Review: Autozone Duralast Gold CMax Pads (Ceramic Brakes) for the Daily Driver
#48
Evolved Member
iTrader: (72)
ET500 pads are listed as $115/set of front on RacingBrake.com. There are also ET300, and up to ET900 for a full racing pad. So you'll pay alittle more compared to the C-Max, but you get a ton more back in performance!
Here a review by Kracka
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/se...lue-fluid.html
Here a review by Kracka
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/se...lue-fluid.html
Last edited by chu; Feb 9, 2010 at 10:58 AM.
#55
Im not sure if its the fronts or rears, but I replaced both the rotors and pads, and used both the duralast pads that were listed, and they squeal like hell from a slow stop. They have been squealing since the first week I put them on.
No squeaking under hard braking. Only during a slow stop, at like 0-10 mph when hardly touching the brakes. Its a bit ridiculous.
Any suggestions?
#56
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Did you ever find out if the fronts were making the squealing?
Im not sure if its the fronts or rears, but I replaced both the rotors and pads, and used both the duralast pads that were listed, and they squeal like hell from a slow stop. They have been squealing since the first week I put them on.
No squeaking under hard braking. Only during a slow stop, at like 0-10 mph when hardly touching the brakes. Its a bit ridiculous.
Any suggestions?
Im not sure if its the fronts or rears, but I replaced both the rotors and pads, and used both the duralast pads that were listed, and they squeal like hell from a slow stop. They have been squealing since the first week I put them on.
No squeaking under hard braking. Only during a slow stop, at like 0-10 mph when hardly touching the brakes. Its a bit ridiculous.
Any suggestions?
I tried many differnt kinds of anti-squeal with no results. My buddy who happens to own an STI recomended spraying them occasionally with brake clean, and low and behold...no more squeal. Not sure why this is, but after a few sprays (not scientific, just when I felt like/remembered to do it) the squeal is gone. It could also be from taking time to bed the brakes, but regardless they do not squeal now. Try the brake clean, and bed the brakes again. Hopefully one of the two will fix your issue.
#57
Noisy Auto Zone Ceramic Pads
I just got new rotors and pads all around on my 03 Tahoe from Auto Zone. The ceramic pads on the front squeals like crazy. The back (semi-metallic) do not. I previously had Wagner pads on it. I removed the rotors and pads again and re-cleaned them and put tons of anti-squeak liquid on the back of the pads, but it didn't seem to help. The noise is driving me crazy, so I plan on getting different front pads soon, but not from Auto Zone. In addition, the pads don't seem to stop as fast as the Wagners or factory pads.
#59
Just a quick review on the pads I'm now using for the daily drive which I found more than adequate..
Current Suspension / Brake Mods
Performance Friction 2-Piece Rotors up Front
RRE Poor Man Rotors on the Rear (aka RRE Stock Brake Rotors, not sure who makes em though)
Valvoline Synthetic Brake Fluid
Gruppe-S SS Brake Lines
I bought the following from Autozone
Autozone Duralast Gold CMAX (Ceramic) for the Front - DGC1001 for 59$
Autozone Duralast Gold for the Rear (Semi Metallic) for the Rear - DG961 - 35$
For the pics
WTH? Pretty pictures on the box?
Let's look inside and see what we got here..
a) Front Ceramic Brake Pads
b) New Caliper Spring Clip
c) Pahmplet stating why these brake pads are supposedly pimp.
The pahmplet states words / phrases like
"Maximum Ceramic Formulation" - formulated to handle high braking temperatures with less brake fade, to generate less dust and wear on both the pads and rotors, and to provide substantially quieter braking.
"Revolutionary Multi-Layer Rubber Shim Technology"
here's a closer look at the included spring clip compared to stock
and here's the new pads and clip installed on the stock caliper
Installation Notes:
Used Scotch Brite and scuffed the rotors just to make I've evacuated the old pad material as much as possible. The fronts fit perfectly without issues - I didn't have to reuse the stock brembo shims because these already come with supposedly "revolutionary multi-layer rubber shim technology - TM." Moreover, I used the new spring clip that comes in the package, although I'm quite sure there's no problem re-using the stock spring clip. NOTE: the CMAX pads only have one tapered side, make sure when installing the pads that the tapered sides are pointing upwards as the wheel normal turns counter clock wise.
Now for the rears, they also fit properly without issues. I did not reuse the stock shims on the rear because they come pre-shimmed (SS shim). Just to make sure I don't get noise, I pulled off the included shim, sprayed the shims back w/ Permatex Disc Brake Quiet (blue - tacky spray on stuff that acts like a cushion to dampen vibrations) then re-clipped it (the blue tacky stuff will be sandwiched between the back of the pad, and the shim).
After the install, went out and did the standard brake bedding in procedure listed in stoptech's website (10 - 60->15 mph hard braking but not hard enough to engage the ABS).
First Impression, car stopped and the dvd's in the back seat almost killed me flying in the air like little shurikens. Word to the wise, don't have anything unstrapped in the back seat when performing hard braking - lol.
Next thing I did was to hop-on the 210 heading east, then CA-330N, then CA-18 (aka, Big Bear Lake). The drive up-hill was uneventful brake wise, the car stopped when I wanted it to stop. Was worried more about what was going to happen going downhill - lol.
