Brake Pads

had the pads installed this morning.

sure made a difference in braking.

mechanic said the front pads were almost gone.

so far no brake noise, stops good,

Forgot...going too high in performance will have some liabilities you will need
to consider and manage

I went with Performance Friction carbon when they first came out. He's a buddy of
John at Praise Dyno Brake. Both used to work at, think IIRC, Holly or some such


Anyway, they were GREAT when hot, but when cold...slide right through a cross
walk in front of an elementary school. Lucky very early and if later...it might
have been filled with kids

Friction material *ALL* have a working temp range. The higher performance they
are, the higher the lower end of their working temp range. Those good at the lower
temp range will have a lower high end range. Some mix and match to try and get
a wider temp range, but a compromise at best on the ones I've tested

path1 wrote:
snip...

Out of curiosity, What point are you supposed replace pads?

I think I'm getting down there but not sure when to replace.

Any surprises putting them on?

First, which pads is so dependent on how you drive, where you drive
and what you tow/haul. Choices range from freebies that comes with
rebuild calipers to performance to pure racing. I'm in the performance
to racing with racing prototypes from buddy I test all the time

On that, recommend folks test their ABS about once a month. Find a
gravel or loosey goosey pavement with no traffic and nail them. Wakes
up most ABS systems

Purchase based on cost, generally. The more expensive generally are
better than the cheaper ones. Your decision based on how you drive
and maintain your vehicles. Mine normally list for over $100 bucks
but get discounts (AAA at NAPA, and got to know lots of the folks
at various supply shops and buddies who are always formulating stuff)

Friction material's thermal characteristics has them out gas when
at a certain temp range. That will float them off the cast iron and
is what 'fade' mainly is

Their ability to reject heat to the backing plate and then to the
other thermal pathways to reject is one key

If the friction material is too thin, it will NOT have enough thermal
inertia to both radiate and transfer heat to the backing plate

That will then have the friction material heat up quickly and out gas
A bad thing

Most of today's pads have "squealers' on them to make a squealing
noise when they touch the rotor. Most are only on one side of the
caliper and is the piston side, which wears faster than the anvil
side. Most has the piston side on the inside and the anvil on the
outside and that is mainly for clearance for the wheels (the stuff
like hose, banjo, bleeder, piston cylinder, etc)

I normally change mine before the squealers contact and depends on
which vehicle.

Just changed the mini van and still had a bit to go before the squealer
touches. Noticed that braking was lessened and with the level of
performance pads...made a ruckus...like gravel on the rotors once
they came up to temp

For the mini van I buy from NAPA and found a new performance level
I like a lot for 'cars'. Nissin is the brand

For the Silverado still have Praise Dyno Brake front and rear. Great
stuff out of Texas and GREAT folks (love that family run business)

Suburban has buddies prototype and will have to give them back soon
for him to check out in his lab

The Sub's rear are Praise Dyno Brake shoes and think around +100K miles
of SEVERE duty on them



On any surprises...depends, but most today are very similar in architecture
So they pretty much all go through the same sequence

Key is making sure the sliders are working FREELY. I have my own setup
to inject high temp disc brake grease (loaded with Moly). I always
replace the slider boot...if they are available.

I also bleed the lines each time I change the pads. Use the 'C' clamp
method and can do it alone without the need for a helper

I love Wagner Thermoquiet pads. I have used them on all my vehicles for the last 5 years. If you have an Advanced auto parts in town, you can save 20% by ordering online, coupon, and in store pickup.

thomasmnile wrote:

maxwell11 wrote:


do any of you change out the brake fluid? truck is 14 years old!!!!

Yes I do. My mechanic has performed a complete purge/refill of the brakes system. He tells me this service performed occasionally is cheaper than replacing an ABS module. And I agree.........

I do also about every three years. OEM pads here but I have a EB.

JustLabs wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
That's a good price for all 4 wheels, kinda high for just the fronts.

I was thinking its a high price for pads,even for all four corners.

I've use the Thermo Quiets. Decent pad,middle of the road.

IIRC I saw a $30 rebate on Wagner pads while at the parts store the other day. You may want to check it out.

You might be able to get them cheaper online, but local O'reilly's price is around $65 per axle. So $95 for both axles is a pretty good price IMO.

DavisK wrote:

path1 wrote:

Out of curiosity, What point are you supposed replace pads?

I think I'm getting down there but not sure when to replace.

Any surprises putting them on?

If you want to judge by the thickness of the remaining pad, you need to know if they are riveted or bonded. Riveted pads must be replaced while there is still more pad remaining to avoid scoring the disc with the rivets. They should usually be replaced when there is about 1/16" material left on bonded pads or 1/16" above the rivet head on riveted pads. Many pads have a clip on the end that will contact the disc when it's time to replace. If your state has safety inspections, the mechanic will usually let you know when they are getting close.

Does anybody even make riveted pads anymore, other than for commercial usage I mean? All I've ever seen are the bonded, i.e. glued. :)

I usually replace mine when the material is getting thin. No sense waiting until it's gone completely. Pads are just too cheap to warrant running the risk of ruining the rotors. Although those are pretty cheap too. LOL

{my truck is a 2005 model and is 14 years old}

that is the new "common core" math they are teaching today.

do not know where I got that figure, it's wrong, I am just old, did not check my figures, before I hit the post button.

but, back to the brake pads, at least, so far no negative reaction.


sure do not want the brake pads to turn out like the Cooper tires I bought for my van, what a unhappy camper I have been since buying those tires. sure wish I had ask others about those tires before I laid down my money.

An for a few dollars more, I could have had another set of Michelin's. But she said, she might trade it at 100K and I did not want to buy someone else a new set of Michelin's. it needed tires and I got them, wow.

path1 wrote:

Out of curiosity, What point are you supposed replace pads?

I think I'm getting down there but not sure when to replace.

Any surprises putting them on?

If you want to judge by the thickness of the remaining pad, you need to know if they are riveted or bonded. Riveted pads must be replaced while there is still more pad remaining to avoid scoring the disc with the rivets. They should usually be replaced when there is about 1/16" material left on bonded pads or 1/16" above the rivet head on riveted pads. Many pads have a clip on the end that will contact the disc when it's time to replace. If your state has safety inspections, the mechanic will usually let you know when they are getting close.

I too wonder how fast you need to drive to turn 9 years into 14.
My 2005 is no where near 14 years old.