pimpin-tl

Just thought I would give a quick review of these pads to my fellow Acurazine friends.

I was really hesitate to use these and worried about how my braking would be after wards. Well I did the brakes as my stock ones lasted 36k miles and only had around 1mm left. It was time.

They went in pretty easy other than the rear pad metal tab that warns you to replace your pads would not let the pad sink in far enough to put the push pin in. So I had to remove that and it slid in just fine. I have now driven around 200-300 miles, and like the feel. The pedal has better modulation than with the stock pads, and is easier to slow the car down smoothly instead of having to hit the brakes harder or let up because it isn't a smooth braking from the old pads.

If you are thinking on getting pads, these are the ones. Feel like stock, brake like stock, and are very quiet. Plus, no brake dust! My wheels stay clean now!

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

The last set I used on an 07 accord were noisy and threw off an ton of brake dust...

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

i have had these brake pads for over 1k miles...almost zero dusting....

i didnt have to remove any of the feeler/squealer tabs...you must have been trying to put them in wrong....or didnt move the pistons in enough...

pimpin-tl

Others here mentioned the tabs had to be removed as well. Mine were almost enough to let the pin go through but it was too tight. So I removed it and it worked. They were not being installed wrong. I have done many brakes over the years including swapping pads at least 50x on my NISMO 350Z that I raced with at road tracks (which required me to have 3 sets of pads). hehe.

ze2o

i have been using duralast for years now without any problem. thanks for the confirmation.

LoveMyTL-S

Not to mention the lifetime warranty. When they wear out, get another set free. Keep your receipt.

pimpin-tl

Good question is where did I put that receipt! They told me I didn't need that but I usually don't toss my receipts out. Hmmmm...

01tl4tl

for all to know- brake rotors and pads come with micro hills and valleys on each
As they bed in those come to match up and braking improves
Be nice to them at first- avoid ABS braking or regular stomping of them for 500 miles
Just brake early~
After that point give them a few good test

Minimum pad thickness of material is 2MM
the old pads at 1mm (basically see thru the pad to backing) were so far worn the caliper pistons were hyperextended, causing the funky pedal feel and response

Its a good idea to flush the brake fluid once a year- hygroscopic action destroys the fluid and can ruin expensive brake parts like abs modulator and calipers... with rust!

pimpin-tl

I measured only the pad material and not the backing. 1mm left of material.

Also, you need to be hard on the pads to break them in properly per StopTech's procedure. Mine feel great now and barely touching the pedal slows the car down quick.

01tl4tl

Im gen2- does gen3 have the rear brake with the center tab on pads activates park brake? same as the RL?
Im wondering about this tab issue-
gen2 found many makers using wrong backing plate and you have to grind off an extra center tab that hit caliper piston and cocks pad in use-
only half its width made rotor contact--oops, fit the RL with squared cutouts on caliper piston!!

pimpin-tl

This is the front Brembo brakes not the rear I am talking about. The Inner front pad (inside) has the brake wear indicators as well while the OEM didn't have any. It didn't allow the rear pad to slide all the way in where it stuck out maybe 1/4 of a inch more than the front (outside) one did.

01tl4tl

ran my rb et300 pads down to 1mm pad- thats why I say see-thru!
didnt hurt rotors luckily

I know a little about bedding of `high performance` pads-(roadrace driver/mechanic, helped write the bedding procedure for mrheeltoe/ www.heeltoeauto.com using RB stuff)

Each brand has its own procedure involving high speeds and series of hard slowing to effect a `greening` of the pads- where excess binding resins `cook out`,
then you do a `hot transfer` pad material layer of pad to rotor for max brake life and stopping power

