I also drive ~100 miles a day and I use CarQuest ceramics with el cheapo rotors, break them in properly and they last me 30K+ and then they warp... I reuse the pads for one more time and off I go again...

 

then whats the way of doing it?

 

1. Warmup. I do 15 minutes of driving with frequent normal braking from the 45-60 mph range.

2. Hard use. Take the car up to ~60 mph, mash the brakes HARD until you nearly stop, and then floor it back up to ~60 and do it again. Keep doing that until the brakes start to fade (should be around 10 runs). The key: Never let the car stop.

3. Cool down. 10-15 minutes of EASY driving with as little braking as possible. A big empty highway is best for this.





Adapted from http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm and a few other places...

 

i have hawk HPS with brembo blanks.. my steering wheel used to shutter when braking at high speeds, but no more the stopping power is amazing too.. im still adjusting to the new power of the brakes.. the only thing is, i hear a sqeaking sound sometimes, like they'll be quiet when im slowing down... and just before i come to a complete stop the brakes will sqeak... i came to a complete stop on the bedding in process, and i didnt know u werent supposed to do that cause it didnt say it on the box.. if i re-bed them the right way will that make the squeak go away?

 

You can't expect pads that perform at this level to be TOTALLY silent. But, bedding them in properly can really help.

 

I use those hawks pads and i get the same vibrating shatter sound when i slow down. My rotors are indeed slotted...does this cause any problems??

 

I KNOW i'm off topic BUT....the lip kit on you car...are those stock?? I'm looking for that exact type! Do you know where i can get those for a really good price!!? i'm looking for all for sides(i have a 01 nissan maxima SE)...someone backed up and broke my front bumper a few days ago... so i'm planning are replacing it, adding lip kit and repaint the whole car by spiring/summer...Someone get @ me. THANKS IN ADVANCE

 

i got mine off of ebay from importrp.. they were pretty good, and for a good price too.. they came in fairly good condition.. a little dirty, but that might be normal.. i had to clean them with break cleaner

 

Well I feel I need to put my 2cents into this...
I thought about getting the Hawk HPS and did not and I regret it.

I got Brembo Blanks with Axxis/PBR Metal Masters... The stopping is great and precise. No shutter no anything. What gets to me the most is the dust and worst of all the squeeling. The squeeling only happens SOMETIMES not always. I do hate the squealing.

I did not break them in though like specified above. I just drove. Oh well., when they wear out, I will change em for the Hawk HPS and go from there.

 

A little OT, but i noticed my Powerslots are actually Brembo's. It's stamped right on the rotor itself. The odd thing is, according to the box, they're Centric's.

 

hawk hps brake pads are the worse pads than what you currently have. i bought a front pair of hawk hps pads about 2 months ago. now i am regrreting that why did i go for hawk pads oh man tell you the truth these pads are the worse pads i ever had on my car. they make very disturbing squealing sound when they get hot and the dust is just terrific i keep washing my chrome wheels just cuz of these hawk pads if i dont wash my wheels they become black with ton of dust on them. now i am replacing the hawk pads with the OEM japanase pads as soon as i get them. i am gonna throw these HPS pads in trash and will never ever buy these piece of junk brand again. in past i had akebono and they were the greatest pads ever with no dust no squealing or anything. but this time i considered to go with OEM nissan pads instead. dont make the mistake of buying hawk HPS you will be very disappointed. the stoping power is FAIR not GREAT but you will not like the noise and the dust that hawk hps pads produce. your best choice would be akebono pro-tec or nissan OEM pads.
EDIT: if you never had experience with hawk hps pads dont even try it. i too listened to few of these people and checked the voting result and made a mistake by wasting my money on these pads. i wouldnt want anyone else to waste thier hard earned bucks on something that is not even close to OEM.

 

The title of this thread should of been (Which pads are the worse for a non-racer)?
and the HAWK HPS should be leading the voting number. i cant believe that OEM pads are not mentioned in the poll. all those aftermarket pads are junk and totaly waste of money.

 

You already posted your opinion here and were told that you didn't bed your pads in correctly. Have you forgotten?

 

not everyone follows the bedding procedure. if can still recall i believe that i did try bedding them but still i have no idea why those pads are hard to bed. the consequences are leading me to replace them with oem which is just waste of my $60 plus my rotors are warped badly due to the horrible performance of these hawk pads. I wouldnt want any one else to go thru the same sitiuation by not bedding these pads correctly even though bedding procedure is darn confusing and does not work all the time. i just got three words to repeat (dont buy hawk's)

 

Hard to bed in? Rotors warped due to poor pad performance? Confusing bedding procedure? Wow. You, sir, are my hero.

