I have a set of Beck Arnley tierod ends, and I think they are pretty well made, I am now due for new brakes soon (maybe rotors too), and I noticed that Beck Arnley makes pads & rotors for my VDP. Has anyone ever used their pads?

I am between the BA TRUE Friction pads and Akenbono Euro ProACT Ultra-Premium Ceramic Brake Pad.

Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

I've used Beck Arnley for general suspension bits, but never for brakes, but my experience with their suspension and steering parts was positive.

I really like Akebono pads, and their ceramics are well liked on here for DD duties. Unless the other parts are very cheap, I'd be tempted to go the Akebono route.

 

+1 Akebono.

 

Everything I am looking at is at a similar price range. However, I am not sure if I want ceramic pads or not to be honest... I have never driven a car with them, so I am not sure how they feel. The Beck Arnley ones are OE spec but much, much better in terms of being low dust. I am not sure how the OE Jurid pads are when new, but when they get low, damn do your wheels look horrid.
I guess, it runs the question of, why are ceramics better than semi-metallic other than the reduced dust?

Why do so many high end cars such as Jaguar, Merc, BMW, etc, all come with SM pads?

 

+2 on the Akebono Ceramics.

Some people report a "soft pedal" feel when they first start using ceramic pads, I felt the same thing on my XJR.

I used them on the track at Road Atlanta and they did very well, plenty of bite, little fade and minimal dust considering the thrashing I gave them.

Vector

 

I actually rather like the soft feel of the brake pedal. Long press before it really bites into the rotor, I don't like when you lightly (but somewhat forcefully) push it about an inch and the whole car just stops. I don't care for that at all.

 

It really is just an initial impression some report when first using the new ceramic pads, after a few drives the perception of a soft pedal goes away and they feel just fine.

The lack of brake dust is the best part of ceramic pads. Mine used to look terrible after brief drive after a wash and wax. Even after hard use at the track, I still get less dust than a drive around the block with the OEM pads.
Vector

 

Since the only Akenbono pads I could find were more than $60.00 per set, I decided to give the Beck Arnley pads a try, only going to be replacing the front pads for now, as well as putting on some braided steel brake hoses purchased from SNG Barratt, should hopefully have all the parts by the end of the week. According to the BA site, the TrueFriction pads should be lower dust than the OE Jurids that are currently on there. Then again, the OE pads that are on the front now are really worn, so, I will report back when I get the new pads on and see how they preform, and what the dust levels are.