I was not aware that duralast were in that performance catagory so didnt suggest aggressive bedding like I would for other brands~ if Im wrong please advise

best way to cut down brake dust- which is actually red hot brake pad bits flung off as part of the friction to heat conversion that is braking physics
they grab the first thing possible, the rim, which then attracts road dirt and more pad stuff to itself

remove wheels Wash rims well- both sides. Apply 2-3 coats of synthetic car wax- 100 degree higher melt point than carnubas 120F- you need higher than that!
buff them out and the wheels will rival the car paint in gloss
easy rinse off or a gentle spray with orange clean or some specialty spray on cleaner will keep them nice for you between major cleaning- nothing will stop it-
well,,, pads that dont work well dont dust much-- but thats not a great trade off in my opinion

give me stopping, not a brake dust free death

01tl4tl

Im guessing that the pad you got fits many vehicles with brembos and for some reason it doesnt fit exact on your year/model- not that surprising considering the gen2 issue and pads,,maybe yours fit a 350z or something

When you say `rear pad` I though rear brakes- you had a prob with the front INNER pad is how a person at the pad maker would understand
Let them know-call/email -if they dont drop in, they should not be sold for that application
there are many similar backing plates- maker buys whichever and slaps the pad onto it
Without customer feedback they will never know!

Majofo

I have ~20k miles on my DG ceramics. Very minimal brake dust and outstanding pads IMO. I always keep the receipt but having an AZ acct that you can reference with your phone number is helpful if you lose the receipt.

JackSampson

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the write up. I have been thinking of using these on my next brake job which is coming about in about a month.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

so did you have to remove the feeler tabs on the inner pads too??

i dont understand how it would hinder installation, mine dropped right in without any clearance issues....i did make sure both inner and outer pads had the feeler tabs on the bottom...

ionojimbo

this review is good to know! i have a TL-s too and and i hate the brake dust so much =(

Majofo

Nope.. but then again I have a measly AT base model.

I also run these on my MDX and they're right around the same mileage. They take much more of a beating but they're doing great!

pimpin-tl

There is always a manufacturing issues. These are mass produced, so you never know. All I know is they work great.

SpiderX1016

I never had to keep the receipt. I just brought in the old ones and they gave me new ones.

donaldso718

Where can I get these brake pads? And do they work for base 05 as well?

gotkilled

iTrader: (1)

I have these brake pads as well and they're great for the price and easy to install. I reused the stock shims as the shims that came with the Duralasts made a squealing sound.

Overall, very satisfied w/ the brakes. I would say they are on par with the stock brakes, if not better.

For those who installed the Duralast CMAX, did you use the included shims? i also didn't apply any antisqueal compound but haven't had any squealing as of yet.

Majofo

Autozone.. Yes.

I did use the supplied shims.. not a squeal on the TL even to this day but I used CRC red stuff to keep'em quiet. The MDX squealed a little bit and I didn't use CRC.. I put CRC on but found out later that one of the rear caliper bolts had stripped the end threads of the caliper.

pimpin-tl

I went ahead and put them in as I didn't see any harm. I also bought some different Antisqueal stuff when I got them.

01tl4tl

`brake caliper lube` is the right stuff- I like CRC grey colored grease
a little ~slippery~ for the pads to move within the range of motion during use and retraction

tlemmon

I recently put the CMAX Gold pads on front and rear. Replaced both within a month of each other. I love the strong feeling I have from the brakes now. I had to replace all rotors as well as the rears were heavily grooved and the fronts were badly warped (bought the car this way and made the dealership discount the car becuase I knew I would do the brakes myself for less than the discount they gave me!).

My rear brakes put out dust, but so far the fronts seem ok. Perhaps I wash my car too often? haha

I installed the new shims that came with them as well and used a synthetic caliper grease that doubles as an anti-squeal compound. So far, no noise what so ever!

On a side note, be very careful about "renting" a torque wrench from Autozone. The one I used was out of calibration and I broke the bolt off that secures the caliper to the guide pin. I had to scramble around to find a new set. Not fun!

