Recommended brand for brake rotors/pads?

blazedj420

New member
Looking to replace the brake pads and rotors on our 2013 Sprinter 2500. We tour heavily with an interior build out with bunks (additional weight) and we also tow a heavy trailer full of band equipment. Looking at partsgeek.com and there are a bunch of options for brand, and then additional options within the brand. Centric seems to have a bunch of options. Recommendation on slotted/vented versus not? Other brand options are Zimmerman, Genuine, AC Delco, Wagner, and ATE. Anyone have good or bad experiences with any of these? Thanks!
 

sailquik

Well-known member
Why not go with what seems to work the best and has been engineered to give the best stopping power and longest brake life on MB Sprinters.
Go with genuine OEM Mercedes Benz
replacement rotors and pads with all the correct brake wear sensors and
connections to your Sprinters systems.
You will need to replace both the rotors and the pads as Sprinter brakes
are engineered to wear the rotors at the same rate as the pads.
Hence they do squeal a bit if not used
much due to the metal worn off the rotors getting between the pads and rotors. This is also why they seem to create a lot of brake dust on the front wheels.
But they don’t fade if used correctly and they last a long time.
Does your “heavy trailer” have brakes?
Best way to get good brake performance towing trailers is to set up your brake controller so the trailer brakes do more than half the braking.
Trailer brakes are cheap to repair or replace.
Genuine MB OEM pads and rotors....not so cheap.
Roger
.


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smiller

2008 View J (2007 NCV3 3500)
Ordinarily I'd say go with any quality brand for brake parts but in the case of the Sprinter the pads and rotors do seem to be carefully matched and wear together (they last a very long time but at replacement both pads and rotors are replaced) so OEM may indeed be best, although perhaps pricey. Another option might be Europarts (a Sprinter-specific parts supplier) who has some very good deals on pad/rotor packages, including free shipping to the USA. They use Meyle rotors and Brembo pads, not sure if that is exact OEM equivalent or not.
 

edfrompa

2008 ROADTREK on F/L 2500
Sailquik and Smiller have provided you with the Chapter and Verse, I'll add a little personal Amen. I'm now up to the third time I had to "lock 'em up" in a panic stop and, each time, MB engineering came though to a degree that was totally amazing..including one in the rain!
JUST MY $0.02, others may see it differently.
Best of luck, Ed
 

sailquik

Well-known member
ed,
Good point.....the entire ABS system, and the ESP traction control system are designed and calibrated
to work with the OEM brake pads and rotors.
Changing to some other brand, with different friction coefficients/characteristics, could conceivably alter
the way these super important safety systems work.
I too have recently had to "hit the brakes" to the point that non-ABS brakes would have surely locked up
put my Sprinter in a skid.
Just as you experienced, the brake system worked flawlessly and brought me to a safe stop BEFORE
(that's a bit of a change for Roger) I hit the deer.
So.......happy deer......happy Roger....all's well that ends well.
Roger
 

220629

Well-known member
The Best OEM or nothin'.

Don't be foolish and buy quality components from other suppliers. Without the Mercedes Star on the packaging you are for certain risking life and limb.

Do people feel the same way about buying parts for their Chebbies, Fords, Hondas, Nissans... ? Marketing is a wonderful thing. MB is very, very good at that.

:2cents: vic

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Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
Mercedes parts are good quality. If they are cost competitive, and easy to obtain, buy em.

Otherwise aftermarket parts are fairly good in this area from my reading and experience. Europarts SD has a good reputation for selecting quality parts. See what brands they offer. Last I checked they had competitive pricing on their brake kits, even including shipping.

The Sprinters brakes are nothing special. You do get what you pay for at the lower cost levels though, so try to pick something that is not bargain basement. There are some things I will stick with OE or OEM, such as sensors, and core engine parts. Brakes? Nothing proprietary or technically challenging there.

There is no real benefit to drilled/slotted additions to the factory design. They serve little purpose on modern pad materials used on normal street cars, and have several downsides (increased pad wear). If you can upgrade from a solid to vented or drilled rotor, you may see improved heat rejection there. I am not sure if the NCV3 2500 rear rotors are vented from the factory? T1Ns are not.
 
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sprinterPaul

Well-known member
brembo, meyle and ATE all make a quality product. They are oem suppliers too. Mb likely uses one of them. I'm not as impressed with centric.

Don't bother with slotted or vented. They compromise the rotor especially with sprinter weight. Good for race cars. But the best ones are cast that way. Not cut after. And they cost a lot.
 

220629

Well-known member
To be clear.

The Best ... buy quality components from other suppliers.
...
The MB labeled boxed parts are great if the price is right. Labels on boxes and paying more money of itself doesn't make a part better.