 

to be honest with you i bought brand new brembo blanks zinc plated rotors from a group deal and at the same day i bought the hawk hps from pepboys. I went to mechanic had him install the brakes and paid extra for labor. and drove the car on lower speed with few hard stops actually the bedding instruction was on the box of the pads so i followed that step by step. now all this squealing sound and black dust is driving me crazy. i dont think the rotors alone can cause the squealing sound and can produce the black dust because the pads are always known to cause this type of noise and dust. i have no idea how few of you are continuing to bear with hawk pads after all this dust and squealing issues. i was better off with OEM. well we learn from mistakes.

 

I put Hawk HPS on my 2k3.
Pros: Great braking power, and combined with new rotors, no warping in over 10k miles (and believe me, they heat up)

Cons: The squeal slightly at all times. Haven't had the brake dust problem others have mentioned.

Good luck!

 

This are the same results I am getting from the Axxis/PBR Metal Masters.

 

Hawk HPS+$25 cheap a** rotors for me no squeeling, no brake dust, no problems.

 

Just installed PBR/Axxis Deluxe pads with Brembo blanks. No squealing or brake dust. Very happy with this combo.

 

Wow...looks like the Hawk HPS pads are winning by far! I've been using them for about a month now and have no complaints. I'm sure if I put them in the rear brakes they'd rock my face clean off!


Judging by the overwhelming number of good experiences with Hawk pads, have you considered for a moment that you're car is just cursed or possibly the guys that installed your brakes did a sh*ty job?

 

Akebono ceramics w/ brembo blanks. Extremely satisfied w/ this setup. So far not a hint of squealing and very little brake dust.....

 

really how hard is it to break in the HAWKS? Drive slow, stop slow i mean??!!?!? is there something i'm missing here? Or maybe you should slap them on and go autocrossing right after

 

After i got rid of the hawk's the same guy installed the OEM pads and resurfaced the rotors and all the squealing and dust has disapeared. and no i dont consider that my car is cursed or anything.

 

hawk HPS pads

 

I like my Raybestos Quietstop ceramics.

 

I've got like 40-50k experience on my Hawk HPS pads with xdrilled, zinc-plated brembos from brakepros/stillen. I think it took roughly 25-30k before there was any noticeable amount of dusting, and I did have some squealing issues at one point. . usually when they were cold. but lately, other than dusting and tires with 60k on them, I don't have any stopping issues. I think these pads are totally worth the buy, but I think next time around I'm going to see if they got redstuff pads, and prolly get the goodridge SS brake lines installed.

 

Is it just me, or has anybody else noticed that when you need to stop hard with the hawks, they feel finda soft, and you have to really mash the brake pedal to get the needed stopping power? During regular braking they're great (although noisy) but when you really need to stop hard for a light or something they feel really soft, almost like they're slippery

 

^^^ I think that would be your brake lines expanding. Are you still using the stock rubber lines?

 

One factor is the brake lines expanding, as soundmike said.

Another factor is that most peoples' daily driving will never ever ever heat Hawk HPS pads to their optimal range. Unless you drive hard, you will never get there.

 

I have had great luck with Wager brake pads from NAPA as an OEM replacement. I would get ceramic the last alot longer and don't dust near as much as other pads.

I run HAWK HPS on my car they stop like a champ but dust like crazy.

 

I will continue to use NAPA's best ceramic pads which are called Ceramix. Excellent pad, almost 0 dust, excellent when cold, hot wet or dry, no noise easy on rotors and I have a lifetime warranty which I had to pay an extra $10 for here in Canada I don't know if that is the case in the US. I have used these pads for over 3 years and I wouldn't go to anything else. Has anyone else tried these?

 

ill have to admit im on my 2nd set of hawk pads..pushing toward my third and ILL have to admit. The squealing and dusting is annoying. I can deal with it because i like to stop.........A DAMN THEY DO STOP, especially when heated. It feels like an extra 5 pounds is exerted when stopping. But the occasional sqeueal at low speeds or low speed stops is nerve wrecking.

 

hmm im looking into changing my brake rotors and pads theyre both OEM...

i guess the reason why some dont like their hawk hps's is because of improper bedding in or breaking in the new pads


i guess ill go with brembo blanks and hawk hps and see if ill like them or not, or just the pads this time since my rotors aren't warped....score

 

by the way where is the best place to get these lol....local napa store or pep boys? or online....


if you can link, thanks in advance and for opinions

 

you can get em from pep boys, www.buybrakes.com, or even www.autopartswarehouse.com,

also check out http://www.frozenrotors.com/

 

yea i just put hawks on my car the other day and the dust is going up on the fenders, leaving a coat on them.

 

yes the brake lines are still stock... should i switch to the stainless steel brake lines?

 

^^well SS lines give the brake pedal a firmer feel. I got Goodridge SS brake lines from http://www.importrp.com

BUT SEARCH FOR ALL THE ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH SS BRAKE LINES, BEFORE YOU DO IT...From what ive read and reviewed SS Lines should be inspected and changed every year.

 

Inspected at LEAST once every year, yes.

Changed every year, only on a race car.