Wearever vs. Bendix?

[fbrdphreak]

I'm shopping for parts to get the GF's car fixed up on the cheap.

She drives a 2000 Nissan Altima like a grandma, but does put a fair number of miles on it. The car has front discs and rear drums.

It is worth an extra $100 to step up to Bendix rotors & shoes instead of the Wearever? I understand that the rotors should be a little beefier, less likely to warp, etc - and if I were driving, I would do it without hesitation 'cuz I drive my cars hard.

But in stepping out of my mindframe to think with her budget, I'm questioning whether she will see any value from it. She plans to keep the car about another 2 years.

If I have the time, I will shop online too, but right now I need to price local options as it may get worked on my the comm college for free labor and we'll need parts immediately.

Part 2 of the question: brake shoes. If I went with the Bendix shoes, is it worth paying $60 for new shoes or $38 for re-lined shoes? I know jack about drums, other than they are supposed to be a PITA to work on.

TIA all

 

[Black88GTA]

I used to work at Advance auto parts. We sold LOTS of Wearever Silvers, and a fair amount of Wearever Gold, but very few people spent the extra money on the Bendix (at least at my store). Didn't have many complaints about the Wearevers - out of the thousands of sets of these pads that were sold when I worked there, I did hear a couple people complain about squeaking at low speeds, and one or two complaints about excessive brake dust. Obviously, these are not pads you'd buy for a track car, but they work OK for standard use IMO. I'd get something better for a car that was driven hard though. Also, the cheaper pads tend to create more dust and eat the rotors more than some more expensive brands.

As for rear shoes - the re-lined shoes are just as good as the new ones. Overall, you don't get much stopping power from rear brakes in general (especially rear drums) anyway, so these don't matter nearly as much as the front brakes. If you do end up doing the rears, make sure you get the brake hardware kit as well - it's not real expensive, and comes with all the little springs and other stuff that tends to break / bend when you disturb it to remove the shoes.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Thanks for the info - good to hear some opinion backed by experience.

I priced everything out and if she has time, I'll just order the Brembo rotors from RockAuto. If not, probably get the Wearever's.

 

[Crucial]

I like the raybestos pg plus stuff. built well and I haven't had a problem with them yet. I put them on all the brake jobs I do.

Are the Brembos on sale or something? why the hell would you buy those for an altima?

 

[fbrdphreak]

^^
They are Brembo blanks - O.E. style, but theoretically higher quality than the bottom dollar stuff. At $50 each, not a bad deal.

 

[radioouman]

I also like the Raybestos PG stuff from Rockauto. Cheaper than the cheap rotors at the auto parts store.
The only bad experience that I had with Wearevers was a brake shoe that fell apart. The brake lining came off of the frame, and since it was inside the drum it jammed up my rear wheel. Fortunately, I was only about 5 miles from home and I was driving a rear wheel drive truck, (so the wheel didn't drag) and I drove home.

I took the brake shoe back to Advance, and they exchanged them for the Bendix brake shoes at no charge. They'd never seen anything like that before.

Pics if you are inclined.

 

[Vette73]

Yea I would pass on the Bendix. They are no better/worse then the wearevers. That and I would not use them for the fact they are part of the honeywell corp auto parts, same people that make Fram if that tells you if they put quality or profit first.


See of they have the wearever gold. Also can see if autozone has their duralast gold pads.
Advance did not stock any pads for the rear of the Corvette but autozone did have 2 sets in stock so i got there D.Gold pads.

 

[alkemyst]

not all fram stuff is bad, also there are different levels of Bendix. Bendix is an OEM...wearever is a re-branded part.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
not all fram stuff is bad, also there are different levels of Bendix. Bendix is an OEM...wearever is a re-branded part.

What car company uses Bendix pads from the factory?

And wearever are made by a larger company that also makes brakes in another name but its been a while since my auto teching days.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: alkemyst
not all fram stuff is bad, also there are different levels of Bendix. Bendix is an OEM...wearever is a re-branded part.

What car company uses Bendix pads from the factory?

And wearever are made by a larger company that also makes brakes in another name but its been a while since my auto teching days.

They're also made by Federal Mogul under the Wagner brand name. Wearever Golds are pretty good for OEM.