I need to replace my front brake pads. Does anyone know a good performance brand or where I can get them at a decent cost? I dont think I want to go with the stock pads again. I want to get some drilled rotors too, but Im not sure if Im going to have enough money for those right now. Thanx in advance.
Clark

 

I just put on a set of Bendix Semi-metallic pads from Carparts.com on my Maxima, they grip really well, haven't really drove that much on them yet but so far so good. Definite improvement over stock, or the non-sense I had on the car before.

I know that a lot of people are going with Axxis brake pads, "got rice?" sells them, he also has cross drilled Rotors. so you can get in contact with him,
A lot of people got those on their cars, and they seem very satisfied, I should have went with them too, I heard Bedix pads dust a lot.

 

Drilled rotors will cost you $130-200, depending on your source.

for pads, I recommend Axxis Metal Master.. they're $35-60/set for fronts and rears, depending on source. (Stillen sells the same thing for $60, but rebadges them as Stillen Metal Matrix pads)

other stuff I'd recommend are Bendix IQ (about $25)
Porterfield R4-S (about $100) very good street pads, but $$$.

EBC greenstuff. I dunno price for sure, but I think they're around $60.

the axxis are what I'd recommend for a good performance pad that's easy on the budget. for more daily driving, go withthe bendix.
for racing or really hard street use (auto X on weekends, drive like me, etc) go with porterfields.

 

axxis doesn't make the rears for third gens....4th gen pads will work right?

 

there's a newer thing out called ceramic brake pads, supposedly they last longer, grip better, and dust less than semi metallic. they're quiter too. only thing, they're twice as much, 60 for the front. i dunno on the back. i think that was the price. anyway, i put organic pads on the back, thinking it wouldn't matter that was like 5 months ago and i'm replacing them tomorrow. I'm almost to the metal. DON"T use organic, even though they are like 15 bucks!

 

Yeah, Axxis has pads available for 3rd gens. I have a set in the mail, should be arriving this week.

I don't know if they're the same as 4th gen pads or not though.

 

doh! i ordered the fronts from got rice? but he can't get the rears...where did you get them from...

 

Like Matt said the EBC Greenstuff are like $65. I haven't noticed any more dust than the stock pads, and once they are hot they brake very well and have no fade.

 

Does it really make a difference in what type of brake pad you use if the rest of the brake system is stock? I mean it's not like the calipers know you put some cool pads in and will all of a sudden squeeze harder to give you better braking, right? I hope those of you who have experience here can shed some light. Thanks-

 

Actually pads are the only thing that you can do, without spending major $$$, that you will notice a big difference, unless you race new rotors won't make a big difference. The thing about the pads is they are what actually grip the rotor to make the car stop. performance pads have more grip. The stock one piston caliper provides plenty of pressure for most applications.

 

As HoJo said, the pads are the most critical part of the whole brake system.. when you hear of "brake fade" that's 95% of the time the pads overheating. when the pads get too hot for their designed temp range, they get very mushy and you lose almost ALL braking power.
Here's a nice little story for ya..

This summer at Maxus we went through a "spirited" drive through the mountains in North Georgia.. My current brake setup then were the drum brakes on the back with Wagner rear shoes, Brembo crossdrilled rotors up front with Beck Arnley Semi-Metallic pads.

About 3/4 of the way through the trip, my brakes gave up on me and I almost ran over a biker because I couldn't stop to slow to get around a corner. when I finally got to a place where I could pull over, I had to pull onto the gravel and slam the car into park at 10mph because even on the slight downhill the brakes couldn't hold enough to stop the car. It took about an hour for them to cool off enough to drive the car again, and they STILL sucked. Fortunately MaxHawk had an extra set of Bendix pads in his apartment and gave them to me. That was in August, and I've been running those pads since then. I have NOT been able to get them to fade like that day when I was running those POS pads. Everything else is the same on the car other than the pads, and I smoked another set of rear shoes before I ever got the bendix to fade..

Now that I've got discs on the rear, I can't make them fade enough before I notice it, so now it's back tot he front pads being the limitation on the car. I took them out for a nice drive yesterday and completely smoked the !@#)!(@ out of the bendix in about 10 min of hard driving..
I've got Axxis pads coming this week, so I'll put those on this weekend and see how it feels after that.

 

Chris, I ordered them through the Group Deal with Avalon Racing. I think they were $35 or 40 for the rears. check the group deals forum for some info, and also their webpage. http://www.avalonracing.net

 

Eventually, I have to replace the pads on my Max and your input just gave me the perfect idea for a replacement. I might get the Bendix or the Axxis pads so that I will have better stopping power.

 

I love the Maxima and finally got mine after my Civic was stolen a couple years ago. Bought it from the neighbor and boy would he like it back!

I've gotta get brakes on this dude, but I don't want to be taken to the cleaners. At least one of the rotors is warped, the pads are shot and I don't know what the calipers, etc. are like.

One place quoted me $800 for the job. What should I expect and should I get my own upgrade parts for them to put on? I hate to be overcharged for inferior stuff.

I drive 51 miles to work one way daily in very heavy traffic. Speed varies between 85 and 20, depending on my fellow commuters. In excessive stop and go, the brakes almost give out and I'm NOT enjoying the ride.

What would y'all recommend to put this back in order at a resonable cost? Thanks in advance. I love this site.

 

of part numbers for 3rd gens:

Front Brake Rotor: JBR-505 $45 @carparts.com

Front Brake Pads:
Deluxe Plus: 22-430-01 $39
Metalmaster: 23-430-01 $47 (Recommended)
Metal-LU: 24-430-01 $26
Metal-LU: 24-653-01 $23
Super-LU: 25-430-01 $23
Super-LU: 25-653-01 $21
Super-X: 27-430-01 $21
Metal-X: 28-430-01 $22
Metal-X: 28-653-01 $22

Rear Brake Rotor: JBR-506 $35 @carparts.com

Rear Brake Pads:
Deluxe Plus: 22-540-01 $33
Metalmaster: 23-540-01 $46 (Recommended)
Metal-LU: 24-540-01 $27
Super-LU: 25-540-01 $20
Super-LU: 25-595-01 $20
Super-X: 27-540-01 $17
Super-X: 27-595-01 $17
Metal-X: 28-540-01 $23

The rotors are Brembo, and should serve you well. The Metalmasters are what I recommend, and believe me I've tossed about every brake configuration you can think of for the 3rd gen...

Anyway, importhookup.com will be posting a link to the one-day only 33% off coupon for purchases on Sunday, January 21st through carparts.com. Just follow this link and purchase these parts by doing a search for the part numbers above (i.e. JBR-505 and 23-430-01, etc.)

 

Chris,
it did some searching and found out the Axxis pads will fit the 3rd gen. The thickness difference is 0.5 mm between the the model years and this won't affect the fitment.

 

To further expand got rice?'s thoughts, technically the 3rd gen with rear discs are supposed to use 595 type pads. However, Porterfield uses the 540 type pads for the rear on all 3rd and 4th gens, and I've seen cross-references for 595 and 540 type pads as well......

As you can see from my previous post, Axxis doesn't make any 'real good' pads for the rears in the 595 type. They are all from the 'lower priced' line.

However, the Metalmasters are available in the 540 type for the rear discs and would be the optimal match with the 430 type Metalmasters for your front discs.

got rice?,

I'm surprised you don't offer the Metalmasters on your site for the front pads, just the Metal-LU version. Is it a supply problem or something?