01tl4tl

you have a built in torque wrench in your arm- its called muscle memory
Try tightening any bolt till it starts to move- now you know how hard you have to pull to get it back there

you can self calibrate any torque wrench the same way- set to tighten and bring torque up to correct setting, if it does not click keep going up and testing for easy click
Now you can read what it thinks is 20 pounds as example- reads 32 for 20

for own tool- leave set on 10 pounds when stored- slight spring pressure keeps calibration better- per snap on tool man and very expensive tool

trancemission

I take mine to work and send it off with our other ones to get calibrated

JackSampson

iTrader: (2)

Just replaced my brembos with these and I took off the inside pad squealer. The stock brembos didn't have it plus you can not get the pad in far enough with the tab in place. No biggie just break it off with a pair of plyers. Still waiting to test drive the car to see if there is any noticeable decrease in performance.

burbank_dude

These pads are good but not EVEN as good as the Brembos which stop on a dime. These stop good though and are way more durable in that they last longer and are not as dusty.

Anyone looking for a cost effective less dusty replacement will be pleased but don't kid yourself, those OEMS are as good as they come for stopping power.

SouthernBoy

[QUOTE=01tl4tl;11969069]you have a built in torque wrench in your arm- its called muscle memory
Try tightening any bolt till it starts to move- now you know how hard you have to pull to get it back there

you can self calibrate any torque wrench the same way- set to tighten and bring torque up to correct setting, if it does not click keep going up and testing for easy click
Now you can read what it thinks is 20 pounds as example- reads 32 for 20

for own tool- leave set on 10 pounds when stored- slight spring pressure keeps calibration better- per snap on tool man and very expensive tool[/QUOTE]

Funny you mentioned this... and a good thing. I have being doing exactly this for many years and at 10 ft/lbs as you stated. Nice to know it was more than mechanical logic that told me this made sense.

SouthernBoy

[QUOTE=01tl4tl;11969069]you have a built in torque wrench in your arm- its called muscle memory
Try tightening any bolt till it starts to move- now you know how hard you have to pull to get it back there

you can self calibrate any torque wrench the same way- set to tighten and bring torque up to correct setting, if it does not click keep going up and testing for easy click
Now you can read what it thinks is 20 pounds as example- reads 32 for 20

for own tool- leave set on 10 pounds when stored- slight spring pressure keeps calibration better- per snap on tool man and very expensive tool[/QUOTE]

Funny you mentioned this... and a good thing, too. I have being doing exactly this for many years and at 10 ft/lbs as you stated. Nice to know it was more than mechanical logic that told me this made sense.

Sinistr

I just picked up a set of these pads, the CMAX Gold, and am going to install them this weekend. Hopefully, after everything is done, there won't be any squeeling

Majofo

I have Cmax's on the TL and X. No squeal on either vehicle. The X squealed at first but it was due to a stripped caliper bolt. I think they're great pads, and when they wear out.. take them back and get a new pair free.

Riga89

Same exact reason why I picked up a set of CMax's for the TL.

luder917

iTrader: (1)

Just put on my rims with gloss black lips and they got dust on them the very first day of driving. I'm going to replace my brake pads with duralast cmax gold also. Is autozone the only place to get these? Anyone getting them anywhere else for less?

R.L. ina TL

i love these brake pads smooth braking,lifetime warranty and zero brake dust. Just bring back the olds and they give you a new box for freeee!!!! haha

Riga89

Yes, Autozone is the only place to get these. They are $60 + tax. I don't know any way of getting a discount.

Sinistr

Yes, Autozone is the only place that you can get the "Duralast CMAX GOLD" pads. As far as I know. If anyone else knows of someplace else that sells Duralast for cheaper, post it up. As for price, I paid $65 for them in NM. That is a really good price for front pads. How much cheaper do you want them?

myblack04tl

Are you sure they replace them when they wear out? How would the company make money.
I thought it was replaced only if from a manufactured defect. If this is true I will buy that brand next