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I got some ceramic pads for $127 and installed them yesterday. Here is a picture showing the notch everyone is talking about.
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Price for Front brake pads
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Actually I paid $127 for the fronts and yup it includes both wheels.
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Can you tell us where we can buy some too at that price, PLEASEI got some ceramic pads for $127 and installed them yesterday. Here is a picture showing the notch everyone is talking about.
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Look at the third post on the first page. They have the ceramic pads for that price.
Lou
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Yes the third on the first says 220, not 127.
I already got a set from priceshopper, will have them on next week.
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I sent you a PM last night with the contact info. And yes $127 is the right price for these pads. This price includes the shipping too.
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How are you liking the pads? My only gripe with them so far is high speed slow downs. They appear to heat up quickly and give the car a weird braking noise. Other than that they are quiet, very low dusting and comfortable to use.
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I don't like the OEM Brembo pads (although they stop great).
They have too much dust- clogging up the crossed drill holes, and damn expensive.
They have too much dust- clogging up the crossed drill holes, and damn expensive.
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91 Posts
Changed out front pads today - details
As alexzxlex mentions, you don't have to take off the calipers, at least on the front. It took me a while to figure out how to get the old pads out and the new ones in, however. The trick is to remove the three pins at the back of the caliper assembly. There are two pins held in only by friction and a larger diameter center pin held in with a bolt on the back side. I got the upper and lower (smaller) pins out with a hammer and a phillips head screwdriver (probably not the appropriate tools, but it seemed to work quite well). After you take the first pin out, look for a thin T-shaped tension assembly to fall out. Actually it's more like a cross. I think its purpose is to keep pressure on the pads to keep them toward the center of the rotor. The pins hold it in, so be sure to note their position before you start. The center pin takes a metric socket, around 13 mm (not sure), to remove its bolt.
After removing the three pins, I pushed on the old pads to lower the pistons and I cheated a bit by jiggling the rotor and prying a bit on the back pad with a chisel. (I know, not very professional, but I don't have a piston clamp.) Then I was able to wiggle the old pads right out, push the pistons in more with my fingers, and slide in the new pads.
The first set took about an hour because I ran into some trouble lifting the car. My big floor jack is too tall to reach the front central jack point and even if it could there's no play left in the lever to then pump the jack. The I discovered my ramps are too steep and the bumper would have hit them had I tried to drive up. And these are low-profile ramps for my Corvette. The only solution left was to us the supplied jack next to the spare tire and to lift from the body points marked by two notches near the front wheels. (As suggested on the jack sticker, but not in the owner's manual.)
Once I lifted the car, it took some time to figure out how I could remove the pads without removing the caliper. I didn't know about the central pin. In fact, the only reason I started removing the central pin was because I was aiming to remove the caliper and thought this was how! I realized my mistake and was considering continuing to take out the caliper (via the proper bolts) and suddenly had the revelation that removing the center pin would allow the pads to slide out the back. Everything worked like a charm after that.
We had the second set installed in less than 10 minutes. The hardest part was then cleaning my hands...
Hope these notes are helpful for anyone else attempting the job. Now I just have to figure out how to spend the $800 I saved!
Good luck,
-N
I finally got up the nerve to replace the front brake pads myself. Local Lexus dealer had quoted me in the upper $900s! So I ordered some Ferodos from raceshopper.com (see first page of this thread) for $223 I think it was. They got here pretty quickly and I was able to have a go at it this afternoon.
As alexzxlex mentions, you don't have to take off the calipers, at least on the front. It took me a while to figure out how to get the old pads out and the new ones in, however. The trick is to remove the three pins at the back of the caliper assembly. There are two pins held in only by friction and a larger diameter center pin held in with a bolt on the back side. I got the upper and lower (smaller) pins out with a hammer and a phillips head screwdriver (probably not the appropriate tools, but it seemed to work quite well). After you take the first pin out, look for a thin T-shaped tension assembly to fall out. Actually it's more like a cross. I think its purpose is to keep pressure on the pads to keep them toward the center of the rotor. The pins hold it in, so be sure to note their position before you start. The center pin takes a metric socket, around 13 mm (not sure), to remove its bolt.
After removing the three pins, I pushed on the old pads to lower the pistons and I cheated a bit by jiggling the rotor and prying a bit on the back pad with a chisel. (I know, not very professional, but I don't have a piston clamp.) Then I was able to wiggle the old pads right out, push the pistons in more with my fingers, and slide in the new pads.
The first set took about an hour because I ran into some trouble lifting the car. My big floor jack is too tall to reach the front central jack point and even if it could there's no play left in the lever to then pump the jack. The I discovered my ramps are too steep and the bumper would have hit them had I tried to drive up. And these are low-profile ramps for my Corvette. The only solution left was to us the supplied jack next to the spare tire and to lift from the body points marked by two notches near the front wheels. (As suggested on the jack sticker, but not in the owner's manual.)
