ceramic brake pads?

[firemanpat2910]

I know there are a few machanics on here, whats the concencious on ceramic brake pads? These are not for my super duty, but for the daughters 05 4runner. light towing, maybe a 4 wheeler, or an implement that wont fit on the big trailer with everything else. Mainly she complains about the sqeualing stock pads, and the dust. any experiences would be helpfull.

 

[EastTnFarmboy]

I recently replaced the pads on my wife's Honda Odyssey with ceramic pads. The dust is noticably less and the stopping power is fine as well. They were a bit more expensive but I am told they will last 2 or 3 times longer than regular pads. I was also told that for years they were only available for taxis and emergency vehicles. If that is true, that should tell you something about their reliabilty and dependability.

 

[caddelma]

Ironically, I need to replace the front pads my wife's 2003 Chev Malibu. They had ceramic pads from the factory and I have continued to use them. This will be the third pad change and she usually gets 35-40k out of them. Malibu's have a history of going through brakes fast, pads and rotors. I have replaced the rotors once, could have turned them, but it wasn't much more $$$ to replace. That was the only time I touched the rotors (at ~85k miles). The ceramic pads seems to have less dust, have never squelled and are not as hard on rotors like the semi-metallics. Use can also get carbon metallic pads, they stopped better (once hot), are quiet, but tend to generate the most dust compared to semi's and ceramic.

 

[tractorsanmore]

ceramic pads are the way to go , very little dust and stop fine , just cost a little more , I get mine from napa

 

[wushaw]

I have 106,000 miles on the original pads on my 2000 Jeep TJ with many more miles left on them.

I have never seen the need for ceramic pads for my purpose. Although if I wanted more life out of my pads or better braking performance then I wouldn't hesitate to get ceramic pads.

 

[Ryan03]

I run ceramic pads on my wifes trailblazer and my 2500 duramax, stopping power, good, fade resistance, good, brake dust, minimal, noise, moderate, They will begin to squeal when dust accumulates on the brakes themselves over time, I usualy just stick the hose nozzle through a hole in the wheel and hose them down every other month or so, and it quiets them right down. They are all that I will run.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I just recently installed Bendex ceramic pads on my 2500 Dodge 4X4. The OEM pads still had plenty of "meat" left (78,000 miles) but upon closer inspecting, they were starting to get quite a glaze. (especially the fronts)

I've put 2500 miles on the new ones in 2 months. Around 300 of that was towing the gooseneck (loaded, weighing approx. 8500lbs) No noise, No dust, GREAT stopping power, and feel just like OEM. So far, I'd recommend them to anyone.