john893

What is the bennifit from buying Nissan brake pads instead of going to an autozone or pepboys? Nissan wants $50 for rear pads and autozone wants $20. I don't mind spending the money but if there is no difference I don't need to spend the extra just to have nissan's name on the pad.

Thanks for any help.

John

Y2KMaxGXE-R

iTrader: (4)

You get what you pay for. Pep Boys will even offer "lifetime" wtty on their pads, but will have to change them sooner, they will dust more, and you will end up w/ more BS.

n0sferatu

Perhaps you should consider which type of pads you're getting. Usually shops/Nissan will sell you metallic/semi-metallic pads for varying costs (depending of brand name of shop/manufacturer). Ceramic pads (next para) give you better stopping and less noise.

For my 97 max a few months back, I researched pads and found that ceramic ones have good grip and less noise. I got some OEM japanese company (I believe Akebono) for $60 a pair ($120 front/rear combined) at a Parts-Authority store, and had them installed at some extra labor. They were awesome, nice grip, no noise whatsoever, were still going strong after 3 or 4 months of 1000mi/month driving.

HH

SC02Max

I have tried MANY different types of pads and found that OEM pads to be the best unless you are autocrossing or something like that where you might want to get Hawk or some other aftermarket co that specialized in this type of application.

This is just an opinion.... Raybestos and other aftermarket, cost effective pads have always seemed harder than OEM pads, make more noise and just don't work as well. OEM pads, at least Nissan and Honda, seem to me to be a little softer and more forgiving to the rotor.

I have never been disappointed with OEM pads under normal to spirited driving conditions, but have been disappointed with cheap aftermarket pads on more than a couple of occasions. Then I end up taking them off.

HondaKilLR

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but, I believe our OE pads are Ceramic, and made by Hitachi On a side note, I bought the cheapy Semi-metallic pads for the rear and they seem just fine Hell, there's probably 75% life left on them, where I've had to change my fronts 3 times already in the same timeframe. Fourth time is coming up on Brembo blanks.....

SC02Max

Have you ever used the cheapies on front? Everytime I did, on any vehicle, it just wasn't the same, or as effective as the OE.

HondaKilLR

No, I have not. I only use Performance Friction pads from Autozone for my fronts. Just like the Max, the best bang for the buck