replacing brake pads

can i use hawk pads on my regular rotors?

Yes.

For Daily driving use Hawks HPS pads, safe for all rotors.

Yes.

 

AND pads made a MUCH bigger difference than rotors.

 

If you add DBA4000 slotted rotors to oem pads you have done very little. Go HPS if you are a spirited driver. Go HP+ if you plan on tracking the car at all or are an extreme driver and can deal with the squealing and brake dust.

I just purchased the HPS pads front and rear. Is there anything I should know about these pads? I assume the install is straight forward like any othe pad. Correct? I read on this forum that someone uses anti-seize between the plates and the pads. What do you think about that? Any insight would be much appreciated.

I just purchased the HPS pads front and rear. Is there anything I should know about these pads? I assume the install is straight forward like any othe pad. Correct? I read on this forum that someone uses anti-seize between the plates and the pads. What do you think about that? Any insight would be much appreciated.

 

Some people resurface their rotors. I would say that it's a given though, to eliminate deposits on the rotors.

AND pads made a MUCH bigger difference than rotors.

 

If you add DBA4000 slotted rotors to oem pads you have done very little. Go HPS if you are a spirited driver. Go HP+ if you plan on tracking the car at all or are an extreme driver and can deal with the squealing and brake dust.

 

+1, pads make a huge difference in braking. I'd say more so than SS lines or new rotors. They make or break a system. Thanks for adding that LA LGT.

I just purchased the HPS pads front and rear. Is there anything I should know about these pads? I assume the install is straight forward like any othe pad. Correct? I read on this forum that someone uses anti-seize between the plates and the pads. What do you think about that? Any insight would be much appreciated.

 

Bro, no offence, you do not know how to properly do your brakes. PLEASE ask one of the local forum members who KNOWS to help you. Anti-seize and/or grease is one of several critical steps in keeping your brakes working properly and maintaining their longevity. Loads of cool locals in your area Johnny. You might even make some new friends!

Since anti-seize/grease goes between the pads and the mounting surface of the calipers, how does this affect longevity????

All it does is provide a barrier between the two so you don't get a metal on metal squeal every time you brake.

So I just replaced my front pads on my LGT wagon cause they totally suck and my local dealer did their inspection deal and said the pad thickness is getting low (which it really wasn't when I checked but the braking still blows with the stock pads). Is it necessary to replace all four? I figure I can wait a little bit to change out my rears since my funding is a little low at present....

Is it necessary to replace all four?

 

Necessary? No, not if you have more than 3-4mm of pad material left. Nonetheless, depending on what you put on the front I've generally found that braking performance improves when you have the same compound front and rear.

Anyone know if Stoptech pads need machining to fit on stock rotors? I contacted a shop and they told me that it had to be and then quoted me hundreds of dollars. Just wondering if they're trying to rip me off because I thought they would be direct fitment.

 

Thanks,

Ooo ok. Thanks for the info porterdog.

 

 

Shopow - I'm currently running StopTech pads for my fronts and no machining needed. Got it from Fred Beans Parts, $72 shipped, fits like a glove. Gonna go for rears in the near 8 hrs.

Thanks pnRN. I might as well change all four at once as well.

Anyone know if Stoptech pads need machining to fit on stock rotors? I contacted a shop and they told me that it had to be and then quoted me hundreds of dollars. Just wondering if they're trying to rip me off because I thought they would be direct fitment.

 

Thanks,

I'm running Stoptech pads also, IMO - go with the Hawks HPS, much better pad than the Stoptech. Cost a little more, but well worth it.

AND pads made a MUCH bigger difference than rotors.

 

If you add DBA4000 slotted rotors to oem pads you have done very little. Go HPS if you are a spirited driver. Go HP+ if you plan on tracking the car at all or are an extreme driver and can deal with the squealing and brake dust.

 

I second this.

 

HPS are what we put on as the standard replacement for all our customers. We've had great success with these pads over the year. I track my car and use HP+ on both my CTS-V and my LGT.

 

-mike

I installed Hawk HPS F&R yesterday. I have almost 82K on the original brakes and they still had half life left (5 or 6/32).

 

The problem is there was alot of rust on the plates, especially the inside ones and the inside of the pistons. The pads didn't slide very well so, I thought it would be a good time to replace them. One of the inside (piston side) plates of the front driver side has two semi-circle cracks in it from the pistons and the slotted plate was so rusted it fell apart in pieces. I ended up not putting the sloted plates back on since the Hawks have a plate riveted to the back side. Is that OK? What are the slotted plates for and are they really needed? Everything seems to work fine w/o them.

 

I used NAPA/Permatex Ceramic Extreme Brake Parts Lubricant. This was recommended by the guy at the NAPA store. He said he uses it on all his brakes jobs. It's purple in color and worked pretty good. I have no noise from the brakes when I performed the bedding in process. I also greased the slots where the pads slide in.

 

How do you grease the slider pins? The two bolts that hold the calipers come out, but the slider pins seem to be a sealed unit. The rubber boot doesn't slide away so you can get grease in there. Any advice would be helpful.

 

I performed the bedding process as per the Hawk instructions with the exception of not stopping completely. I also added a couple of runs up to 50-55 mph to almost stopped. The brakes work great with a much better pedal feel.

 

I think the brake dust is going to be a problem, however. Just during the bedding in process the inside of the wheels got black. I've read on the forum that some folks said they had alot of brake dust and others said the brake dust was lower than OEM pads. Can anyone chime in on the brake dust issue?

 

Overall, I think I'm going to like the Hawk HPS pads. Braking is much better already. Plus it seems to be the aftermarket choice of those on the forum with OEM calipers.

 

Is there anyting else I should know about the install? Any input and answers to my Qs above would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers!

The sliders should be able to pop out. If they don't they may be stuck and then you'll end up wearing your inner pad abnormally.

 

-mike

Oh and non need to double up the backing shims. The Hawks come with them built into their pads.

 

-mike

Thanks for your replies Mike.

 

As for the sliders, the bolts that hold the caliper to the mounting bracket come out fine. The sliders, I assume, are pins inside the small rubber boots. These slide in and out easily, but they don't pop out, at least I didn't try to pull on them. I wasn't sure and I didn't want to break anything. I don't have another vehicle to run for parts.

 

I've changed brakes on other older Legacys before, but this is my first on the LGT. The twin calipers are different than the ones I worked on before. I'm not a pro, but I know how to turn a wrench. I guess it's the confidence level I need.

 

Do you think since the sliders moved freely that I can leave it alone for now? I hate to go back in there. It took me over 4 hrs yesterday with the first one taking the longest. I was just being extra careful, since this my first brake job on this car and cleaning up the corrosion took a while. Also, the Original OEM brakes wore very evenly outside and inside, front and back. I was actually surprise how even they wore.

 

Thanks.

If they are sliding smoothly and you had no uneven wear then you should be fine to leave em as is. The next time you change pads, just yank em out to lube em up.

 

-mike

Cool. Thanks for your input, Mike.

 

Hopefully, I won't have to change them for a while.

No problem, always glad to help.

 

-mike

Thanks for the tips AZP. I decided to go with the Hawk HPS pads after reading some more reviews. Seems to be a safer choice for a strictly street driven LGT.