Anyone run ceramic brake pads?

I put Napa ceramic brake pads on the XJ a few weeks ago, along with new rotors, and they stop great and I'm very happy with them. However, I've noticed that in the few times I've had to make panic stops recently that they make a grinding sound when I have to really get on the brakes. They stop very fast and straight, but my brakes have always been nearly silent. Its not loud, but for someone like me who pays attention to stuff like that, its noticeable. Its only when I have to really get on the brakes hard, like when someone pulls out in front of me or something.

Is this normal for ceramic pads or do I have another problem showing up like a bad wheel bearing?

we use ceramic on the race truck(circle track) they take a while to completly break in.

they are great but they take a good 1k-1500 mi to brake in

I ran them for a while but they kept cracking down the middle of the inner pad. I went thru 3 sets and gave up. I went back to Raybestos and no probs. I'm not sure which brand they were but I got them at Advance Auto.

ceramic brakes are the best. but they take a while to break in what u are hearing is them not touching 100% once they break ALL the way in and touch 100% they will stop making the grinding noise.

i've been running them for a little while now and they seem to be a little better than the semi metallics i had on there. they don't seem to fade out as bad in around town stop and go.

good to know, thanks a lot guys.

Ceramic brake pads also wear the rotors about a fast is the pads.
You will find that you will need new rotors with every change of pads unless you get rotors made for Ceramic pads and even then it's two to one.

langer1 said:

Ceramic brake pads also wear the rotors about a fast is the pads.
You will find that you will need new rotors with every change of pads unless you get rotors made for Ceramic pads and even then it's two to one.

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I always go through rotors so that nothing new. Plus, on XJs they're cheap.

I'm also running ceramic pads from Napa on my XJ and I recall back before they really broke in there were some grinding noises under hard braking. You'll also notice that they put off far less brake dust than regular pads....a plus for the few of us who actually wash our jeeps.

There great in a car but i dont know if i would use them in a jeep "cracking" if your going out on the trail i would go with metallics. i always run ceramic in my 240sx they stop good and with heat as well but they also crack. you give a little take a little if you know what i mean.

99XJSPORT06 said:

I'm also running ceramic pads from Napa on my XJ and I recall back before they really broke in there were some grinding noises under hard braking. You'll also notice that they put off far less brake dust than regular pads....a plus for the few of us who actually wash our jeeps.

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Thats one of the main reasons I got them. I put them on my Frontier and I don't get any brake dust on the wheels. The old OEM pads were bad about getting brake dust all over the wheels.

agreed. much cleaner.... and better braking power. x2 on the rotors being replaced each time.

So, I figured out what was causing the grinding...

It had been getting worse lately so I decided to take a look at the front brakes when I changed the oil today. I pulled the front tires off to take a look at things and I discovered something troubling. One of the caliper bolts on the passenger's side was stripped out and not tight at all. I remembered noticing that the threads were messed up on that bolt when I put new pads and rotors on it a month or so ago, but I was in a hurry and thought it would be okay. It didn't appear to be that bad. I guess it was worse than I thought. I wish I had my camera with me, those threads were fubared. That one bolt wasn't nearly enough to hold that caliper tightly on there. I replaced the bolt and the grinding is gone. I love these Napa ceramic pads. They stop a lot better than my OEM pads did, they don't squeak at all, and I don't get any brake dust.

I'm really lucky the other bolt held and I didn't have a serious brake failure.