brakes, costs about $125.00 tops for new pads and rotors, and brake fluid.
If you just need pads, about $60.00 or less.

The brembo setup is a bit more expensive, but I got pads for $60.00, rotors are around for about $60.00 I think, you have to shop around on line.

When I had the Jaguar, people were paying $1500.00 for a brake job at the dealers, I got brembo rotors and ferodo pads for about $100.00 on line, and saved $1400.00!

Brett

 

How do you know this? Just asking, not flaming. Thanks.

 

I put them on my car about a month ago.
They were inexpensive, look very well made, are quiet and smooth (I just put them on the used rotors), stop well, but dust up as much as the oem pads.
So, they would be the same as oem pads, only about $100.00 less?

At 35,000 miles, the rotors are worn a bit, which surprised me, so I don't want hard pads on.

Brett

 

Anyone have any experience with BrakePlanet brand pads? Right now, they have 2 new front OEM (Brembo caliper) rotors, 2 new rear OEM rotors, and front and rear semi-metallic BrakePlanet pads for $191.74, plus there's a coupon code for free shipping.

http://stores.brakeplanet.com/Items/...20Brake%20Pads

 

I dont know, but thats not a picture of the brembo pads.
No sure if its just a generic photo or what....

Buy them and let us know.

Rotors are generic, I never had a problem with the lowest cost ones, but pads are critical.

There are not as many choices for the brembo setup as most other cars.

Brett

 

Thanks for all the info y'all Ilove this car and don't want to screw anything up on it . It has the 6mt and the nav system . I haven't heard any noise from the brakes and haven't really checked them real close yet . I work 3rd shift and we just got it last weekend so I don't see it much (lol) except on the short ( 5 mile ) ride to and from work . By the way whats OP ?