I have messed around with some of the lesser priced parts. That experience has led me to Europarts SD or NAPA higher end (for a local supplier). The local dealership prices are cost prohibitive for me.
http://europarts-sd.com/

Your OEM brakes are Bosch, ATE, or Wabco brand. Mercedes doesn't make brake parts, they source them and have them packaged with the MB logo.

http://europarts-sd.com/custompages/BrakeChart.pdf

:2cents: vic
 

sailquik

Well-known member
Vic,
When you purchase Genuine OEM Mercedes Benz Parts, traceable to the VIN # on your Sprinter,
at an authorized MB Sprinter Commercial dealer, where you buy the vans new, and they give you
15% off the MSRP on all the parts you buy, as an incentive to purchase your next Sprinter from them.
and all the parts carry a one year factory warranty, Genuine OEM Mercedes Benz parts are actually
LESS expensive overall.
Have them do the work, in their shop, and the cost per mile drops even further.
Plus, since i do all my business there, I get free towing, for my Sprinter.
I have an issue (like the deer crash down in Virginia) and they send their heavy duty
pick up truck and 5th wheel flat bed trailer , gather up my damaged Sprinter and take it back to their shops for the repair/body work/ whatever.
I can negotiate with them over warranty issues.......saved thousands of $$ by being assertive....and being a
commercial dealer they knock about $20-$30 per hour off the hourly rate for Sprinter repairs vs MB sedan/SUV/Sports car
repairs/maintenance.
Roger
 
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220629

Well-known member
Vic,
When you purchase Genuine OEM Mercedes Benz Parts, traceable to the VIN # on your Sprinter,
at an authorized MB Sprinter Commercial dealer, where you buy the vans new, and they give you
15% off the MSRP on all the parts you buy, as an incentive to purchase your next Sprinter from them.
and all the parts carry a one year factory warranty, Genuine OEM Mercedes Benz parts are actually
LESS expensive overall.
Have them do the work, in their shop, and the cost per miles drops even further.
Plus, since i do all my business there, I get free towing, for my Sprinter.
I have an issue (like the deer crash down in Virginia) and they send their Sprinter trailer heavy duty
pick up, gather up my damaged Sprinter and take it back to their shops for the repair/body work/ whatever.
I can negotiate with them over warranty issues.......saved thousands of $$ by being assertive....and being a
commercial dealer they know about $20-$30 per hour off the hourly rate for Sprinter repairs vs MB sedan/SUV/Sports car
repairs/maintenance.
Roger
Roger,
Glad that it all works for you. None of that works for me with my old T1N's. We're in totally different modes of living.

vic
 

mike01001

Member
Just like with any other vehicle I've owned, I use name brand after market brake pads. I'm on my second Sprinter now after getting 500K miles out of the first, and used after market pads and rotors on that one too. I also own an Infiniti and I'm not going to the dealership for brake pads and rotors. Oem in some instances for parts make sense, but for me, not in this case.
 

Shane711

New member
I am not satisfied with my brakes on my 2002 Freightliner Sprinter 2500. I just can't stop good at all. I installed the Severe Duty Brake pads which made a big difference but I am so afraid I am going to plow into someone. I thought maybe there was a way to change out the whole system. Most of the time I am carrying a load. Also my brakes are always heating up and I will have to replace my front calipers because the rubber boots have melted. I need to 2 to 3 times the braking power that I currently have. Is this a normal problem?
 

edfrompa

2008 ROADTREK on F/L 2500
Also my brakes are always heating up and I will have to replace my front calipers because the rubber boots have melted.
Sounds to me like far too much of the braking load is shifting to the front. My earlier comments apply.

Just my $0.02, others may see it differently,
Beat of luck///Ed M.
 

sailquik

Well-known member
I am not satisfied with my brakes on my 2002 Freightliner Sprinter 2500. I just can't stop good at all. I installed the Severe Duty Brake pads which made a big difference but I am so afraid I am going to plow into someone. I thought maybe there was a way to change out the whole system. Most of the time I am carrying a load. Also my brakes are always heating up and I will have to replace my front calipers because the rubber boots have melted. I need to 2 to 3 times the braking power that I currently have. Is this a normal problem?


Shane;
Did you replace all the rotors/discs as well?
Did you know that the OEM brake pads and OEM
Brake rotors wear down pretty equally, so when the pads are worn out the rotors are worn down to the minimum thickness allowable.
This is a big safety item.
With OEM pads and rotors everything needs to be replaced at the same time.
The OEM parts last a very long time like I get > 100,000 miles before any replacements are needed.
Maybe your severe duty pads are measurably softer than OEM pads and that’s why you have poor brake performance and abnormal brake pad wear.
Roger


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

220629

Well-known member
Mercedes does understand marketing.

I don't buy counterfeit parts. I buy brand name parts eg. - Meyle, Brembo, Wagner, Delco, NAPA, etc. They are not counterfeit parts in a Mercedes box.

:2cents: vic
 

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