Both of our Fits (2015, 2020) are coming up on 100,000 miles, so I'll be replacing front and rear brakes soon. Any opinions on good or bad brands?

 

Based on your location I would go for fully coated rotors.

I am using Raybestos Element 3 coated rotors and Element 3 EHT brake pads on both of our vehicles and they're holding up decently in MA salt conditions.

I have an old 2010 Fit, but I assume the third generation still has rear drums, right? Unless you do a lot of handbrake turns, I doubt you'll need to change your rear brakes at 100K miles. They're easy to inspect to confirm.

 

Thanks! I don't usually replace rotors, but I'll see what kind of condition they're in. I replaced my front pads at 78,000. Maybe I'll replace them again when I'm doing everything else. I'll replace the brake fluid, too, of course.

 

Don't know about rotors but Akebono front disk pads are highly recommended. They are a major OEM supplier to Honda and many other car companies around the world. For 2015+ Fits the Akebono part number for ceramic front pads is ACT1394B

 

Thanks. Akebono was a famous Hawaiian sumo wrestler.

 

One thing to keep in mind if you're doing the work yourself is that the Philips screws on Honda (and many other Japanese cars) aren't actually Philips screws. They're a Japanese standard called JIS which is a modified Philips design. If you're taking the two JIS screws off the rotors and you try to use a regular Philips driver you'll probably muck up the screws. You should buy a set of JIS screwdrivers if you don't already have them.

 

Yes, and thanks for posting that. I got a set of JIS screwdrivers years ago. They are also used on Japanese cameras.

Do you know what size screwdriver is needed for the rotors?

 

It's a Number 3 JIS.

Don't feel bad if you accidently strip out the screws the first time (I thought my small impact would get 'em loose without stripping, but alas not so). Replacements are readily available at the parts store.... And it only takes a couple minutes each to drill out the stripped screw.

 

Yep. I had to manually adjust the drums on our 2020 a few months back - it was gradually taking more handle-pull to get parking brake engagement. I tried removing and re-lubing the adjuster, though it appeared to be lubed properly already. Like you said, the rears are low-wear so I'll just check them when I do tire rotations.

Vessel sells a dedicated #3 JIS "Impacta" screw driver, and also the old-school replaceable-bit manual impact-driver kit. For those not familiar, you set up the driver more or less like a screwdriver, give the handle a little manual pre-twist in the direction you want it to turn the screw, and then hit it on the end (towards the screw) with a big hammer. The heavy handle and internal spiral mechanism between the handle and shank (part with the bit) turns the hammer hit into torque. Both tools do the same thing, but I suspect the heavier classic driver will work better on rotor screws.

 

You should always replace the rotors, they are so cheap these days when purchased as a package. Pad slapping on old rotors will cause the pads to wear unevenly.

Vessel Impacta #3 JIS does not get the rotor screws off sometimes, I know because I own it + a traditional impact screwdriver. I revert back to the traditional impact screwdriver and you can take a larger hammer to the end of it.

 

You can just throw those screws away so they don't annoy you in future. Apparently their sole purpose is to hold the rotors in place as the car moves down the production line. They don't really do anything after that.

 

I've always had great results from Akebono. I recently bought some Raybestos pads to install this weekend and the friction material appears a lesser quality. TBD how they work in practice.

Akebono makes ACT and ASP lines. ASP being a "performance" line. It's usually only a little more for performance and I think I liked them better. Do not be mistaken, IMO the Akebono pads are acceptable daily driver pads and they do not offer superior braking for a more "street racing" pad. They are just great OEM replacement pads.

I always buy fully coated rotors. There,s power stop and Raybestos with their Evolution Geomet and Element3. I'm sure these are probably equivalent and I was very impressed by the quality. I've bought the partially coated/painted rotors, even higher end ones and they always rust to $h**. The fully coated look great and do resist rust longer.

One reason that I'm not going Akebono is that they have a very long longevity. Seems counter intuitive but my rotors end up being all crusty and rusted and need replacing and my brakes will still have a good 1/4 inch of meat on them. So its pointless to pay a premium for great pads if they outlast the rotors. I do drive manual transmission so that is part of the reason I don't wear my brakes down very fast.

 

here are some pics of my Powerstop Evolution Geomet fully coated rotors. A great value rotor with good corrosion resistance IMO.

 

I doubt that I have a #3. Now I have an excuse to buy something.

 

I replace my factory rotors with Akebono ceramic rotors and am very happy with the results.

 

I went in a different direction and bought the Wagner "OEX" pads which were on clearance for $17 on Rock Auto. They were quite likely old stock.... Made in USA. Of the four cars in my signature, my Fit now has the best brakes, believe it or not. Yes, better than my WRX. My WRX is the one that's going to be getting a brake upgrade this year.

 

What criteria are you using to judge "best"-ness? There's lots of characteristics that different pad formulations use or make compromises on to meet the needs of a given application. Pad wear life, rotor wear rate, quiet operation, linear (or non-linear) brake force response to pedal input, stability in extreme heat and so on. Being based on Subaru's World Rally Cross race platform, the WRX pads may put more emphasis on linearity and heat stability, a vanilla daily-driver pad might aim for quiet operation and more initial bite brake-force wise, a pad for commercial fleet vehicles might minimize pad and rotor wear to keep maintenance costs down.

 

@PK86 @SilverEX15

I may be about to succumb to an excuse to buy something.

https://www.jbtools.com/vessel-9802s...dard-jis-2-pc/

 

Good alternative. Mine arrives tomorrow.

 

Make sure you're using a high quality driver. The first time they're removed, those rotor screws may simply break a 1/4 drive bit or light-duty driver (thinking of an aluminum-shank bit driver that came in a Craftsman set). You'll need someone to stand on the brake pedal, or a scan tool to tell the VSA unit to clamp down on that wheel.
If that doesn't work out for you: which is 1/2" socket drive on the tool (can be used with impact sockets), with a 5/16" hex adapter to drive the bits it comes with. without the driver.
The 240001 package adds a grip hand-guard which could be nice, and two extended bits. The longer bits will reduce impact force, so they're only useful in tight spots.

How it's used: