# Brake Replacement



## jmiller3792 (Sep 19, 2017)

Has anyone found a good set of replacement rotors and pads? Everything I'm finding is only the rear brakes, so the fronts must be an uncommon size. I replaced brakes on my 16 GTI recently and liked the performance improvement so much I want to do it on my wife's 18 Atlas SEL.


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## KarstGeo (Jan 19, 2018)

jmiller3792 said:


> Has anyone found a good set of replacement rotors and pads? Everything I'm finding is only the rear brakes, so the fronts must be an uncommon size. I replaced brakes on my 16 GTI recently and liked the performance improvement so much I want to do it on my wife's 18 Atlas SEL.


I did my fronts and have posted the details recently if you search. Got my rotors/pads from Rockauto - $210 delivered. Yes, not a lot of options for the front for whatever reason. 
I got Powerstop slotted/drilled rotors and Centric Posi-quiet ceramic pads. V. easy job - about an hour and a half total taking my time. Amazing results compared to my uneven/"warped" stockers. My issue was pulsing slowing from highway speeds.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

jmiller3792 said:


> Has anyone found a good set of replacement rotors and pads? Everything I'm finding is only the rear brakes, so the fronts must be an uncommon size. I replaced brakes on my 16 GTI recently and liked the performance improvement so much I want to do it on my wife's 18 Atlas SEL.


VW and their infinite wisdom put smaller rotors up front on the Atlas, 335mm vs 340mm on the Tiguan and GTI with PP brakes.

Maybe a conversion to 340mm brakes up front using a Tiguan caliper carrier will open up more options for rotors, and you get a slight increase in leverage from the pads, unless the Atlas uses a different caliper


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

BsickPassat said:


> VW and their infinite wisdom put smaller rotors up front on the Atlas, 335mm vs 340mm on the Tiguan and GTI with PP brakes......


That is 5 mm. Get a rule and look at what 5 mm means. BTW, that's 2.5 mm as a functional matter.


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## KarstGeo (Jan 19, 2018)

BsickPassat said:


> VW and their infinite wisdom put smaller rotors up front on the Atlas, 335mm vs 340mm on the Tiguan and GTI with PP brakes.
> 
> Maybe a conversion to 340mm brakes up front using a Tiguan caliper carrier will open up more options for rotors, and you get a slight increase in leverage from the pads, unless the Atlas uses a different caliper


Yep - pretty dumb. I bet it's an easy upgrade you as point out to just move to a 340 with the carrier....same as what I did to my Sportwagen to go from 288 to 312s.


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## A4MOS19 (Oct 2, 2018)

KarstGeo said:


> I did my fronts and have posted the details recently if you search. Got my rotors/pads from Rockauto - $210 delivered. Yes, not a lot of options for the front for whatever reason.
> I got Powerstop slotted/drilled rotors and Centric Posi-quiet ceramic pads. V. easy job - about an hour and a half total taking my time. Amazing results compared to my uneven/"warped" stockers. My issue was pulsing slowing from highway speeds.



How many miles do you have on these now, and do you notice less brake dust?


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## KarstGeo (Jan 19, 2018)

A4MOS19 said:


> How many miles do you have on these now, and do you notice less brake dust?


About 2K miles on them now. Less brake dust than stock pads.


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

KarstGeo said:


> Yep - pretty dumb. I bet it's an easy upgrade you as point out to just move to a 340 with the carrier....same as what I did to my Sportwagen to go from 288 to 312s.


Might you consider that VW engineers know much much more than you about brake design? We are talking about 2.5 mm on the radius (.1 inch)


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## 801 (May 23, 2011)

I did the fronts with "Duralast." They produced a HORRIBLE shudder when braking. I replaced them with the same this and the issue was the same. So, I bought OEM pads/rotors and the issued COMPLETELY went away.


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## KarstGeo (Jan 19, 2018)

801 said:


> I did the fronts with "Duralast." They produced a HORRIBLE shudder when braking. I replaced them with the same this and the issue was the same. So, I bought OEM pads/rotors and the issued COMPLETELY went away.


So "Duralast" rotors? Where from? What pads?


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

801 said:


> I did the fronts with "Duralast." They produced a HORRIBLE shudder when braking. I replaced them with the same this and the issue was the same. So, I bought OEM pads/rotors and the issued COMPLETELY went away.


Incorrectly installed parts would, of course, not function properly.


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## mhjett (Oct 16, 2000)

KarstGeo said:


> So "Duralast" rotors? Where from? What pads?


Duralast is Autozone's brand. 

I'm actually surprised they had pads for the Atlas given it has an odd rotor size, but maybe the pads are the same as Golf R or another MQB car.


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## KarstGeo (Jan 19, 2018)

mhjett said:


> Duralast is Autozone's brand.
> 
> I'm actually surprised they had pads for the Atlas given it has an odd rotor size, but maybe the pads are the same as Golf R or another MQB car.


Ok got it. I always go with higher-end brands or OE.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


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## spike_africa (Nov 9, 2015)

KarstGeo said:


> mhjett said:
> 
> 
> > Duralast is Autozone's brand.
> ...