Reached Big Bear lake, turned around and drove downhill - at first, I was going grandma slow because I did not want to become a permanent part of the San Bernardino Mountain Range. The car stopped when I wanted it to stop, and kept pushing on. Kept increasing my speed to test out downhill braking. After a while, I noticed that I was already in the foothills nearing the 30/210 freeway and I'm still alive - seems like the brakes do a perfectly reasonable job stopping the car, didn't notice any brake fade either.
For daily driving, I'm quite sure these pads are perfectly capable - thank gawd these pads are more than adequate for going downhill.
Pro(s)
Affordable, 59$ for the Front, 35$ for the Rear, and never have to buy street pads ever again.
No Noise - crossing my fingers it remains that way. I don't like my brakes squealing.
Comes w/ new spring clips on the front just in case you lose / break your old ones.
Stops the Car / didn't really feel anything different compared to the stock brembo pads.
Definitely not as dusty as the stock Brembo pads.
I'll be able to afford the Performance Friction 97's for the HPDE
Con(s)
They are AutoZone Duralast and they don't have some cool / futuristic sounding Japanese Product Name Like Project Mu - B-Force.
Rear CMAX Pads not available, the current Duralast Golds are Semi-Metallic, they might squeal and make noise for some people.
I'll update in a couple of months to see if I see increased rotor wear.
Current Suspension / Brake Mods
Performance Friction 2-Piece Rotors up Front
RRE Poor Man Rotors on the Rear (aka RRE Stock Brake Rotors, not sure who makes em though)
Valvoline Synthetic Brake Fluid
Gruppe-S SS Brake Lines
I bought the following from Autozone
Autozone Duralast Gold CMAX (Ceramic) for the Front - DGC1001 for 59$
Autozone Duralast Gold for the Rear (Semi Metallic) for the Rear - DG961 - 35$
For the pics
WTH? Pretty pictures on the box?
Let's look inside and see what we got here..
a) Front Ceramic Brake Pads
b) New Caliper Spring Clip
c) Pahmplet stating why these brake pads are supposedly pimp.
The pahmplet states words / phrases like
"Maximum Ceramic Formulation" - formulated to handle high braking temperatures with less brake fade, to generate less dust and wear on both the pads and rotors, and to provide substantially quieter braking.
"Revolutionary Multi-Layer Rubber Shim Technology"
here's a closer look at the included spring clip compared to stock
and here's the new pads and clip installed on the stock caliper
Installation Notes:
Used Scotch Brite and scuffed the rotors just to make I've evacuated the old pad material as much as possible. The fronts fit perfectly without issues - I didn't have to reuse the stock brembo shims because these already come with supposedly "revolutionary multi-layer rubber shim technology - TM." Moreover, I used the new spring clip that comes in the package, although I'm quite sure there's no problem re-using the stock spring clip. NOTE: the CMAX pads only have one tapered side, make sure when installing the pads that the tapered sides are pointing upwards as the wheel normal turns counter clock wise.
Now for the rears, they also fit properly without issues. I did not reuse the stock shims on the rear because they come pre-shimmed (SS shim). Just to make sure I don't get noise, I pulled off the included shim, sprayed the shims back w/ Permatex Disc Brake Quiet (blue - tacky spray on stuff that acts like a cushion to dampen vibrations) then re-clipped it (the blue tacky stuff will be sandwiched between the back of the pad, and the shim).
After the install, went out and did the standard brake bedding in procedure listed in stoptech's website (10 - 60->15 mph hard braking but not hard enough to engage the ABS).
First Impression, car stopped and the dvd's in the back seat almost killed me flying in the air like little shurikens. Word to the wise, don't have anything unstrapped in the back seat when performing hard braking - lol.
Next thing I did was to hop-on the 210 heading east, then CA-330N, then CA-18 (aka, Big Bear Lake). The drive up-hill was uneventful brake wise, the car stopped when I wanted it to stop. Was worried more about what was going to happen going downhill - lol.
Reached Big Bear lake, turned around and drove downhill - at first, I was going grandma slow because I did not want to become a permanent part of the San Bernardino Mountain Range. The car stopped when I wanted it to stop, and kept pushing on. Kept increasing my speed to test out downhill braking. After a while, I noticed that I was already in the foothills nearing the 30/210 freeway and I'm still alive - seems like the brakes do a perfectly reasonable job stopping the car, didn't notice any brake fade either.
For daily driving, I'm quite sure these pads are perfectly capable - thank gawd these pads are more than adequate for going downhill.
Pro(s)
Affordable, 59$ for the Front, 35$ for the Rear, and never have to buy street pads ever again.
No Noise - crossing my fingers it remains that way. I don't like my brakes squealing.
Comes w/ new spring clips on the front just in case you lose / break your old ones.
Stops the Car / didn't really feel anything different compared to the stock brembo pads.
Definitely not as dusty as the stock Brembo pads.
I'll be able to afford the Performance Friction 97's for the HPDE
Con(s)
They are AutoZone Duralast and they don't have some cool / futuristic sounding Japanese Product Name Like Project Mu - B-Force.
Rear CMAX Pads not available, the current Duralast Golds are Semi-Metallic, they might squeal and make noise for some people.
I'll update in a couple of months to see if I see increased rotor wear.
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