Brake pads Akebono or Hawk Performance

I replaced the rear brakes on my 24 rockcreek and had to buy a scan tool to release the electronic e brake and have it retract all the way in to get the new brakes on. The brand was autel i believe. It was around 400+$. Also had to register as a technician on it with a subscription for 60$ a year. It’s a pretty kickass scanner though but paying all that extra money sucks but I think in the long run it’s still cheaper that paying 400$ at the dealership every 20k miles to get the rear brakes replaced. Also you can pick your own brake pads and go for ceramic brakes. I use akebono brake pads. They don’t need to be broken in and last over twice as long and are extremely quiet. Best brake pads I’ve ever used. But around 90$ for A set though, not cheap for sure.

For very little money I also upgraded the brakes to StopTech slotted rotors, braided SS brake lines, and Hawk HP pads. Never had brake fade even at tracks like Road America with heavy high speed braking.

I think Akebono is the way to go

I would recommend Akibono… very high quality brake pads!!!

Yep....I don't like it, but that's how mine were received as well. I've never seen such poorly packaged brake pads which can leave a bad initial first impression, but the pads work fine.

"warped rotors" often mean pad deposits on the rotor surface. Maybe look to the pads for a fix this time. I've done well with high performance ceramic pads from Akebono

I'm running standard DBA 4000 blank rotors with Hawk HPS 5.0 pads. My only complaint is they seem to make a lot of brake dust so I'll probably try other pads when these wear through.

Akebono pads have a backing for the piston to press into which is what melted.

Having said that - aside from the valve cover gasket - that job requires all gaskets replaced on the air intake side, and I’m not seeing those in the list. Also, for some reason, I had bad luck with Akebono pads on my Honda. Worked well on a Toyota but just about each time my Pilot would develop a shimmy after about 10k kms after pads replacement. I have had a much better luck with Centrix rotors and pads.

I used the akebono asp and pro act on my lexus. They were pretty crap for the application. They lacked any bite and you had to really push to get any decent braking. But thats probably ceramic pads in general. They were very low dust through and quiet. Switched to a forza street performance pad and night and day difference and the pad was still low dust, low wear and virtually silent. Just hard to get them.