Brake pads R1 Concepts or Raybestos
I replaced my rear pads with Raybestos EHT1761 at 23,000 miles. I did not replace the rotors as they were undamaged. I did buy rear rotors, Powerstop EBR1697EVC. I am at 37,000 now with no dust, no noise, and minimal pad wear.
On rockauto, Raybestos sells the element 3 rotor and brake and rotor kit. Basically all I use for my brake changes now. Great stopping power, and pads last a good while also. Highly recomend Raybestos element 3.
For aftermarket pads, Raybestos have had very good fitment and quality, I dig it. Their product line is called like "el3ment" or some such.
I would go with the Raybestos Element 3 kit sold here. $180 total roughly front and back. 2 seperate kits, one for front, one for back. You will find this under the fully coated section here as they have different grades of pads. For the price and how long these last, you cannot beat it. And better than the top quality parts local parts stores carry, in fact Napa sells these rebranded as their premium top of the line brakes and rotors. For the price, and the quality, is by far your best option. There are better pads that will last a little longer, but are much more pricey. With the miles you drive, these will last 5-10 years. I use these on all vehicles in the rust belt, as these are rust coated.
I used the R1 concepts drilled and slotted kit with pads. Front and rear total was like 500 bucks. Did it myself. They work great.
I bought Raybestos Element 3 Hybrid pads and couldn't be happier. They squeal a tiny bit when very cold but I trust these brakes to get me down a mountain.
They seem good so far. I'm not very handy and I was able to put them on pretty easily.
If you're keeping the vehicle (make sure you're keeping it), then I second getting the raybestos from Rockauto. Make sure you get the raybestos element 3 fully coated rotor and pad sets.
Even if your friend's dad does it free, maybe drop him $100 or $200 for the labor.
So $200 total. And less dust than OEM with decent stopping power. I went with this combo cause it's balanced stopping power and rotor longevity.
I replaced the pads and rotors on my Jetta this past spring. I put on Raybestos Element3 pads and coated rotors, and I've put maybe 6k-ish miles on them since then. Everything was fine for a while, but lately a squeal started to slowly develop until now it's every time I use the brakes. It sounds exactly the wear indicator noise I'm used to hearing when pads are low.
Rockauto carries Dynamic Friction kits. People will say "Rockauto is cheap shit" and then recommend R1 Concepts. But Dynamic Friction OWNS R1 Concepts and all of their pads and rotors are the same. Only difference is R1 does drilled and slotting while Dynamic are just blank rotors. So you really don't have to spend the extra money on R1 stuff. Also, you don't need slotted rotors for everyday driving. Heck, even some track guys still use blanks just fine. Only thing to worry about for track is pads, which I wouldn't recommend any of the R1 stuff for. Had one of their pads claiming both track and street but their pad material on one of their pads completely disintegrated on track.
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