Front Brake Pads choice

I dont like beating an old dog, and know a lot of the regulars on here get tired of it, but here goes. I've had my 04 Tacoma TRD for 18 months +/- and am needing to change the front pads fairly soon. I want to stick as close to OEM for all my replacement parts, if possible. For the front pads, I'm torn b'n the Hawks lts that I can get for $68 w/ free shipping, or OES Genuine for $53 including shipping. Are the OES pads the same as OEM pads from the dealer? What say ye? Thanks, Carl

 

just get oem.

 

Wagner thermoquiet ceramics..............awesome brake pads,and cheaper then the others you listed. I ran the hawk lts for a while........didn't like them that much.......too harsh on rotors.

 

^^ agree! My hawk pads are making a rough grinding noise when braking. They are way too harsh on rotors. Im swapping them out with some Psi-quiet ceramics soon, before they trash my new rotors...

my rotors arent looking good after about 4-5k miles...

 

Toyota.

 

Can't go wrong with OEM pads.

 

I shouldve went oem but figured this has to be better! ha!
the stopping power is def. better bc the hawk lts pads have great bite, but i can feel, hear, and see how harsh they are on the rotors...

 

I got Centric blanks....

 

I went all EBC (slotted rotors) and pads last time and I'll never do it again. I hate them.

After a ton of research, I believed (may still be true) that there were only two brake rotor foundries left in the world: China and Britain. Apparently Britain (EBC) claims that they do not use Chinese rotor blanks. I thought I may actually be getting a good product. IMHO, nope. They are lame.

I measured the slab and web thicknesses of the EBC rotors and they looked identical to the factory rotors. One of the things that I noticed about aftermarket, Chinese rotors is that the slab thicknesses are thinner. To insure the overall thickness is correct, they make a thicker web thickness. This is why they tend to warp so easily. Regardless, the EBC rotors warped as bad as any cheaper rotor I've ever tried.

Go with OEM stuff. Truthfully, are any of us really disappointed with them from the factory? I never was.

 

Liar!

 

^^Yeah I wouldnt get OEM Rotors again. Mine warped pretty easy. Just the OEM Pads I liked... But I do think there are Pads out there that have better stopping power/ability.

 

I ended up with O'Reilly Brakebest Select pads on mine after I got sent 6 lug pads from Hawk. I had the front of my truck jacked up in the air and already had it apart by the time I realized it so I had to go to O'Reilly and take whatever they had. They work pretty well... I mean they stop me and haven't messed anything up so I'm happy.