Where do you buy your brake replacement parts?

by "Frank Grimes" (FrankGrimes)
Published 01/05/2017 at 21:06

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Are there parts store brands that are just terrible? Are there some better than others? Gonna be doing a rotor and pad change on a friends car and dont feel good just going with the cheapest autozone stuff.
The last time I replaced brakes was on the miata most people recommend Napa rotors and I went with some major brand ceramic pads but nothing fancy.

Replies (17)

"daender" (daender)
01/05/2017 at 21:10, STARS: 5

Napa stuff seems to hold up fine, but if it’s my Miata then I’m going with some Centric rotors. I dig Centric since they go that extra bit and have the hub and the ends of the rotor painted black.

"Frank Grimes" (FrankGrimes)
01/05/2017 at 21:12, STARS: 0

yeah that is cool, but looking for my friends hyundai car they were like $20 more or something.

"daender" (daender)
01/05/2017 at 21:13, STARS: 1

Go with the rotors that are 20$ less than Centric, I just have bad spending habits when it comes to car parts. :B

"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
01/05/2017 at 21:19, STARS: 1

This is timely, I need to do the brakes on my Mazda 3. Its impossible to figure out autozone qualit levels. I have generally had good luck with napa.

"deekster_caddy" (deekster_caddy)
01/05/2017 at 21:21, STARS: 2

I have always been a fan of Raybestos for street driving, but don’t get the cheap ones. If you are looking for track pads, look closely at Hawk’s website - they very nicely explain their different pad compounds and what they are meant for.

"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
01/05/2017 at 21:33, STARS: 1

I usually hit up my local parts store (a Carquest).

The guys there know that I’m after good parts and I usually end up with Raybestos pads (not service-grade, but professional-grade) (actually, scratch that, I think Raybestos calls their top stuff “advanced technology” now). But when I did my recent Cobra brake upgrade, the pads they gave me were Akebonos.

The rotors I get come in Carquest-branded boxes, but I think the discs are actually Wearever or Raybestos.

"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
01/05/2017 at 21:38, STARS: 2

+1 for Napa stuff if it’s not a performance car. Decent quality and dependable without a crazy price. Plus they are always running promotions where they throw in free crap like hats or hot wheels cars with $100 purchases.

"gmporschenut also a fan of hondas" (gmporschenut)
01/05/2017 at 21:41, STARS: 1

I usually try to get whatever came stock. if in a crunch for time (no planning) whatever the premium one is at Advance. Brake parts aren’t something I want to skimp on. Sometimes Rock Auto.

"e36Jeff now drives a ZHP" (e36jeff)
01/05/2017 at 21:45, STARS: 1

Granted it’s for BMW parts, but I usually just go with Meyle rotors as they are half the price of any alternatives and I’m just running blanks. As for the pads, I’ve tried Hawk Ceramic, Akebono Ceramic, Stoptech street performance, and the OEM pads. The OEM pads had the best feel, but they make dust on part with an industrial smokestack. The Hawk Ceramics feel almost as good, but make zero dust. I did not like the Akebono or stoptech pads. They either had terrible bite(Akebono) or worse dust(stoptech). Also the stoptech pads basically got eaten by a single track day. The only problem with the Hawk Ceramics is they are not remotely cheap.

I also use the Meyle rotors for my track days, but I have a full second set with Hawk HP Plus pads. They are really expensive, but they last forever on the track. I would not use them on the street long term though, their initial bite when cold borders on dangerously bad, although their bite with just a modicum of heat is so good it makes your face hurt(literally, my face hurts by the time I finish the break-in procedure due to blood being forced into it).

As for where to buy, Amazon has good prices for pads. Dunno where to get the rotors from as I buy them from ecs tuning, which is a german car only seller.

"Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition" (realasabass)
01/05/2017 at 21:48, STARS: 1

I always go with Rock Auto. I was able to do new rotors, pads, drums, shoes, and wheel cylinders for under a $100. It was a mixture of Wagner and Centric parts. They stock the name brand in white box parts that shops normally buy so the deals are there for most cars.

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
01/05/2017 at 22:03, STARS: 0

Go to Rock Auto, and make sure you add a 5% off coupon available everywhere on the Internet. I’m happy with the Centric rotors I got off there for my Miata.

"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
01/05/2017 at 22:09, STARS: 1

Another vote for Centric rotors. They own Stoptech, so you’re getting the same quality parts, minus the cryo treatment and for lots less.

Never had any luck finding great pads. My last car I had to do the brakes on was my SVT Focus. I did the fronts with Centric rotors and some British brand of pads and got tons of life out of them.

Had to do the rears about a year later. Centric rotors and Akebono pads from Adavanced Auto. Two years later my fronts were fine and I needed new rear pads already. Went with stock pads that time. Also had to replace both calipers. Which I did myself in my driveway, having never done that level of work before either.

I pay for other people to do work on my cars properly now.

The whole built/bought false equivalence is a farce. I have neither the time nor talent to do this shit myself. I am fortunate to have the means to pay for it to happen. So you built your whatever yourself? Awesome! I’m jealous. But don’t fucking judge me inferior because I can’t do the same thing.

Sorry for the rant. Carry on.

"BorkBorkBjork" (tbirdlemons)
01/05/2017 at 22:12, STARS: 0

NAPA Adaptive One pads rock. My last paired lasted about 80k miles.

"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
01/05/2017 at 22:29, STARS: 2

If all else fails, go to your dealership’s parts desk and order OEM.

"plak424" (plak424)
01/05/2017 at 23:15, STARS: 1

Napa generic parts are fine. I’ve done lots of brake jobs with Napa pads and rotors and they’ve held up fine.

I also just did the brakes on my miata last summer with cheapo centric rotors from Rock auto and stop tech street performance pads and holy crap that thing stops on a dime now. I’ll definitely be switching my speed 3 from the OEMs I have been using the next time I do pads since the stop tech are really inexpensive for how well they work.

"My bird IS the word" (mybirdistheword)
01/06/2017 at 00:43, STARS: 1

I bought the stoptech slotted units with EBC redstuff pads.

The rotors are holding up great, the ceramic pads definetly feel more like track pads to me but around town they are perfectly adequate. when you heat them up (takes alot) they get SUPER grippy.

"Frank Grimes" (FrankGrimes)
01/06/2017 at 15:50, STARS: 1

something about duralast just screams crappy quality to me.