TonyDash

I was trying to find some posts about brake pads replacement on RDX and I couldn’t. So I am asking…Since the dealer wants to charge me a lot, I was thinking to do it myself (I did it on my Audi before). Does anyone have some pictures to post, or at least the steps that I have to fallow? It is the first time when brake pads are to be replaced on my RDX (40,000 miles); do I have to resurface the rotors, too? Dealer says ‘Yes’. I would appreciate some help and any thoughts on this. Thanks a lot.

Dima1978

I have the same question expt I am going with new rotors (Sentric same as Rotora/Stoptech blanks). It should be the same as 3gen TL but torque specs are different(and that is my question).
I would not resurface OEM rotors-- usually OEM Acura rotors are barely OK. Stock pads are good. I like them.
Look into regular TL's brakes, I am sure we dont have Brembo. :-) would be nice. Rears have the same rotor service hole so there is nothing special with RDX-- looks like the same system.
Can someone provide some torque specs though. Thank you.

wspy

TonyDash, I cant understand how you couldnt find anything on replacement pads cause there must have been 20 thousand posts on the subject (jk) but plenty!
Most all of us went with the EBC Yellow stuff pads, they work great with a little more brake dust on your wheels - check it ;-)

@Dima........ Caliper bracket mounting bolts 101 lbf-ft
Brake disc flat screws 7.2 lbs-ft

TonyDash

Actually I did find something: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=770166.
It is for a TL, but I guess/hope it can not be too different.
I am not sure what to do about rotors….they seem fairly OK, just a little worn (1mm) I can see that if I look closely at the edge of the rotor, otherwise they look perfect.

Thank you

Dima1978

Is that both front and back? do you have caliper pins torque?

wspy

That was for the front. The rear Caliper bracket mounting bolts are 79.6 lbf-ft and the screws are the same.
Funny, there is no mention of a torque spec for the pins - just to replace the pin boot if you remove the pin!

Dima1978

Thx

TonyDash

I will probably choose the EBC Green Stuff over the stock brakes; my wife drives the car, mostly. She is driving 50/50 between city and Highway.
I am choosing the Green Stuff hoping that the rotors will last longer (since I am not replacing the rotors now) and I understand the Yellow Stuff are more aggressive? Is it a good choice, bad choice?

wspy

Well I've had the yellows on the front for about a year now, do mainly city type driving, and havent seen any unusual wear on the discs - just the wheels get a little dirtier quicker due to added break dust!
Agressive - no way - as a matter of fact, I wish!
The greens are a good choice though, you cant go wrong either way!

TonyDash

Thank you!

Nyjumpman23

he yellows wear out quick, but they perform well.

Dima1978

Anybody tried ceramics on RDX?

pdpgps

I ordered Centric brake rotors off tire rack, and EBC green stuff pads from autoanything.com today for the RDX. I am also planning on ordering stainless steel brake lines to accompany the install. I will do a full brake line flush and refill with Motul RBF 600 brake fluid. While the centric rotors are nothing to brag about, I still hope to achieve better braking performance than OEM, which I have commented in the past is sluggish and can be scary at times when braking on a dime.

I'll let you guys know how the install goes and observations post-install.

Dima1978

Centrics are StopTech's blanks-- same stuff. So they are pretty good. possibly Rotora blanks are Centrics as well.

737 Jock

I just pulled EBC GreenStuff pads off the RDX. The fronts were down to 1.6 mm and the rears were 5.0 mm after 26000 miles. The Greens made a fair amount of dust that I had to scrub off the wheels, despite waxing the wheels every tire rotation. Additionally the Greens wore about 1/2 mm off the rotors. GreenStuff is a bit of an improvement over OEM but not progressive enough of a pad for me.

I like the RedStuff on my sport compact -- very progressive and strong bite when you need it. So far no measurable wear on the EBC USR rotors and very little dust.

So I just finished putting RedStuff on the RDX. Minimum rotor thickness is 26 mm on the front and 7.5 mm on the rear. The fronts were at 27 mm and the rears 9.0 mm.

You shouldn't have to turn rotors if:

Your brakes are running true, ie no brake pulsation, and
they pass minimum thickness (measure all around the disc), and
no grooving is deep enough to catch a fingernail.

EBC's break-in coating makes it very easy to bed in new pads, it's one of thier best features. I also highly recommend the EBC USR (Black Dash) rotors. They are reasonably priced but have anti-corrosion coating and perform like much more expensive rotors. I'm planning to put them on the RDX when the OEMs wear out.

Here's the RedStuff on the RDX:

737 Jock

By the way, the screech clips go:

front: inner pad leading edge (that's up).

rear: inner pad leading edge (that's down).

per the RDX repair manual.

dcmodels

Have seen pics of your calipers on another post, and again here - so now I just have to ask.

How did you get such a nice GOLD paint job on the calipers and carriers? how well does it hold up to the weather? unless those are not stock calipers?

The weather where you live cannot be too bad, because I do not see much rust on the rotor centers. My RDX rotor centers (behind the wheel) were rusting after only a couple of months of winter here in Utah. I used some aluminum based anti-seize on them and they survived this past winter with no rust at all. Anti-seize applied after wire-brushing. Just a smear will do it, as too much will only sling off, and you do not want it on the braking surface of the rotor.

737 Jock

They are stock calipers and rotors.

After 3 years in service I pulled them all off the car and scrubbed everything clean. Then applied a base coat of POR 15: http://www.por15.com/

POR 15 has no UV protection so I applied a topcoat of VHT gold and clear then baked them. The rotor edges and inside the hat are lightly scrubbed and coated with Krylon Rust Reformer -- I wanted to get one more set of pads out of these rotors.

POR 15 is virtually indestructable and the VHT is pretty good too. The last calipers I did still looked shiny-new after 5 years when I sold the car.

This pic is the finished product, that's why everything's so clean.

I use a thin coating of CRC High Temp Brake Grease on the hubs and rotor hats.

brizey

What are the caliper bolt torque specs? I may be doing this soon.

happywithmyrdx

I just replaced my EBC Yellow Stuffs on the RDX with my second set. They went 50,000 miles, I don't know who said they don't last long, but they last just fine. Tremendous difference over stock pad. They don't tear up the rotor any worse than a stock pad either.
Just giving feedback.

RangeRider49er

Does anybody have any guideline for proper pad friction after installing new pads? Should you be able to freely spin the wheel with new pads or should the wheel spin lets say half a turn before stopping when spun by hand? In other words, what is the proper amount of pad to disk friction with the brakes not applied?

DRR98

The journey for finding the guideline to proper pad friction begins

with the formula s=k.logW...

pickler

i still have original oem pads LOL (60,000 miles). i did switch to greenstuff and yellow stuff for a bit in the middle but ended up going back to oem. the yellow stuff were great for the first few laps but overheated and smoked pretty soon. The greenstuff was actually worst than oem for me in terms of fade. I ended up going back to oem pads with slotted rotors. best combo, no brake fade and good linear bite with exceptional initial bite for entering tighter corners. however my braking distance is still relatively long (153ft 60-0), but at least no brake fade. My buddy's x3 does 60-0 in 113ft! i blame the smaller than average rotors and pads. a big brake kit is the only solution to getting shorter distance. my advice don't waste $ on pads, either get a BBK or slotted rotors. also for BBK, i recommend the 355mm stoptech touring BBK.
http://www.stoptech.com/products/big-brake-kits/touring