brakes

just got some new tires installed yesterday and the mechanic told me my brakes are wearing out, and in need to change them asap. i believe him because they dont look like they're in good conditions. he tried to offer me some vgx metallic brake pads and told me they are the best, however, after doing some online review... there are a lot of review in which they waste after 2-3 hard stop... work bad in cold weather, and a total piece of shiat. now i need some recommendations, suggests... on brakes... aem, axxis, hawk? all i need is 2 fronts for my 94 integra ls. performance, long lasting and price wise :o

Are you going to be doing alot of high speed braking? If not then just get some OEM, or OEM replacement pads and new rotors if needed.

i have axxis metal masters on mine. they work pretty good and i drive like a friggin madman. i hope you are changing your rotors to if your brakes are that bad. if you really want to, drain the brake fluid and replace with dot 5 brake fluid too.

i got aems on mine. total DIY job. If you take that to a mechanic, never come back to the forums ;) Goto the north texas prelude owners something website (google it) and find how to do it on a 4th generation. Samething. You might need a couple tools. One is a #3 screw driver, an impact driver, and this piston pusher for the rear brakes ($11 at pepboys). I can give u help if u need...just did it a couple weeks ago so really fresh in my mind. GL

thanks for all the help but i took it to a shop and they installed some VGX brakes, dont know if they are good but he told me they are the best. but now... i took my car for a test drive but damn i have to step on it harder for it to slow, and have to step on it in a longer distance when coming to a stop, damn... it, i dont like it. i prefer oem much better, how's aem or axxis guys? ill just order them and do them myself because i saw him do the work, wasnt that hard... he used basic tools too...

thanks for all the help but i took it to a shop and they installed some VGX brakes, dont know if they are good but he told me they are the best. but now... i took my car for a test drive but damn i have to step on it harder for it to slow, and have to step on it in a longer distance when coming to a stop, damn... it, i dont like it. i prefer oem much better, how's aem or axxis guys? ill just order them and do them myself because i saw him do the work, wasnt that hard... he used basic tools too...

I've got AEM/Nissin pads on my 2000 GS-R... they've been great, but they do dust a lot more than the OEM pads. They're about worn out and this time I'm going to try out the Hawk HPS pads. Hopefully they'll dust a little less :)

With most brake pads, there's a break-in period where the brakes don't work for crap until the pad material has sufficiently coated the rotors. You might still be in that break-in period with those new pads. Let them settle in for a couple weeks before ya go spending money on new pads.

As far as doing it yourself, it's a piece of cake. 12mm socket to take the calipers off (two bolts on each), then you just put the pads in by hand. You might need to push the caliper piston back in to get clearance (new pads are thicker than worn pads). The front ones can be done with a regular c-clamp. The back ones need to be "screwed" back in. This can be done with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Just turn them clockwise and they'll slowly seat themselves back in. With a regular jack to lift the car, you can do all 4 wheels in about 2 hours or less.