Just some info for others to digest. I have had problems with OEM brake pads since the car was new. The worst was the nasty noise it makes when you are backing up. I went to new OEM pads and rotors but still the noise remained. There was nothing else infiniti could do for me. I also had an issue where the brakes would make this grinding noise before they warmed up. Really annoying. Another one i had was more weird noise when applying the brakes and turning at low speed (i.e. pulling into a parking space). A few years back, it was time to replace my rear pads. No way was i going to get OEM pads after what i had been through. I read all the suggestions about Hawk and Akebono pads but since i have always had good luck with whatever i pick up from Autozone, i decided to go that route. I picked up Duralast C-Max gold pads for the rear. What a world of difference. Noise when backing up immediately stopped and i honestly could not tell any difference in stopping power. I still had the low speed and before warming up noise but those were coming from my OEM front pads.
A couple of months ago, i heard another noise from the front drivers side. It was really nasty folk. It was not the typical noise you hear when your pads are worn down. It was more of a noise i remember from an old beater i used to have when the ebrake was up and i was trying to reverse slowly. Really loud metal to metal contact kind of noise. I could not figure out what it was. Worse still was the fact that the noise was random. Sometimes i would drive all day and not hear it. Then on some days i heard it several times. I started trying to figure out what action i was performing when this noise occurred. The only thing i came up with was that it was related to me depressing the brakes and my speed did not matter. As the noise became more regular, i decided to start with the cheapest thing first: the pads. Since the C-Max from the back have served me well for the last few years, i picked up the same brand for the fronts and installed them last week. Once again, i am shocked at what a difference they made. I now have zero problems with my brakes. Noise before pads warm up? Gone. Low speed turning noise? Gone. Better yet, the weird metal to metal random noise? Also gone! The messed up thing is that the pads i removed had plenty of life left in them. I have no idea why they ran so shitty. Since the Duralast pads have lifetime warranties, i will be getting them again when my current ones are worn. Anyways, just ranting.
A couple of months ago, i heard another noise from the front drivers side. It was really nasty folk. It was not the typical noise you hear when your pads are worn down. It was more of a noise i remember from an old beater i used to have when the ebrake was up and i was trying to reverse slowly. Really loud metal to metal contact kind of noise. I could not figure out what it was. Worse still was the fact that the noise was random. Sometimes i would drive all day and not hear it. Then on some days i heard it several times. I started trying to figure out what action i was performing when this noise occurred. The only thing i came up with was that it was related to me depressing the brakes and my speed did not matter. As the noise became more regular, i decided to start with the cheapest thing first: the pads. Since the C-Max from the back have served me well for the last few years, i picked up the same brand for the fronts and installed them last week. Once again, i am shocked at what a difference they made. I now have zero problems with my brakes. Noise before pads warm up? Gone. Low speed turning noise? Gone. Better yet, the weird metal to metal random noise? Also gone! The messed up thing is that the pads i removed had plenty of life left in them. I have no idea why they ran so shitty. Since the Duralast pads have lifetime warranties, i will be getting them again when my current ones are worn. Anyways, just ranting.
