177ichael54

Hello everyone,

I'll be changing out my front brake pads for the 2007 TL Type-S in the very near future since the OEM pads wear like skin sliding on asphault... With only 14k miles, it seems absurd that Honda/Acura doesn't cover this under warranty. I've only seen a few posts regarding people changing their front brake pads. Anyone else gone thru this and care to post pictures? If not, when I swap it out, I'll be sure to take some pictures along the way.

Evader

Here you go!

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...48#post2122548

177ichael54

Excellent!! Thank you!!!!

dragonzspirit

i'll be doing the same on my 07 TL-S this weekend...you all made it look easy and i hope mine will turn out the same! i'll be switching to the hawk ceramic pads. which ones did you decide on?

Evader

I had never done a brake job.. .It was easy as anything! Just make sure you follow the bed-in procedures after installing them.

dragonzspirit

which bed in procedure did you use? the one from the product site or the "hard" bed in from here?

sam617

Did my front brake pads and resurface the rotor on my '07 tls with 38000 miles and it cost me $420, is this a high price to pay for?

177ichael54

I went to my local auto parts store, not the pep boys or major chains, but a local shop that's been around for a long time in my area. They said they had Type-S pads for $55 a set (both right and left sides). This sure beats the $170 Acura charges for their OEM whatever pads. The manufacturer is Monroe and apparently it comes with rubberized shims and a little packet of grease. They look to be a really quality product manufactured in Canada. I'm also excited to know that they carry Type-S rotors for around $45 a pop. For that price, I may end up changing my rotors as well.

XxAfG786xX

i changed mine, used hawk hps pads, bought it from heeltoe...installed for 55 bucks like 2 days ago

Bearcat94

You may lose some stopping performance with lower cost products.

Not always, of course, but generally, you get what you pay for. OE/Dealer charges WAY too much, but $45 per rotor and $55 for pads sounds like WAY too little ( )

Also will depend on how you use them. Basic day-to-day driving/commuting, probably fine. Spirited fun in the mountain twisties, I'd go for a street performance set up. Costs less than OEM, but stops as good or better. StopTech, Rotora, Racing Brake, etc.

XxAfG786xX

I went to acura dealorship here in fairfax,va and they quoted me $560 in labor and parts...I got it done at $200..

177ichael54

Performance is definitely something to consider and I have yet to try this rotor/pad setup out. I actually haven't had a chance to look at the rotors they were selling for my TL-S. However, I did pick up a set of rotors for my Subaru Forester XT since I'll be doing a full front brake job on it over the weekend. The rotors are made by Raybestos and are distributed out of McHenry, Illinois. These don't appear to be some cheap overseas import and I don't think this parts retailer would sell garbage.

You could be right about the performance, however, I tend to think these rotors will at least equal that of the OEM rotors. At this price point, even if the rotors go bad, I can afford to replace them when the pads wear down again.

I found a link to the manufacturer that makes the pads I picked up. Remember, I have not tested these out and plan to put them on after my OEM pads wear down a bit further. Website is: Monroe Brakes - $55 a pop.

I'm hoping the excellent history of this auto parts store and it's reputation for great prices on quality parts will meet or exceed my expectations. I'll post updates after I've had some time with the replacement brake parts.

Bearcat94

Didn't mean to imply the were "cheap" or "knock offs" or "junk" or anything of the sort. I'm just *guessing* they're oriented to a more realxed driving style and long life.

Never know, every now and then you turn up a great value in unexpected places. I think Bear-AvHistory found some lower cost Kevlar pads for his 6MT that worked really well. Those *might* have been Raybesto's as well - don't recall for sure.

177ichael54

No offense taken. I actually think you are spot on regarding performance with spirited driving, racing, auto-x, etc. If I were pushing my car to those limits I would have opted for slotted or drilled.

Manufacturer of the rotors I picked up is actually Better Brakes, Inc. and branded Raybestos.

nyclio

Anyone have any shop recommendations in the NYC area to get this done? My TL-S needs new (front only) brake pads and rotor resurfacing (or so the dealer told me) too - and they are charging me $560 (Valley Stream Acura) for parts and labor.

timmahh

Raybestos =/ meh.. i dunno about those.. are the new pads you're looking at ceramic? The factory brembos are ceramic I believe so if you're going to a different compound or material you might loose braking performance, have increased fade, heat issues etc.

I ordered Hawk Ceramics from Tire Rack two days ago [they should be here today], for $120 + $8 shipping.. I don't know if I want to change my rotors or not but if I do i'll probably get the drilled Brembo rotors from tire rack for $230 =/

Raybestos just seems like.. ford focus stuff =/

177ichael54

I'd be surprised if the OEM pads were ceramic, considering they only lasted 14k miles for me. Although, I'm not sure how long pads for these brembo brakes usually last, 14k seems really low and I don't want to have to deal with brake jobs every 14k miles. I'm not worried about fade, etc because I don't race my car on a track where I would notice the reduced performance. Again, I'm only looking for something comparable to the OEM setup, which I think is already quite a lot of brakes for the car. For that matter, if I were looking for a car to race on a track, I probably wouldn't have even looked at my front wheel drive TL-S, so it's all about practicality in how you drive your car and how it relates to cost/performance.

