I am getting ready to change the front and rear brake pads on my daughter's 2009 Rogue SL.

I see 3 options... Organic, Metallic, and Ceramic

Which ones should I use?

Get oem. Got mine on eBay. Works perfectly. Did mine in 2019.

The OE pads are organic (most Nissan pads are). You can change freely to another type. However, if you change to ceramic, you're stuck with ceramic from then on unless you get the rotors cut. That's because ceramic pads actually melt a thin film of ceramic material into the rotor surface, which will compromise the braking power of organics or metallics unless you shave it off. Only a very light "glamor cut" is required if switching back. Organics and metallics have no similar issues, you can freely mix-and-match them.

Good info here...

So, with the car at 145,000 miles- I am sure what is on there is the 2nd set of brake pads.
How can I tell by looking at the old ones whether they are ceramic or not?

Rockhoundrob wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 23, 2022 5:54 pm

Good info here...

So, with the car at 145,000 miles- I am sure what is on there is the 2nd set of brake pads.
How can I tell by looking at the old ones whether they are ceramic or not?

To my knowledge, without analysis you can't. In most instances switching from ceramic to something else won't cause noticeable problems, but the pads will take longer to burnish and could have problems if life happens to hand you unexpected panic-stops during the wear-in period. To be safe, I'd just give the rotors a light cut along with the new pads and then you'll know what you have for the future.

Is it possible after I change the pads to take it on the highway and brake ( slow down) every mile or so for about 20 miles?
Is that enough to burnish? This would include about 5 miles of city driving to get to the highway.

I guess I could do a test and go on the highway and do an emergency stop (with no traffic) and see what happens.
If it doesn't slow down that much, then I know I need to drive around more and burnish the brakes.

The problem with testing by doing an emergency stop is that you can glaze the new pads. Then you're screwed, they'll stop like crap and may end up cracking someplace down the road. If you really don't want to touch the rotors, I'd say put ceramics on it and call it good. That works fine whether the old ones were ceramic or not. I frankly think ceramics stop better than the stock organics on our Alties. That's subjective, but the point is, you won't hurt your stopping power by switching over and might well improve it.

I'm with Vstar. I have switched all my vehicles to ceramic pads. I generally do rotors and pads if I'm not sure of the age and for sure if there is any wobble when braking. After that, I'll do a set of pads and then the next one is rotors and pads.

If you get ceramic pads and have not done the break-in on them in the past, make sure you look it up. They need to be broken in (heat cycled and then cooled) to bed properly. Have a place picked out that you can get to without braking very much then do the sequence and then get back home without braking much. You don't want to sit at a stop sign or light with the brakes applied when they are hot as you can imprint on the rotor and cause problems.

I've never been a big fan of the "high speed brake jamming" recommended by some ceramic manufacturers. It burnishes the pads and rotors quickly but runs the risk of stressing any flaws in the rotor material and ruining a perfectly good set of rotors. Six to ten moderate almost-stops from 65~70 mph and then several minutes of cruising to cool-down has always worked fine for me. You can sense when the brakes just begin to fade, which is time to quit braking and start cooling off. All you're really doing is getting the pad surfaces hot enough to melt and coat the rotor. I've also never bothered with bedding when simply replacing ceramic pads with new ceramics. The rotors are already coated and several moderate stops like you'd do for conventional pads is enough to start the burnishing process, which normal driving will complete.

OK Thanks guys!

Guess it's best to go to ceramic... nothing to lose there.

I installed raybestos eht rotors and pads on my 09. I went with wagner coated rotors due to the black hats and finish on the rotors, but installed eht pads on the wife’s midnight rogue. One full Ohio winter and neither show any corrosion. If you go to bob is the oil guy, lots of car guys recommend them. The prices are great on rock auto and the pads are a hybrid. The bite after switching the wife’s rogue and Altima over to dot 4 is much better. The wagner rotors are way overpriced compared to raybestos but they fit the look I was going for. Last I knew was that akebono makes Nissan pads but can say for sure that they make the calipers on the 18.