Who recommended EBC Redstuffs?

[Red Snake]

After searching the forums and reading everything I could find on brake pads, I decided to try EBC Redstuff pads on my car. I could not be any more UNHAPPY. These pads ****!

One short drive today and my rims are COVERED in grey/black dust. Every time I come to a stop they screech like a $25 Ford Pinto.

There has to be a better pad out there somewhere.....EBCs are NOT IT.


97 GTS, SRT Front brakes, GenII fronts moved to rear, Cross drilled & slotted rotors.

$200 down the drain. I'm pissed.

 

[JonB]

I am taking a big risk here and AGAIN hate the anonymity of the board. Did you buy from a known VCA vendor?

I suspect you purchased pads from a vendor with OLD STOCK. I regularly see vendors with the "cheapest" prices that can harbor some very old stock. You may have received an old formulation, which was CARBON METALLIC and very dusty. The NEW formulation (as sold by PartsRack) is ceramic and LOW DUST.

If you DID buy from PartsRack, and you got these "rare and sequestered" old pads in ERROR, I promise a replacement. BUT I THINK NOT. I bet you bought elsewhere, and got old stock, at a great price!

Similar problems occur in CORSA, EIBACH, TIRES, and a few others.

 

[Red Snake]

I did not buy them from you Jon. However, I did get RedStuff "CERAMIC" pads. Clearly written on the box "CERAMIC"............NOT CARBON METALLIC.

I had the same experience with my Ram SRT 10, where I bought EBCs and they were so bad I took them back off the next day. I swore I'd never buy them again. I should have kept my vow.

 

[AZTVR]

After searching the forums and reading everything I could find on brake pads, I decided to try EBC Redstuff pads on my car. I could not be any more UNHAPPY. These pads ****!

One short drive today and my rims are COVERED in grey/black dust. Every time I come to a stop they screech like a $25 Ford Pinto.

What does the vendor that you bought them from have to say about it ? Ceramic pads are supposed to be less squeaky and less dusting with lighter colored dust that does not stick as readily. I would think that a reputable vendor would take them back since the ones that you bought do not appear to be as advertised.

Could it just be the break-in coating that is doing this? (I have not tried the EBC Reds. I'm still running OEM.)

 

[DWR46]

It seems everybody has an opinion about brake pads. All I can say is that I use Hawk HPS in all four of my Vipers and love them. VERY LOW DUST, great pedal feel and good stopping power. I have used these pads in numerous other makes of cars with great results. I do not track my cars.

 

[All Blue ACR]

GREAT !
I just did mine on all four corners with EBC reds

Got them from BB Dave though so I trust they are "new stock"

 

[Fast Too]

No dust here, got mine from Jon B. Love My EBC reds......

 

[All Blue ACR]

No dust here, got mine from Jon B. Love My EBC reds......

Whew, just put my wheels back on and the car on the ground.....

 

[Dave's Big Brakes]

I have Red Ceramics on my viper, low dust and no squealI don't stock any pads, order as needed so always fresh

Big Brake Dave

 

[RTTTTed]

I have EBC Greens and am happy with them. No noise whatsoever and stop instantly.

My question is did you brake them in properly? It took me 30 miles to get my Greens broken in as there is cooling periods between heating periods.

Stop tech site has break-in proceedures listed on their site,

Ted

 

[GeneralLee]

I have the EBC Yellows and have no problems with them either. Slight dust if it goes awhile without a wash, but thats seldom.

 

[RobZilla]

When I put my reds on, there was a lot of brake dust for the first drive and even into the second after a wash. Now after breaking them in, they are perfect. I love em. Perhaps they just need a lil time to break in, or you got an old set.

 

[Steve-Indy]

I just drove our SRT-10 with EBC Ceramic Red-Stuff...VERY HAPPY with THIS formulation !!!

 

[Viper Specialty]

Sorry to hear about your problems!

We have had nothing but the best of luck with the new formulation RedStuff. I do not think you purchased them from from us, but regardless of that fact it certainly sounds like you recieved the old formulation somehow, or there is a contributing factor here. While New Pads will make a LOT more dust than normal, it is usually a reddish-gray dust with EBC's in the process of braking in, not black... and they dont usually squeak too bad at all, even during break-in in normal circumstances. Perhaps your rotors are cupped and groved VERY badly? Was there anything on the rotors when installed that maky have caused this? Oil perhaps if they were new?

I would certainly contact the Vendor you bought them from and ask for an exchange, something is not right.

 

[RTTTTed]

First drive/Break-in will burn off the 'special break-in coating' and paint that comes on new pads. So there's supposed dust after break-in.

But, the squeaking? Only reason I can come up with is incorrect break-in proccess. Should be fine after another, longer(?) break-in.

Ted

 

[Purdue_Boiler_Viper]

Screeching can be caused by many issues. If your rotors create vibration, noise will result. Your pads are only one part of a complex equation. Are your rotors completely cleaned up?

 

[Red Snake]

I lightly sanded the rotors in a non=directional manner and cleaned them before installing the pads. I also bedded the pads correctly.

I see that some of you are saying they'll dust more during break in. So I'll give them a fair shot and leave them on for a little longer.

I am thinking maybe I'll pull them back off and bevel the leading edges a little bit. I have read that this can sometimes help with the squeeling. I'll sand and clean up the rotors again while I have them off.

I did not get carbon metallics. They are CERAMICs. There was no oil, cupping or grooving in the rotors. The brake dust is grey.