I don't know if there's much difference between steel Raybestos and steel from the Acura OEM factory. I can see there would be a difference when you start talking about slotted and drilled rotors, but a solid steel rotor for the most part should be a solid steel rotor and for $55, it'll cost you less than getting your OEM rotors resurfaced at the dealer. Not to mention, resurfacing rotors can also increase likelihood of warping because you're taking away from the thickness of the metal.

Yes, they may use Raybestos on the Ford Focus, but if I put them on my TL-S for my Brembo Calipers to grip onto, I don't feel like it degrades the car in any way. After all, they are rotors. If you see me putting on Ford Focus wheels, then I may have performance issues..

SodaLuvr

How did those Monroe pads work out for you?

dirtnut

There are drastic differences in rotors, even among OEM's. I've found that Honda/Toyota rotors last a long time, while Ford rotors are garbage. They wear quickly, warp, and don't stop all that well.

Just like there are different grades and qualities of brake pad material, there are different grades of steel used to make rotors. I'm not suggesting that you only use OEM brake parts, but I would certainly stick with name brands and stay away from the internet no-name junk!

BryanOut

Evader - Thanks, that was a BIG help!

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

i am more interested in your braking habbits...i have 17k miles on my 07 type s, and just inspected the pads last tire rotation, and they looked great...

Kratky

I am also thinking of using Monroe Pads. What part number did you use and how do they perform? Any squeaking?

Thanks

georgegiorgio

I've changed at 23.5K, still could have them for another 1K or 2, but since I was going to drive a long trip, so I've changed them.

g35paul

37k on my 08 and front pads finally gone and its my old ladies car but i drive it anywhere we go... dont drive fast but do drive quickly so i use the brakes alot an they seemed to last.. hawks on my G have 35k on them now and bout 70% life left so im probably goin with those... may just resurface rotors on get some powerslots

sadvocate

necroposting, but this may help...

My daily drive at the time I bought my 2008 TL-S was a minimum of ~110 miles round trip, 6 days a week. Fortunately it's all freeways - so no stop and go traffic and few stop lights. I drove mostly non-peak hours, so the road was pretty much mine. Lots of high speed, not a lot of stopping.

I only drove about 12,000 miles before my first brake pads needed replacement. I'd had all the oil changes done at the dealer I bought from so they've seen my vehicle a lot. I took the car back to them and had a heck of a time convincing them I wasn't "over-driving" the brakes. In the end, they replaced it under warranty.

After that, at my next oil change at the dealership they told me they needed to be replaced again. I'd only gotten 3,000 miles out of that set of pads - so at 15,000 miles (less than half a year ownership) I had two new brake pads installed and rotors machined.
Another 9000 miles later they needed replaced again - and this time they had to replace the rotor as well.

That third operation seems to have done the trick, although the stopping power never felt the same. Still, they've lasted 60,000 miles since then and I'm now looking for a good replacement - something with the same drastic stopping power the car had the day I bought it.

ez12a

if you wear em out so quickly (through no fault of your own) people have recommended Duralast CMAX pads. They're OEM spec, and apparently dust less than OEM.

plus they're lifetime warrantied including wear/tear. So go right on ahead and wearing them out with in 12k. You'll get your next sets free. Check out your local autozone.

I'm throwing new rotors and CMAX pads on this weekend.

J Dubya

The front pads on my 07 TLS-S 5-A/T were changed at 40,000 miles, along with cutting the rotors and I just now at 77,000 miles changed the pads (all 4 corners) and front rotors. When we took the original rotors off, they were severely warped.

What I did was order the cross-drilled Brembos from Tire Rack instead of purchasing the factory Brembo from the dealership at a much lower cost. I also purchased the OEM pads from AcuraOEMparts.com, again at a much lower price than my local stealership. I wanted enhanced OEM set-up and I think I acheived that.

I then had the rotors cryogenic treated before install. The original rear pads had about 30% of life, but since I had the new pads, I chose to replace. I'm willing to bet that after 100,000 miles, these rotors will not warp. The cryo treatment will allow the heat to disperse much faster and keep the rotors much, much cooler. The cross-drilled will also help with the heat.

I dont think 40,000 miles on the front OEM pads are bad at all. I think it does depend on your driving style and how much you use the brakes. i use the paddle shifters 99% of the time and I do downshift to engine brake.

i have since the install had to perform dramatic braking from 70 MPH, not by choice and there is ZERO fade. The previous setup did have fade from a 70 MPH braking.

Bearcat94

There's some going on somewhere.

Although, I've read once or twice about replacement around or just under something like 15k miles, under 10 is .

3k is beyond . WAY beyond.

Personally, I think your dealer was jacking you/Acura or you had a brake problem (assuming your brake use is represented accurately).

I've heard quite few having to change in the 20,000 - 25,000 mile range - that's considered the "normal" low end, imho.

I think the "fix" was either they used an after-market pads or they fixed your brakes. Or both.

07tl-s6spd

iTrader: (1)

it takes longer to jack up the car and get the wheel off....then it actually takes to change the pads on the brembo calipers...lol

94eg!

There was a recent service bulletin from Acura that stated machining rotors is no longer necessary. It should only be done in the rare event that the rotor is warped or deeply grooved (like when you wear pads down to the backing plate). By not machining rotors, it will increase the life of the rotor by not wasting valuable mass (this keeps temps down and avoids warping).

When I did my wife's 04 pilot, I took the rotors down to Checker to have them measured for thickness. Even at 96k miles, the original rotors still had plenty of meat and no signs of abnormal vibration. I simply threw on a new set of OEM pads, and cleaned/lubed the caliper slide pins. The brakes have been outstanding ever since.

Lesson: Don't machine your rotors if you don't have to. It reduces the service life of the rotor.

JORTS

i just found out my pads need to be replaced...the guy at pep boys said that i also needed to replace my rotors...they didn't look that bad to me, but i wouldn't know...do you think i can get away with keeping the rotors without replacing them or "machining" them? i didn't measure the thickness or anything

FYI i only went to pep boys to check my brake life...i would never let them do any repairs on my car

con5tant

iTrader: (4)

what are your guys brake pads of choice?

Jmcgillis80

Hello everyone, I have a 2008 tl type-s with 38000 miles and like most of you changed my pads at about 26000 miles. I used autozone c-max gold pads which some of you recommended. love the pads but I can't figure out what I need to do to get rid of the loud squeel when I come to a stop. I have tried the brake in procedure and tried putting brake quiet spray on the back of them. nothing works, any help will greatly be appreciated! I'm considering having the rotors turned and trying new pads, your thoughts? Thanks in advance

94eg!

I had a bad experience with pep-boys when they measured my rotors way back when (I brought them in). They machined them poorly (deep grooves w/ a lip on one side) and then insisted they were too thin and tried to sell me new ones. They were the ones that effed them up in the fist place. I then took them to a mechanic who said they were fine and machined them again to be smooth.

Last time I had rotors measured, I took them to O'Reilly's. The guy there knew what he was doing cause he measure them all over the place and it took a while. They were still plenty thick and he said I didn't need to turn them. I imagine it just depends on the quality of the person doing the measurement.

I would say that if your rotors look/feel smooth, and you don't have vibration when braking, go ahead and reuse them as-is. If they have ridges but no vibration, get them both machined at O'Reilly's (Checker, Kragen). If you have vibration, or you went all the way through a pad to the steel backing plate (very noisy), replace them as a pair.

94eg!

For performance, I like the Axxis/PBR-Ultimates (same as Stoptech I'm pretty sure). They are very grippy but have tons of dust and wear rotors of course. They also work amazingly well from cold up to 900*f. Their fit isn't great though and they usually require some grinding of the ears to move smooth in the caliper. Not a big deal if you have a dremel. Cost a lot lot less than popular Hawk pads.

For standard street, I'm all about OEM/Akebono pads. I wouldn't use anything else. Personally I would just buy the OEM pad kits from ebay cause they are a bit cheaper than the online dealers. But G1Parts has free shipping on Honda parts over $20. Pad sets usually cost ~$42. The OEM kit includes Molykote M77 for the pads & retainers, as well as all of the shims.

Nissin also makes some of the OEM pad kits.

powerflow

Make sure to thoroughly clean, and lubricate the pad, caliper, and moving contact parts. My Brembo's needed a thorough lubing for completely quite operation. Otherwise I would get an annoying squeal at low speed braking or in reverse.

http://www.amazon.com/Verachem-Synth.../dp/B004IUIJCE

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

people dont post pics much because its such an easy job

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

I'm certainly not a fan of machining a rotor as most all would be fall under the minimum spec. A standard M/T or TL-S new rotor is 0.98-0.99" thick with a minimum of 0.91". Given this criteria it indicates that the rotor can only wear .07-0.08" before they are deemed unusable. This is just slightly more than 1/16" so with any abnormal wear or grooves, the rotor will be kaput and should be replaced, but most shops either don't use, or know how to read a mic, so they just cut the rotor regardless of the thickness.

Frpm Acura:
Don't Refinish Brake Discs Unnecessarily
Back in July of this year, we revised S/B 00-037, Brake Disc Refinishing Guidelines. That revision had two purposes:
• It removed the requirement to refinish new brake discs. (Improvements in manufacturing processes have made that unnecessary.)
• It stated that you should only refinish brake discs when they are scored or out of specification for runout or parallelism (backed up by measurements).
But since then, there’s still been a lot of brake disc refinishing being done, particularly during client-pay brake jobs. This is a waste of perfectly good brake disc material and, more importantly, your client’s money. So please review your repair policies when replacing brake pads. Our investigations have shown that the need for disc refinishing should be rare.
Discs should be refinished only if they’re scored or out of spec. For detailed inspection instructions, refer to the appropriate S/M.

Bearcat94

I'll be damned. Good job Acura.

We've been saying this for years.


Also make sure your lug nuts are at 80 lb-ft to keep from putting unnecessary or uneven pressure on the rotor hubs.

Q_ShipTL

Does anyone have the correct link to replacing brembo brake pads? This link goes to some chat about presidential election