LR3 front brakes aftermarket choices

[flwoodsman]

Hello,

I'm looking to replace the front brakes on my LR3 and would like to know what aftermarket brands are considered quality and acceptable for replacement. I have access to brands like Brembo, TWR, Ferodo and autozone max. Are any of these equal quality to the OEM Land Rover pads? I'm also considering the front set kit from AB that includes rotors, pads and sensers for $189. They lable the pads in this set as TWR but no info on the rotors. I have always used Autozone in the past because of the lifetime warrenty. Every year I did new brakes and took my old ones back. No hassle and I got alot of trade ins out of it.

Vehicle is a 2005 LR3.

 

[anglotron]

I replaced all my rotors with Brembo because that's what they fit at the factory and the quality is good. I bought them on eBay for a decent price. After some reading I went with Akebono pads which generate much less dust than the stock pads, but perhaps lack that initial bite.

Whilst the calipers are off you might also want to check that both pistons moves freely, as one of mine was a little bit sticky and I wasn't getting the full braking force.

 

[unseenone]

So the factory ones are Brembo? I got 19k out of the first set..

I have used EBC Sports with Green Stuff pads for a while, have been good. You can give them a slight turn at each pad fitting and expect 80k out of them. Don't use the yellow stuff... Ask me why!!

 

[A.J.M]

Why? Lol.

I had yellow stuff pads on my fronts. 19k and they were needing changed.

I have upgraded the front calipers to the 4 pot Brembo calipers as fitted to RRS models. Much better braking but I'm stuck to 19s for OEM wheels or 18s for the compomotive alloys.

The 3 is a hard car on brakes so pick a good one and expect to change them in a couple of years.

 

[Campndad]

I use EBC slotted and dimpled since 25,000 miles and on 3rd set of green stuff pads with no issues. @98,000 miles now.

 

[cannonball55]

i dont remember the brands i used, but they were rather inexpensive. they stop great and are about as dusty as the oem ones which is obnoxious but not terribly bothersome. what i'm getting at is you dont have to drop big bucks to replace them for very similar results. even if i have to change them more often i wont pay near the same during the life of the vehicle. my biggest suggestion is to make sure you use anti-squeal or whatever its called.

 

[flwoodsman]

Thank you everyone for responding. It sounds like anyone of these options should work. The local indy shop wanted $600 to do the front brakes and rotors. He said he only uses land rover parts and the rest were cheap "crap from China" I see that more people use aftermarket brands than I thought. I do try to avoid the really obvious cheap stuff though. I don't like to skimp on parts but the more I can save on parts the more money is available for some accessories I'd like to add, winch, roof rack etc. I've had my rover a year now and have driven it enough to decide that I want to keep it and start replacing wear items as I go before they get to bad.

 

[DiscoNels]

So the factory ones are Brembo? I got 19k out of the first set..

I have used EBC Sports with Green Stuff pads for a while, have been good. You can give them a slight turn at each pad fitting and expect 80k out of them. Don't use the yellow stuff... Ask me why!!

I currently have EBC Performance rotors (grooved and dimpled) and have used Green Stuff pads but they didn't last for ******** so I switched to Yellow Stuff and haven't had any issues. Yellow Stuff = Good Stuff in my experience.

 

[Derel1cte]

Can the Range rover sport Brembo calipers and rotors be fitted to an LR3/4 without extra adapters/shims/carriers? (Assuming you have 19"+ wheels of course).

 

[bentonrover]

Don't go to ebay. Got a complete set front back rotors with ceramic pads for $250 shipped. Needless to say I'll be doing it again soon. Rotors are just rusted to ******t and warp. Oh well lesson learned.

 

[unseenone]

EBC is fine, that is overpriced stuff from UK. No rust issues.. And if Brembo really makes the OE ones, that's reason enough for me to NOT buy them.

 

[iowalr4]

I have been through this on so many vehicles. I have gotten aftermarket stuff and had pretty crap results.

I just replaced my rears on my 13' LR4 after 35k miles. I am sticking with OE parts. They may cost a little more, but I get a known quantity. I haven't noticed any dust problems and I haven't had any squeal. (I never put any grease on them). Maybe they just have it figured out on the 2010+ year brakes (thats the last part number change). Probably the only 'issue' is that the discs are a little soft and wear along with the pads at a good rate. It adds to the expense of changing out everything, but for the weight I haul around (including my up to 6k+ lb boat+trailer) they work very well with out any fuss.

So, just my opinion, but whatever engineers at Rover picked the brake specs, I trust that they know a hell of a lot more about brakes then I do and didn't feel the need to slot/drill/coat or otherwise alter them for all the duties they tested the vehicle to perform. (I wish some random anonymous LR engineer would just pop on a forum and settle a lot of the aftermarket bs that people buy into... maybe its fine, heck, maybe its better... but for me, I feel pretty good sticking with OE)

EDIT: Bonus DIY Pics:

 

[Derel1cte]

You have to remember that the LR engineers were not motivated to make a vehicle stop the shortest. They were motivated to make a vehicle exceed safety requirements by an acceptable margin while keeping costs down.

The aftermarket does not have these constraints, they can sell you the best brakes at whatever price you are willing to pay.
So multi piston willwoods or brembos make sense when you are interested in the performance of your own vehicle but not for a manufacture. Bare minimums make sense for the manufacture.

 

[unseenone]

Engineered to consume rotors and pads perhaps, well done on that front, and engineered to not be able to turn the rotors, also well done.. LOL Nothing wrong with sticking with OEM if you want to, but I would not say that OEM is always better.

This is one of those topics everyone debates endlessly.. We hopefully can agree, having a choice is good.

 

[johnsoax]

I've mentioned before that I purchased Raybestos 980351 rotors and Wagner QC1098 Pads for the front, and Raybestos 980345 rotors and Wagner QC1099 pads for the back. Total cost for the parts was ~$270, got the parts from Amazon. I changed the rear 25k ago, and the fronts 24k ago. All look pretty much brand new, and very little dusting, especially compared to what was on the truck when I purchased it. And I frequently tow three trailers with no trailer brakes...