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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 07:52 AM
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Default Front brake replacement

Its time to replace my front pads on my 99. With the tons of brake pads on the market, I'm not sure which ones to buy. I dont race, not looking for anything special as far as performance. I was told to stay away from ceramics though. Any thoughts would be appreciated
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 09:35 AM
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For street, personally I love the low dusting of ceramics. I hate brake dust. For track use I swap them out but for street I see no problem with ceramics.
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 09:42 AM
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Who told you to stay away from ceramics? Most of the brake pads sold by vendors here on these forums sell ceramic pads.
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 09:53 AM
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Originally Posted by Corvette_Ed
Who told you to stay away from ceramics? Most of the brake pads sold by vendors here on these forums sell ceramic pads.
Reading all the tech articles available on the internet state that the ceramic wear rotors !!
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 10:01 AM
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Take a look at the Carbotech 1521 compound.

The Carbotech™ 1521™ is our high performance street compound. The 1521™ compound is known for its release and modulation, along with unmatched rotor friendliness. 1521™ is also a very low dusting and low noise compound with an excellent initial bite. This compound's excellent linear torque production provides incredible braking force without ABS intervention. Carbotech™ 1521™ operating range starts out at ambient and goes up to 800°F (426°C+). 1521™ is suitable for ALL street cars, perfect for your tow vehicle or fleet vehicle. Carbotech™ 1521™ is NOT recommended for ANY track use.

F $148 R $128 less forum pricing.
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 10:08 AM
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Originally Posted by vettedude521
Reading all the tech articles available on the internet state that the ceramic wear rotors !!
I've never seen any brake pad NOT wear rotors.
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 10:24 AM
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Just to put in in perspective, you're worried about ceramic brake pads wearing down 13 year old rotors that are less than $100 a pair? FWIW, that's the first I've heard of ceramic street pads wearing down rotors any faster than other compounds.

You can probably go with a set of Hawk HPS and be happy with them. If you've read all the tech articles and forums, you'll know that everyone is going to have their favorite but for every day driving I look for low dusting.
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 05:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Corvette_Ed
I've never seen any brake pad NOT wear rotors.
You may want to do some more reading ! Every article I've read warns about excessive wear when switching to ceramics.
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 05:35 PM
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Originally Posted by vettedude521
You may want to do some more reading ! Every article I've read warns about excessive wear when switching to ceramics.
I think I'd trust the tech guys here before I would articles on the Internet. I've got a new set of rotors & ceramic pads waiting to go on mine that I chose from recommendations from the pros on this forum, and I'm not concerned a bit. EVERY brake pad will wear a rotor, but not every pad has low dust that is also non-corrosive. My wheels would cost more to replace than my rotors.
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 05:51 PM
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Yep, everyone has a different opinion. I ended up going with a standard semi metallic pad. I am more concerned about rotor wear than dust. Thanks for the input

Last edited by vettedude521; Jul 26, 2012 at 05:41 PM.
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 06:02 PM
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Just so you understand what I mean by dust causing pitting in the wheels, I found a good example. This is why I went with proven low dust and non-corrosive ceramic pads:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-p...-polished.html
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Old Jul 25, 2012 | 06:30 PM
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Those pics are very interesting. Personally, I have to doubt that amount of corrosion was caused by rotor dust ! My pads were apparently the semi metalic type and I have ZERO corrosion on my wheels. I do wash my car weekly though.
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Old Jul 26, 2012 | 04:08 PM
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Originally Posted by Corvette_Ed
Just so you understand what I mean by dust causing pitting in the wheels, I found a good example. This is why I went with proven low dust and non-corrosive ceramic pads:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-p...-polished.html
Oh Man, I'll tell ya right now, that corrosion was not from any kind of DUST. Unless it was from CHERNOBYL. I use semi metalics on my C5, always have. I have ZERO pitting or corrosion. My reasoning is that the rotors have such a small tollerance for good vs replace, why speed up the process? I too wash my car weekly so dust on my rims is not a concern
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Old Jul 26, 2012 | 05:13 PM
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Granted, the pics are quite extreme; they were just the only ones I could find in the first few pages of search. My guess is that person never cleaned the barrel of their wheels and that was the result over time. With that said, that is what can happen from certain kinds of brake dust.
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Old Jul 26, 2012 | 05:32 PM
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I had ceramics and changed them after about two months. The fact that they don't dust is great but they don't stop as well as the semi metallics. I changed them to Hawk HPS and it made a noticable difference in stopping. The Hawks do dust just about the same as the stock pads but they stop so much better.
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Old Jul 26, 2012 | 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Vettmann17
I had ceramics and changed them after about two months. The fact that they don't dust is great but they don't stop as well as the semi metallics. I changed them to Hawk HPS and it made a noticable difference in stopping. The Hawks do dust just about the same as the stock pads but they stop so much better.
+1 Vetteman17. I never tried the Ceramics but read the same complaints about them. I'm happy with the metalics .
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Old Jul 26, 2012 | 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Corvette_Ed
Granted, the pics are quite extreme; they were just the only ones I could find in the first few pages of search. My guess is that person never cleaned the barrel of their wheels and that was the result over time. With that said, that is what can happen from certain kinds of brake dust.
LOL !!! Yeah from chernobyl !! Dude, those pics are from a wheel that has been sitting in salt water. Brake dust could NEVER do that to a wheel PERIOD. To make a comment like that is really silly

Last edited by C6possible; Jul 26, 2012 at 05:45 PM.
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Old Jul 26, 2012 | 07:46 PM
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Originally Posted by C6possible
LOL !!! Yeah from chernobyl !! Dude, those pics are from a wheel that has been sitting in salt water. Brake dust could NEVER do that to a wheel PERIOD. To make a comment like that is really silly
Brake dust CAN and DOES pit wheels. As I said very clearly in my earlier post, those pics were extreme but the only ones I could find. They were used simply to illustrate pitting, I never said brake dust was the sole cause. Don't put words in my mouth.

Also, if that was the result of the wheels sitting in salt water the entire wheel would look like that and not just the barrel.
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Old Jul 26, 2012 | 08:35 PM
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[QUOTE=Corvette_Ed;1581404815]Just so you understand what I mean by dust causing pitting in the wheels, I found a good example. This is why I went with proven low dust and non-corrosive ceramic pads:
No, I would never put words in your mouth LOL
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Old Jul 26, 2012 | 09:57 PM
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It does wear the rotors a bit faster,but not to where anyone should worry about it. The advantages of a low dust pad out weights the reticule amount of extra wear.
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