I am just not having a very good experience with these pads so far. If they keep dusting at this level I will definitely not be pleased with them.

I switched my Ram SRT10 over to Performance Friction pads and they never dusted at all, and never squeeled at all. Maybe my expectations are too high.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Do they at least work as well as you expected? The Reds are supposed to be similar to Brakeman#3, no?

 

[klamathpro]

I switched my Ram SRT10 over to Performance Friction pads and they never dusted at all, and never squeeled at all. Maybe my expectations are too high.

You have them on your Ram SRT10? Performance Friction doesn't even list them as being available for the RAM SRT10 let alone the Viper. But if you somehow got them for the Ram, maybe there's a set for the Viper?

 

[95Viper]

Red Snake, I put the old EBC Greens on my 95 and they are great. We put the new Greens on my dads 02 and they are terrible. We used the 3M resurfacing kit to prep the rotors perfectly. If you give up on these, I would really be curious to try them on my dads Viper. That would be an interesting test.

 

[Red Snake]

You have them on your Ram SRT10? Performance Friction doesn't even list them as being available for the RAM SRT10 let alone the Viper. But if you somehow got them for the Ram, maybe there's a set for the Viper?

The 04 Ram SRT10 has brakes off a Ram 2500/3500. So you use the part numbers from the 2500/3500.

I don't know if there is a crossover pad for Vipers. If there were I would definitely run their pad over any other.

Red Snake, I put the old EBC Greens on my 95 and they are great. We put the new Greens on my dads 02 and they are terrible. We used the 3M resurfacing kit to prep the rotors perfectly. If you give up on these, I would really be curious to try them on my dads Viper. That would be an interesting test.

I'll keep you in mind if I end up taking them off.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Do they at least work as well as you expected?

LOL You mean like stopping the car? LOL c'mon Tom, that's not as important as looking good.

 

[Red Snake]

Spent all morning resurfacing and cleaning the pads and rotors.

Went for a short drive and it still squeeks when braking at low speed.

My car is a street car, not a track car. A little bit of difference in stopping performance isn't going to make any difference to me. I'd much rather have a car that doesn't embarass me by squeeling to a stop every time I brake. I will never buy EBCs again.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

LOL You mean like stopping the car? LOL c'mon Tom, that's not as important as looking good.

Not true, Chuck. I try to keep my rims matching the color of the tires and B#3 pads come pretty close to doing that.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Spent all morning resurfacing and cleaning the pads and rotors.

Went for a short drive and it still squeeks when braking at low speed.

My car is a street car, not a track car. A little bit of difference in stopping performance isn't going to make any difference to me. I'd much rather have a car that doesn't embarass me by squeeling to a stop every time I brake. I will never buy EBCs again.

The brake pads have to SEAT, as well as wear the rotor surface to a particular finish and grain. This will not happen instantly- especiallty with rotor friendly pads. I think you really need to take a deep breath, and give the pads 100 miles or more before you jump to conclusions. As per EBC, bedding these pads really doesnt work due to the lack of mettalic material in the compound to induce any type of rotor wear that quickly... and you already wore off the break-in coating long before this second attempt, and FYI, if you washed the wheels before attempt #1... you washed it off before even your first attempt, as it is water-soluble.

 

[Red Snake]

The brake pads have to SEAT, as well as wear the rotor surface to a particular finish and grain. This will not happen instantly- especiallty with rotor friendly pads. I think you really need to take a deep breath, and give the pads 100 miles or more before you jump to conclusions. As per EBC, bedding these pads really doesnt work due to the lack of mettalic material in the compound to induce any type of rotor wear that quickly... and you already wore off the break-in coating long before this second attempt, and FYI, if you washed the wheels before attempt #1... you washed it off before even your first attempt, as it is water-soluble.

I didn't wash the wheels before attempt #1 so that's out as a cause.

I went out again and noticed a couple of things. I have probably 30-40 miles on the second attempt. There is no squeel until the rotors warm up. When the car is cold it's quiet.

Once things heat up it starts squeeling and squeels almost every time I stop. It also sounds like it's all coming from the right rear wheel. I'll give it at least 100 miles and then if it doesn't stop I'll try resurfacing that one wheel again.

 

[Viper Specialty]

One other thing you may want to check; The EBC Pads now come with a plastic "squeal damper" on the back of all the pads. It is possible that you have one that fell off or was never applied by mistake. If you end up having one oddball wheel, thats the first thing I would double check. Also ensure that the tab on the pad is matched correctly with the piston grove on the rears, as well as a dragging caliper- basically anything that would set one apart from the rest. It may be worth a quick look sooner than later just to be sure.

 

[Fast Too]

Whew, just put my wheels back on and the car on the ground.....

Seriously, virtually no dust.....

 

[Red Snake]

I did check for that after attempt #1. All pads still have the plastic dampers in place and I could see imprints where the pistons were hitting squarely on the dampers. I sprayed them down good with disk brake quiet spray for the 2nd attempt hoping that would help.

I appreciate the tips. This noise drives me freakin batty.

 

[DreamOn]

I currently have OEM brakes/pads on my '01 RT/10. Very high dust and slight squealing at low speed stops. I've been considering a change to the EBC red stuff pads for the low dust and possible track time. This based on what I've read on these boards. Now I'm nervous about this decision. However, I haven't seen anyone jump in and agree with Red Snake.
One think I have noted... I WILL buy them from one of the VCA site sponsers ... Parts Rack, Big Dave's, or Viper Specialty!!
Great thread and very timely for me. Thanks for all the comments guys!