Ceramic Brakes

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Is there a advantage to ceramic brakes over the standard brakes most shops install?
Thanks

2

They last much longer, produce less dust and cause less wear on the rotors. They also seem to reduce the shuddering problem that some vehicles are prone to. Unless you get ceramic racing pads, their stopping power is about the same as regular brakes.

3

Are you talking about ceramic pads like NAPA gives you when you ask for the “good” ones or the very expensive ceramic rotors that are found on some high-end sports cars?

4

Ceramic pads installed on a Honda accord. Honda brakes in recent model years were just wearing out anywhere from 9k up to 20k. My mechanic must have realized this when he did the brake job at 32k,so the reason for ceramics

Thanks, keith and doubleclutch

5

Instead of the pads wearing out, the rotors wear out…Why pay $20 for brake pads when you can pay $75??

6

@Caddyman: Not sure it matters anymore. It seems like you have to have rotors replaced at every brake job these days anyway, no matter how early you catch your worn pads.

7

Ceramic pads our a softer pad compaired to a semi-met. pad the only then i ever noticed different about them if used on a car that had semi’s on as oem they work very well but the brake pael feels different meaning that my friends gf 04 Jeep grand cheerake she said the pedal felt soft. we put semi back on it and the pedal felt like it used to b4 we switched to ceramic. all different brake pads our a compermise . its all about what your needs are .

8

I’ve seen the rotors wear out with the semi-metalic pads…but NOT the ceramic pads. And the only time I ever saw rotors wear out was on GM products and my brothers 80’s Mustangs. Been using ceramic pads for several years now. Pads have been replaced twice…and the rotors are fine.

9

I use ceramic pads on my cars and I usually replace the rotors every 2nd or 3rd set of pads. I find that the best grade of rotors at NAPA hold up well and do not warp.

10

Thanks all
Brakes function fine now. You have Re-affirmed my faith in my mechanic.

11

Doubleclutch, I’ve noticed the exact same thing. Ceramic pads don’t wear the rotors anywhere near as bad a semi-metallics, don’t leave a dark dust on my rims, and last as much as twice as long. I’ve been using them for years on my Ford Explorer, and found a source for my Supra (non-racing, professional grade ceramic pads from Raybestos). The Ford has had 3 sets of ceramic pads on them since I started using them, and haven’t had to turn the rotors once.

12

I’ve been doing brake jobs for over forty years. And here’s the rule of thumb. Always use the same brake materials that originally came on the vehicle. The engineers who designed the brake system spent many hours and many dollars to figure out what works best. When you deviate from this brake design, all you’re doing is asking for trouble either with brake performance or brake noise.

Tester

13

Tester, I defer to your vast experience.

However, I would note that (1) the engineers also designed with the attempt to minimize cost, and (2) advances in material science have made parts like ceramic pads available that weren’t around when cars of a certain age were designed.

i haven’t tried ceramic pads myself, but based on this discussion I’d like to try a set next time around.

14

I put ceramics on my Camry and have had good result do far. The car came with Semi-metallic as original, but I know the SE model and also the Lexus equivalent have ceramics, so I guess if you pay more you get less dust. Since the rest of the brake system is the same, I wasn’t concerned over the ceramics not working properly.