The duralast brand is pretty garbage. It's weird there is almost nothing for the fronts. Looks like I'll have to be a test subject and see what fits


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## mhjett (Oct 16, 2000)

KarstGeo said:


> Ok got it. I always go with higher-end brands or OE.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


Agreed, with brake pads, quality really matters. :thumbup:


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## *DesertFox* (Sep 26, 2017)

*EBC Brakes*

EBC Brakes has front and rear rotors and shoes for the Atlas. I installed front and rear rotors and pads on my 2010 Audi Q5 last year. Very good quality. You can purchase them at ECS Tuning.


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## Hedgehodge7 (Dec 30, 2016)

i cant find any pads for our suv under ebc website, sigh, this is pathetic , i just want matching fronts and backs that arent oe vw brand that also cost 500 lol


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## Hedgehodge7 (Dec 30, 2016)

ugh i was looking into 2018 tiguan stuff and the hubs are 3 bolt on tiguan and 4 on atlas but the knuckles look like they MAY be the same distances, hard to tell from photos. if they are then the caliper carrier should come over without issues hopefully.


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## Hedgehodge7 (Dec 30, 2016)

CRK-Z23 Geomet Coated Brake Kit - PowerStop Brakes maybe? nfc on this brand though , sigh. they have lots of full kits. someone mentioned them on the forums being powersLop :\


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## mhjett (Oct 16, 2000)

Hedgehodge7 said:


> i cant find any pads for our suv under ebc website, sigh, this is pathetic , i just want matching fronts and backs that arent oe vw brand that also cost 500 lol


Problem is that the front Atlas brakes are a one-off size so they aren't shared with any other VW model, oddly. 

I have Akebono Euro ceramic pads all around on my mkV Jetta; they're fantastic. They have rears for the Atlas but no fronts...


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## Hedgehodge7 (Dec 30, 2016)

I'm looking into getting Tiguan calipers and carriers but I can't find it anyone checked if they mount up to our setup, hubs are 3vs 4 bolt, who knows


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

is that size difference enough to really cause clearance issues?? There is no point in "upgrading".


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## Hedgehodge7 (Dec 30, 2016)

speed51133! said:


> is that size difference enough to really cause clearance issues?? There is no point in "upgrading".


If anyone can chime in that their... 350mm? Fronts vs 345mm cleared let us know please. I rather not change out lots. Thanks


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

you can always bring to larger rotors to a local car part store. They can turn down the OD that 2.5mm in seconds.


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## EBC Brakes (Jan 26, 2021)

Hedgehodge7 said:


> If anyone can chime in that their... 350mm? Fronts vs 345mm cleared let us know please. I rather not change out lots. Thanks


You can find our full offerings for VW at the below link, including Atlas and Tiguan. I hope this helps, if you need any more guidance please feel free to reach out



VOLKSWAGEN - Perfect Brakes Discs, Pads and Shoes


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## Hedgehodge7 (Dec 30, 2016)

EBC Brakes said:


> You can find our full offerings for VW at the below link, including Atlas and Tiguan. I hope this helps, if you need any more guidance please feel free to reach out
> 
> 
> 
> VOLKSWAGEN - Perfect Brakes Discs, Pads and Shoes


I think I went to ebc site and nothing came up. This link takes me to "perfectbrakes" hmmm?


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## Boggus (Jul 16, 2000)

I had EBC green pads on my 21 CS-R, developed squeal and crazy dust.


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## Hedgehodge7 (Dec 30, 2016)

Boggus said:


> I had EBC green pads on my 21 CS-R, developed squeal and crazy dust.


Yeah i read that about greens, not sure on yellows, read reds are way to go but not offered


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## EBC Brakes (Jan 26, 2021)

Hedgehodge7 said:


> I think I went to ebc site and nothing came up. This link takes me to "perfectbrakes" hmmm?


PerfectBrakes is our recommended retailer, as we do not retail directly from our website. For the UK it is www.EBCBrakesDirect.com and USA www.PerfectBrakes.com


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## EBC Brakes (Jan 26, 2021)

Boggus said:


> I had EBC green pads on my 21 CS-R, developed squeal and crazy dust.


How long ago did you have this issue? Our R&D department are always looking to improve materials, and you may find that the latest grades offer much better performance and reduced noise/dust. Our Redstuff are our lowest dust pad and much longer lasting than previous redstuff blends, Greenstuff are an OEM improved replacement, with Yellowstuff and Bluestuff being our performance pads, Blue a track/street hybrid and Yellow fast-street performance pad.


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## Boggus (Jul 16, 2000)

Feb 2022 
They were highly recommended from a vendor. 7 months later, they have been removed.


