Brake pads Zimmermann or Raybestos

Zimmerman blank rotors are a good street replacement. No need to pay for drilled/slotted rotors. Personally I went with ceramic brake pads. They don’t bite quite as hard as metallic, but they still bite well, don’t make as much brake dust, and they don’t seize to my rotors after they get wet

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 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.

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.

The OEM rotors wear very quickly. The OEM pads are Akebono semi organic which are actually pretty good. However the OEM pads create a ton of brake dust which makes the wheels look terrible. When I replaced mine about a year ago I went the aftermarket route and used Raybestos rotors and pads.

The best overall for my use are Raybestos “Truck and Medium Duty”.

I love all things zimmermann brakes. Not the cheapest but some of the highest quality in my opinion.

I always buy from Rockauto, but check if the part is on Amazon for comparable price for the free shipping. With brake parts especially I highly recommend buying the best you can afford. Cheap pads and rotors will be noisier and more likely to warp and give vibration when braking. The cheapest pads are also usually bonded meaning the friction material is only glued onto the backing plate, and I’ve seen them separate, especially a risk if you drive where rust is an issue. Also cheap pads don’t always include abutment clips and good shims.

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.

I purchased Zimmerman pads and rotors from FCP. FCP is fine but the Zimmerman brakes squeal like a bitch.