I was just wondering what im looking at in terms of factory replacement by the dealers? what did you pay?

 

Dealer wanted $350-$400 per axle for pads and resurface if needed.

I replaced front and back at home in about an hour. Paid less than $100 for the pads.

 

+1 Bought the pads from Riverside, and bedded the pads using the Stoptech web site process IIRC.

 

Do you guys think it's worth getting the Hawk HPS? They just became available. Loved them on my Max (although it squeaked).

 

will replacing brake pads by myself mess with the warrenty? how will they know i replaced the part on time?
my last three cars was a max (91,98, and 03) i had axis on the 98 before and they squeeked.....im wondering if aftermarket pads are the same way on the g

 

changed pad and rotors. oem ebay, did it myself in a hour.

 

My brakes have been pulsating all the time since I bought the car, the dealer resurfaced it once but I dont think they will do again for free since I have about 28000 miles on it now.

Sucks but i can live with it. I wonder what would happen if I didnt resurface these and just drove on them?? It isnt too bad only a slight shimmy now at about 70 ish....

 

No, I wouldn't worry about warranty issues unless something down the road happens and they can directly relate it to your work. It's a pad replacement... you'll be fine.

Pads... there's a thousand types and while some are cheap and don't last long, others are fantastic and cost a small fortune. I'm not tracking my car, but wanted damn good stopping power and no brake squeak/chatter for a reasonable price.
I went with Bendix Ceramics both front and rear. Fronts were something like $47 shipped and the rears were about $35 shipped. Low brake dust, zero noise, great stopping power and a lifetime replacement warranty. Just buy another set, send in the form, and they refund your cost. Not a bad deal.

Local stores didn't have them in stock. I went to their website, found the part #'s and bought them on Amazon.

 

Pulsing brakes = warped rotors.
Rotating warped rotors is only a short-term band-aid. The pulse will come back, bigger and better.
I contacted my dealer at 15K and complained about the rotor quality. They turned them free of charge. I then told them how this is not a solution and they agreed to replace them if the pulse came back. This past weekend, at 34K, I just got new rotors for no charge.

Putting new pads on warped rotors will not solve the pulse (and over time, the pulse will get worse) and warped rotors will wear down your new pads at a faster rate.

I'd get those rotors off of there as soon as possible. Stay away from OEM if you can. The stock rotors are garbage.

 

It could also just be the pads. Case in point, on 5/5.5 gen Maxima's, the pads were soft enough that they deposited material onto the rotors, creating uneven surfaces that translated to pulsating or vibrating when applying the brakes.

Over time i got rid of the OEM pads on those and went aftermarket. No more "warping".

But yes, you're right, generally, pulsating is a sign of warped rotors.

 

AesonVirus, do you have any "road feel" or slight pulsation under 20mph. I just got my car back from the dealer after a rotor resurface, and I seem to be having the same issue. I might just have to do what you did, and say that resurfacing the rotor is not acceptable, and demand new rotors.