I am really tired of the pads building up dust on my nice new wheels (which are a pain to clean), and grooving my undoubtedly expensive rotors. I wanted Akebono Ceramics, but of course, no one lists pads for the 2008 xB yet.

I remember hearing that the front brakes were off of a recent Rav4. I called my local dealer and had him cross-reference the pads. Turns out the rear pads are unique, but the fronts are the same as a 2006 Toyota Rav4 4-cylinder WITHOUT THE THIRD ROW. I bought some Akebono Ceramics a few minutes ago, I will let you know how they fit when they arrive!

Part number was ACT1210. I got them from rockauto.com.

 

Good info. Noted.

 

not nearly as much dust on rear as on front though so good idea and good luck let us know. THinkin Hawks myself, and still contemplating Vented and drilled discs.

 

so get them installed yet i wanna do the same with mine... i got 19" staggered so it gets hard to clean the lip. i understand where your coming from. let me know if it came out well.
carlos

 

HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY FOR YOUR PADS?

 

I PAID $61.13 SHIPPED. WOW, I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WITH A BROKEN CAPS LOCK!

They came tonight. I prolly won't be able to install them until this weekend. I'll let you know.

 

I had left it alone, but you just had to, didn't you?

 

Finally got around to installing them today.

First off, let me say, the brake design is ingenious, it was SOOOOO easy. It is literally 2 small 14mm bolts once the wheel is off, thats it. I am used to the fiero, which has anti-squeal springs, roll pins, big 19mm bolts, and other crap that is a huge pain.

Anyway, the Rav4 pads fit perfectly and work great. The Akebono pads are completely silent and have noticeably more friction than stock.

I had to transfer over the wear indicators from the old pads, the new ones did not have any.

The only thing I was unclear on was the backing plates. The stock pads have two stacked plates behind the main steel plate. These are usually for anti-squeal. The Akebono pads had only one plate, and since the plates on the old pad were removable, I was tempted to transfer one/both of them to the new pads. In the end, I didn't transfer either one, and my brakes are silent, so I guess I did it right.

 

A little update after running these pads for a month.

I have never detected any fade, even after several hard stops. They continue to have more bite than the stockers, regardless of temp. They also look to be easier on the rotors than the stock pads.

The best overall aspect of the Akebono pads is the low dusting. They produce less dust on the front wheels than the stock rear pads produce on the back wheels!

 

dammn good up-date, BFM. very nice work on this thread!!! keep up the informative sharing of knowledge & experience.. jh