# Ceramic Brakes



## Red Nissan (Nov 19, 2004)

Does anybody know how good ceramic brakes are and are they easy to put  on? I am going to put pads on my hardbody later on this year when it starts to warm up outside.


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

Red Nissan said:


> Does anybody know how good ceramic brakes are and are they easy to put  on? I am going to put pads on my hardbody later on this year when it starts to warm up outside.


By "ceramic", do you mean ceramic based brake pads or ceramic-on-ceramic brake systems (ceramic rotors too)?


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## Red Nissan (Nov 19, 2004)

*Ceramic brakes*

Ceramic based pads not the calibers


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

Red Nissan said:


> Ceramic based pads not the calibers


Ok. In that case, the ceramic pads you're talking about are not that different from similar organic or semi-metallic pads. Despite the name, they are nowhere near 100% ceramic, and still contain anywhere between 10% and 20% metallic content (depending on whose pad it is).

Because they are designed to replace your factory brake pads, they are no more difficult to install than regular brake pads. In fact, the install procedure is exactly the same: You loosen the lugs, jack up the end of the car, remove the wheel, undo the two caliper to caliper mounting bracket (torque member) bolts, slide/pry/knock the old pads off, put the new ones in its place, then reassemble everything the same way you took them off. If you have a tool kit with a rachet, a medium sized C-clamp, and a jack, it's very easy.

The main advantages to pads with ceramic content are supposed to be noise reduction, reduced rotor wear, and less brake dust. All of these advantages are supposed to come without a reduction in braking performance (for street use in a passenger car). Usually, the first two claims turn out to be true (the claim that they dust less isn't actually true. The dust is just a lighter color and they don't stick to painted surfaces as easily so it just seems like there's less dust).

Some manufacturers, however, reccomend that their ceramic pads not be used for towing or extended periods of hard driving. Keep that in mind if you're one of those types that like to tow their quad everywhere or want to autocross on your street pads.

What it all comes down to is, if you're looking for a nice set of brake pads for your daily commute, ceramics are a pretty decent option. If you want performance pads that you can really drive hard on, you might not find what you want in your average ceramic pad.


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## Red Nissan (Nov 19, 2004)

*Ceramic brake*

Thanks ReVerm for your help!! :thumbup:


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

For a good ceramic pad that can be used on larger or smaller vehicles, check the Carbotech Bobcat 1521 compound. They are an excellent street compound. As far as dust, they will dust a lot initially and then the dust on average. Generally, any high performance pad will dust.

http://www.carbotecheng.com/


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## spikus1969 (Dec 31, 2004)

*ceramics*

try looking here http://brakes4u.co.uk/ebc-brakes-automotive-parts.asp

i had some of these and unlike other types of ceramics i have found these to be far and above the best ive used and i have used a few.........as to the low dust issue you will always get some dust with organic pads
but with these instead of cleaning wheels once every 2 or 3 days i was giving them a quick wipe every 4 weeks as stated before the dust does not stick
but braking is superb great initial bite and no fade and the braking gets better through the life of the pad

well worth a look


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

Tell me you are not talking about the EBC Greenstuff?
I absolutely hated them.


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## Red Nissan (Nov 19, 2004)

No NickZac I was thinking about Raybestos brakes


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

Raybestos will be fine for general driving. I wouldn't tow anything heavy with it, especially in the mountains...


The EBC post above was referring to the link above his.. Some people think EBC are the shiznit, and the rest of us stay away from them at all costs.


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

Red Nissan said:


> No NickZac I was thinking about Raybestos brakes


I've heard good things about those. Theyve been around for years and many people trust em.


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

Matt93SE said:


> The EBC post above was referring to the link above his.. Some people think EBC are the shiznit, and the rest of us stay away from them at all costs.


For a second I thought they were indicating the EBC pads and I was like No0o0o00o00o! EBC means Extremely Bad Compounds, expecially their cardboard Greenstuff


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

Yup, exactly..

I've used the Raybestos on my wilwoods and they're okay. great for street driving, but much lower friction than all the other compounds I've run (which is about 10 different compounds now). When I really beat on them, they would fade, but in order to do that on the street, it required driving that would send me to jail if I got caught- so for street driving the Raybestos are just fine. 

Here's the list of pads that I can remember off hand, and the order in which I rank them:


Street:
Ferodo DS2500
Wilwood Q (Raybestos Quiet Stop)
Hawk HPS
Hawk HP+
Porterfield R4S
EBC Green


Track:
Wilwood E
Wilwood H 
Wilwood D
EBC red
Hawk Black


The only thing I hated worse than the EBCs were Hawk Blacks, because they ruined a set of brand new Skyline rotors in one event.


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

You gotta throw Carbotech Bobcat in the street compound in there too. They are excellent street pads with great initial bite, less dust than metallics, long life, easy on rotors, awesome fade resistance, quiet and have a relatively low cost. I much prefer them over Axxis and EBC.

I think I am gonna go for the Panther XP-9 for track usage down the road. Their coeffecient is something like .60...its a pretty mean pad.


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

I've heard nothing but good things about Carbotech, but I haven't used them personally. The list above are all the pads I've used on these calipers and rotors. You can throw in another huge list of all the ones I've used on the stock calipers.. Raybestos, Bendix, wagner, Axxis, Porterfield, Hawk, Perf Friction.......

those above were all the ones I've used and can directly compare because they were on the same car, calipers, rotors, etc...

Cool thing is I've bene through all of those pads and I have yet to have to turn my rotors.  I'll definitely be buying Coleman rotors again!


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

How does Coleman compare to StopTech? It sure sounds like they hold up well. Are they 1 or 2 piece?


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

they're 2-piece. I'm not sure who made the hats, but I *think* it was Coleman. I bought the hats from Fastbrakes- same ones they use on their Maxima 12.2" kits, but I'm using 13" rotors with it.

http://www.colemanracing.com/

I can't compare them directly to Stop Tech, but Coleman is known to be one of the best in the industry. they're used more on race cars than street cars, but obviosuly work on the street as well... (not to be confused with track-only brake pads like the Hawk Black!!!!!)


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## Red Nissan (Nov 19, 2004)

Thanks everybody for your opinion! I only use my truck for street and car shows :thumbup:


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

Red Nissan said:


> Thanks everybody for your opinion! I only use my truck for street and car shows :thumbup:


Check this out! It may interest you some.
http://www.nissanperformancemag.com/december04/titan/


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## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

Matt93SE said:


> they're 2-piece. I'm not sure who made the hats, but I *think* it was Coleman. I bought the hats from Fastbrakes- same ones they use on their Maxima 12.2" kits, but I'm using 13" rotors with it.
> 
> http://www.colemanracing.com/
> 
> I can't compare them directly to Stop Tech, but Coleman is known to be one of the best in the industry. they're used more on race cars than street cars, but obviosuly work on the street as well... (not to be confused with track-only brake pads like the Hawk Black!!!!!)


Now I'm interested in them. I think I'll lurk around on their site and see if they make rotors to fit my 02 B15. Thanks


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

they don't make rotors to fit your car.. you send them specs and they make them for you, OR you buy what they have and design caliper brackets to fit as I did.


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