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## Chris4789 (Nov 29, 2017)

There are several threads going on replacing brake pads so I’ve tried to add a few details to this one.
I just did my 2018 Front pads & rotors at 56k. There was no normal wear sensor as I've seen on other vehicles i.e. electronic sensor or even a piece of sheet metal contacting the rotor when the pads get low. There was what appears to be a rivet (see pic) at 1mm of pad wear that told me it needed to be done now. I knew it was about time and bought the parts a month ago, but other stuff comes up. This is a reminder to look/measure all 4 pads when assessing the wear as mine were 5 mm on some and the end of one at 1mm, new pads are 14mm thick. At 54k the dealer told me they were at 5mm and did not recommend replacing.

-As others have done I chose Powerstop Evolution drilled, slotted & Ceramic Pads from Rock Auto
-I recommend getting a 17mm Open End wrench (either thin or one you grind down) to avoid using vice grips on the caliper pins (as the YouTube videos show) or this is a great excuse to buy those Knipex Parallel Jaw pliers you have always wanted.
It took a while to grind down this Craftsman wrench ($8 eBay) from 8.5mm wide to 5mm.
Grind for 2-3 seconds and cool in water for 2-3 seconds to keep from losing the tool’s temper.
-Have a Wheel Hanger M14x1.5 to help align wheel for lug bolts
-Turkey baster to suck out brake fluid. When compressing calipers fluid goes back into master cylinder which has probably
been “topped off” by a dealer, so now there is excess fluid
-Have Conversions to Ft. Lbs. ready if your torque wrench lacks Nm scale
-Caliper bracket and torque to 200 Nm (147.5 ft. lbs)
-Self-Locking Hex Bolt 35 Nm (25.8 ft. lbs) (upper Caliper Bolt with the weight on it)
-Rotor Torx retaining screw (VAG-N10648301) T 30 Torque to 8 Nm (5.9ft. Lbs.)
-Brake Pad Retaining Plate (spring clips); The side tabs must point outward

YouTube Help:
Front Brakes: Replacing front pads and rotors on VW Atlas – YouTube
Rear Brakes VW atlas rear brakes replacement install – YouTube
Replacing rear pads and rotors on a VW Volkswagen Atlas - YouTube
















I save time by gathering up Tools & Supplies the day before the job to save time and aggravation having to get up & down & find something you forgot.
Supplies
-Rags; Newspapers (under Caliper), Gloves (many), Baby Powder, 409 or similar Parts cleaning fluid
-Camera 
- (2) Knee pad (1) on each side
-Anti-seize Lube
-(2) containers for parts (1 for Tire lugs; 1 for Calipers)
-Brake Fluid to flush system
-Turkey Baster
-Old Brake Fluid Container (hold removed fluid)

Parts needed:
-Rotors
-Pads
-Wear Indicator (not needed)
-Caliper Bolts –Optional

Tools:
-Floor Jacks; Pucks & Jack Stands
-Caliper Piston compression tool 
-Safety goggles-
-Small wire brush,
-Caliper hangers
-Lug Nut Socket Set; Impact Driver & ½” Impact socket holder
-Lug Nut Cover Puller Hook
-(2) Bosch Lights
-Lug alignment Hanger Studs M14 x 1.5
-21 mm for Caliper Bracket Bolts
-T30 for Rotor Screw
-13 mm Caliper Pin
-Vice Grips
-Rubber Mallet & Hammer
-Narrow 17mm wrench or Knipex plumbing pliers
-Large & Small Torque Wrenches

I do not remember the source for the bedding info but it worked good for me
-Bedding in our VW brake rotors and brake pads consists of a simple braking sequence. While driving down a side road perform the braking sequence from 60 down to 15 mph with a medium pedal compression. Perform this braking sequence three times consecutively allowing around 60 seconds in between each stop. Once this is done allow the brakes to cool. Allowing the car to cool for around 30 minutes should be enough to cool the brake system. This is an initial brake bedding sequence and should allow for a good brake pedal feel and bit. Once the brakes have cooled you can continue with your normal driving conditions and characteristics. After about 15-20 minutes of normal driving conditions the proper brake bedded performance can be had.


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## mhjett (Oct 16, 2000)

Well done on the write-up. 

Curious to hear what people think of the Powerstop rotors and ceramic pads. 

I put Akebono ceramic pads on all 4 corners of my mk5 Jetta and they are far and away the best brake pads I've ever bought. Unfortunately, Akebono doesn't make pads (yet) for the oddball Atlas front calipers.


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## KarstGeo (Jan 19, 2018)

Just swapped my fronts again at ~43K. Used VW rotors this time, pads are just fine/have tons of life left. It really comes down to pad deposits from my wife's driving this only around town/short trips and being an early braker.


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## A4MOS19 (Oct 2, 2018)

KarstGeo said:


> Just swapped my fronts again at ~43K. Used VW rotors this time, pads are just fine/have tons of life left. It really comes down to pad deposits from my wife's driving this only around town/short trips and being an early braker.


Curious what effect you were experiencing from the pad deposits? Vibration, noise, reduction in braking?


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## KarstGeo (Jan 19, 2018)

A4MOS19 said:


> Curious what effect you were experiencing from the pad deposits? Vibration, noise, reduction in braking?


Vibration during high speed braking. Many call this "warped rotors" buts it's just pad deposits.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk


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