Once I lifted the car, it took some time to figure out how I could remove the pads without removing the caliper. I didn't know about the central pin. In fact, the only reason I started removing the central pin was because I was aiming to remove the caliper and thought this was how! I realized my mistake and was considering continuing to take out the caliper (via the proper bolts) and suddenly had the revelation that removing the center pin would allow the pads to slide out the back. Everything worked like a charm after that.
We had the second set installed in less than 10 minutes. The hardest part was then cleaning my hands...
Hope these notes are helpful for anyone else attempting the job. Now I just have to figure out how to spend the $800 I saved!
Good luck,
-N
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91 Posts
billandbill, the notch is for brake wear sensors that some cars (Porsches) have. The ISF doesn't have wear sensors so you can ignore the notch.
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1,388 Posts
Nightspore, thanks for the write up, it will definitely help those that haven't installed pads before or need a little guidance on the F
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80 Posts
are fredos planning to make the rear pads also? cause i would like to have matching pads all the way around.
Despite pads used, is it necessary to replace the rotors? I was told by dealer that they could NOT be cut/resurfaced?
My dealer in Orlando told me to my face the rotors CAN be turned (cut/resurfaced).
You can cut/resurface cross drilled rotors. However, it is not recommend. Many modern cars now have the rotors and pads matched to wear out at the same rate so you replace both at the sametime. (This however does not seem true for the F since the front pads seem to go pretty quick). The reason many will say that cross drilled rotors cannot be cut/turned/resurfaced is that it is not uncommon for the holes to catch and break the cutting tool they use to resurface. This is a pain and expensive for the person doing the work since they have to then replace the cutting tool(bit). In many cases unless you have severe pad compound build up on the rotor, there is no need to replace the rotor until you hit the minimum tolerance for thickness. Also remember (as mentioned before) removing material removes mass for absorbing heat. Essentially that is what a brake does, turns rotational energy into heat.
Bedding your new pads will be very important, follow the directions that come with the pad. Some call for slow easy bedding, some call for a succession of 80mph-20mph fast stops (usually 3x). Make sure you do the right one.
So because of the issues and difficulties that can result from turning a rotor that has been cross drilled many will simply say it cannot be done and rotors should just be replaced.
A few other comments as I weigh in here. The Brembo calipers are probably one of the easiest systems to change pads on that there is. It is not a hard job to too for any garage mechanic, even if you don't have much experience.
One more thing. The discussions here about brakes are almost verbatim to those that go on in the Porsche community since they use essentially the same braking system on the 911. (accept for pad availability because there a million pads for the Porsche.)
Has anyone checked out Pagid? They make a great pad.
I went with Carbotech . F&R were under $350 delivered. They work great after bedding in .Probably a 90% reduction in dust. By the way my installer DID turn front rotors and told me you need to be very careful , but it can be done. So far so good ,they don't have the initial bite of stock pad but otherwise they work great!
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191 Posts
Which ones did you go with? The Carbotech Bobcat 1521's?
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191 Posts
Do not buy and use the raceshopper ceramic pads!
This is what your rotors look like after making 2 120mph stops with the raceshopper ceramic pads. They leave heat spots and as you can see the pad doesn't even make full contact with the rotor from outer to inner edge. FWIW I've had these ceramic pads on the car since early spring so they were fully bedded.
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Here is what the OEM pads look like the day after I removed the POS raceshopper ceramic pads. Everything is perfect once again. The rotor and pad are making full contact, no high speed vibration, brake feel is tight and assuring and now i'm back to washing off brake dust.
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This is what your rotors look like after making 2 120mph stops with the raceshopper ceramic pads. They leave heat spots and as you can see the pad doesn't even make full contact with the rotor from outer to inner edge. FWIW I've had these ceramic pads on the car since early spring so they were fully bedded.
Here is what the OEM pads look like the day after I removed the POS raceshopper ceramic pads. Everything is perfect once again. The rotor and pad are making full contact, no high speed vibration, brake feel is tight and assuring and now i'm back to washing off brake dust.
I have the Hawk pads on my 08 Is-F. They are great. I had
them installed @ the dealer when I picked the car up new so
I can not compare them to the factory pads. Thanks
to Doug G and Lexus of Dayton.
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08 Ultrasonic Is-F. Joe Z Intake - TOMS drop in filter - Joe Z Exhaust.
them installed @ the dealer when I picked the car up new so
I can not compare them to the factory pads. Thanks
to Doug G and Lexus of Dayton.
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08 Ultrasonic Is-F. Joe Z Intake - TOMS drop in filter - Joe Z Exhaust.
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