New Brake Pads, Considering Hawk SuperDuty, Anyone have Experience/Recommendations? (1 Viewer)

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Feb 8, 2020
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Salt Lake City, UT
Have a 2009 LX570 with stock rotors/pads, and looking to increase stopping power and improve the classic 200 "spongy" feel.

Don't want to ruin my rotors though. Have heard the TRD pads will do that.

Anyone have experience with the Hawk SuperDuty? Didn't see anything in other threads about them, only the LTS version.


Thanks,
Dave
 
I’m in the middle of doing my brakes - the guys at KNS told me the LTS pads would be the best combination of performance and rotor-friendliness. My use is all street, no towing. I also got DBA rotors and stainless lines.

So I don't have any experience with them except that I also inquired.
 
I can't reccomend the Hawk pads enough. I had my local independent mechanic put the on my 2010 LX570 a few months ago and its night and day going from OEM. I dont notice break dust on the wheels, but I do get some noise from the pads. I do drive 2.5 miles of dirt each way on my commute, so I attribute that to some of the break noise as well. Brad
 
Aren't the superduty meant for towing/extreme weight? I remember I was looking at Hawk (whichever was the highest level) and ended up going TRD pads instead because I read up on how much noise they produced and wasn't meant for regular weight/driving.
 
Not positive afgman, here's a comparison of the different Hawk brake types, including LTS and SD:

 
I upgraded my pads to StopTech Sport (they OEM the TRD pads) and it transformed the vehicle. I also put on new cryo treated stoptech rotors at the same time. I’m very pleased now.

Here are the parts:
Pads: StopTech Street Sport (TRD OEM)
Front 309.13030
Rear 309.13040
Rotors: Centric Cryo Treated
Front: 120.44162CRY
Rear: 120.44157CRY
 
I've used TRD Reds in a variety of terrain (mountains/WV & flat-lands NJ) with heavy loads and other stupid stuff behind the LC, the Reds have held their own. I always swap pads AND rotors at the same time so when the rotor vibration system activates I know it's time do both. In the most recent brake fiasco I thought the pads "destroyed" my rotors (because that's what I read on the forum) but that was not the case, my right caliper had seized and I mis-diagnosed the problem as warped rotors, when I dug into it I had 50% of the pads left after a crazy amount of miles. Naturally I did not have a spare caliper, so I remounted everything and worked through it. I have purchased 2 new calipers, a set of Reds and new brake lines. I will be replacing the rears as well, I have a seized right rear caliper, so both will go and I'll re-install the Reds and brake lines back there too.

Just remember, Toyota makes good stuff, good enough that about 90% of the general population will never push the envelope to the limit with their stock equipment...that's why the LC is what it is and buying their OEM parts will keep it that way. Now...of course...your results may vary ;)

205,111 on the clock and I'm not stopping til 400K
 
Bradass, didn't see your reply at first - Glad to hear that they're working out well. What type of pads did you go with? LTS?

I went with the super duty ones in the red box, bought them on Amazon. I also have a 2007 Tundra that I bought new, I've always used Centric semi-metallic pads on it with Centric rotors, and I would say the breaking between the two vehicles is very similar now. I'm not sure if that is a great comparison as far as giving you perspective, but Tundra breaks are great and the breaks on the LX were terrible before the Hawk pads. Brad
 
I went with the super duty ones in the red box, bought them on Amazon. I also have a 2007 Tundra that I bought new, I've always used Centric semi-metallic pads on it with Centric rotors, and I would say the breaking between the two vehicles is very similar now. I'm not sure if that is a great comparison as far as giving you perspective, but Tundra breaks are great and the breaks on the LX were terrible before the Hawk pads. Brad
Brakes ;)
 
I've used Hawk pads extensively in my sports cars and enjoy their products. Good pricing and easy to source (Amazon). For the LX, I personally use the HPS pad as it strikes a great balance of street qualities including cold braking friction, reasonable wear on rotors, and excellent hot friction and headroom. The increased friction coefficient brings back the brake torque lost with larger 33" tires. I've used it towing my 7700lb trailer in the mountains, solid stable braking performance all around with more confidence once things heated up. It is a bit more grabby than the stock brakes as expected with low speed off-roading stuff. Does occasionally make some noise at low parking lot speeds which doesn't bother me in the least. Does dust probably 50% more than stock pads.

I use the exact same compound on my Porsche 911 Turbo, but as a downgraded better street pad, as I found the stock pads to want more heat before they got into their element.

The LTS and Super Duty pads are both more aggressive than the HPS pads, with increased rotor wear, noise, and dust. Rotors are cheap though so if one is maybe on 35s, may want something like the Super Duty pads to bring back brake torque. If I were to do 35s, I'd still probably keep the HPS, or step into the LTS pads rather than the SuperDuty, as it seems to have more significant compromises, including modulation.

Someone on this board did some great sleuthing and found the TRD pads to be rebranded HPS pads EDIT: Stoptech pads. I can understand why TRD chooses these pads to put their name on as they are really excellent as a more aggressive than stock replacement.

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Someone on this board did some great sleuthing and found the TRD pads to be rebranded HPS pads. I can understand why TRD chooses these pads to put their name on as they are really excellent as a more aggressive than stock replacement.

That was me. They are not HPS, but StopTech. :)
 
^Thanks for the correction. Which stoptech pad?
 
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My experience with Hawk is similar to @TeCKis300. I have used Hawk pads on my street cars, and on the track. I have tried the following on my 3700 lb CTS-V:

Hawk Ceramic: total ass. low dust and noise, but that's it. Felt like the pads were made of wood. I would never recommend these to anyone in pretty much any cicumstance I could think of.
Hawk HPS: Very nice street pad. I'd say these are similar to what most OEMs provide on their sports cars.
Hawk HP+: This is what I run on my CTS-V most of the time. They are more of an "auto-cross" pad, in that they don't require a lot of heat to work, but MAN do they perform. I think these are amazing for a mostly street pad. They won't kill your rotors, but are certainly more aggressive than OEMs. They will dust and squeak though.
Hawk Track Pads: DTC, and the older XP series and the color series. Track only, but holy hell do they work.

I have not tried any of their truck pads. I will probably give them a try if/when I swap pads. This is not a performance vehicle, so I will go there if I think I need more brake pad performance with my larger tires, and after I move to the mountains.

Make sure you bed your pads, its pretty straight forward: do about three 30 to zero stops in rapid succession, then about three 60 to zero. You should smell pad material.

Overall, I have been very happy with the performance of Hawk pads.
 
Thanks for the replies everybody. Just ordered the Hawk LTS (not replacing rotors at this time - i'm too cheap). Will report back how they work!
 
is the stoptech street sport the same with stoptech street performace?
Go by the part number, not the name and you will get the right pad. You want the 309, not the 308 pad.
 

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