Brake pads

[MountainMan]

So i have lifetime breakpads on my rig, bought about 4 yrs ago and going strong... but recently i was told you shouldnt buy the lifetime ones because they are harder and just move the wear and tear to the drum or disk... is that true?

 

[R72K5]

semi metallics

ceramics

organic

organic are softest but make the most dust mess and wear out the fastest, but are real easy on rotors,

semi metallics have metal flakes in them and so are harder of course and can take real abuse and last longer and less dust mess but wear rotors faster than organics, they resist heat alot better than organics, but they squeal often, on some vehicles like gm RWD cars caprices camaros k-10s etc


ceramics are deluxe highest price and resist temp increases and are hrdest i think and little dust mess if any at all

im not too learnt on the ceramics, so i dont know how hard these are on rotors or anything like that

but maybe someone here knows about them, uses them, or something

personally i like organics on light duty where i know i wont be hauling weight and such ever, to save on rotor wear, if i dont need to have semis,

and semis if i know i will be hauling weight and be using the brakes harder than usual and kinda often or more often than that

and ive never tried ceramics, i wont spend that much on something like that,
is just how i am, organics and semis work fine for me, whichever i need, depending on what i plan on doing with the vehicle

4 years on pads is a damned long ass time

you must either hardly ever drive, or there's some high $$$$$ pads/rotors on yours, or... youre running metal to metal right now, humm..


lol.

i replace pads and/or rotors at least three times a year on all mine, i drive about 3 or 4k, or so, each vehicle, each year,
new rotors and drums every second pad/shoe change is what you should do, everyone



good luck

 

[MountainMan]

LOL... ya i car pool to work so ya i dont put many miles on... maybe 3K a year on road ... wish it was more, expecially in the dirt, but 138K miles on an '86 and everythings original stock (not bragging) and although the engine runs good i can tell its pretty tired, and the shocks and springs are shot too... anxious for a 4" from Tough contry (no blocks)

thanks for the info...

 

[dyeager535]

I've heard the same, but haven't run any long enough to see which wears out first!

Our Schucks here actually stopped selling lifetime pads.

I have a feeling it just depends on what brand they sell as lifetime as to composition.

 

[R72K5]

I have a feeling it just depends on what brand they sell as lifetime as to composition.

yep, i have to agree, although it seems like 99% of the time auto zone and oreillys sell you semis as their lifetimes

i cant ever recall getting organics as lifetimes

but im sure i have

just dont remember

too many brake jobs to remember, by farrrr

pads are pretty freakin cheap cept for ceramics, so oh well, its ok


good luck

 

[diesel4me]

Disc brakes...

I learned when I had my van on the road that vehicles with manual brakes that have large rotors,like the 11" ones on a full size van,impala,C10 truck,etc,should NOT use semi-metallic or ceramic brake pads!..I always thought the semi's and ceramic were the best you could get!(and they ARE!)--but with manual brakes,I was standing up on the pedal so hard during a panic stop or going down a long hill my butt would come right off the seat!..I even had a hard time trying to "lock the wheels" during a panic stop--I could NOT make it skid unless sand was under the front wheels!

A Bendix sales rep came into the parts store I worked at,and I told him how I thought his "top dollar" brake pads sucked during a long trip I'd taken to upstate NY,and how I almost went over the side of a few cliffs in my van,and had to downshift the tranny in order to stop in time!

He asked me if it had power brakes,and I said "no"--he then GAVE me a set of organic pads,and told me to send the semi's back in that box with a "defective" sticker on them so the store would get credit for them..

I put the organic pads in,and I admit I was sceptical--I thought sure I was taking a step DOWN,not up!...but they were free,so I installed them..

To my suprise,the van DID stop a lot faster,and with MUCH less pedal effort!.I could even make the front tires skid fairly easy now,if I hit the pedal fast and fairly hard! ..I went to the same area in NY a year later,and I must say it was a lot less scary coming down Hunter Mountain than it was the year before with the semi-metallic pads!

The sales rep said the organics are sufficient for any vehicle with large rotor,and will not last quite as long as the harder pads will,but wear the rotors less also.(not a big deal nowadays--rotors are pretty cheap actually,a lot less than they used to be 10 years ago)...

I learned something that day..no power brakes = no semi-metallic pads!...and after looking closely at the listings in the catolog,they actually RECCOMEND the organics for non-power brake applications,if you read the "footnote" in teeny print at the bottom of the page!..

 

[divorced]

So would organic pads stop a truck with power brakes better than semis? My '95 and Michelle's '96 don't seem to stop well.

 

[diesel4me]

they did in my case...

I was told its because manual brakes dont apply as much pressure to the calipers as power assisted brakes will,and semi-metallic pads need to get "hot" to work effectively..due to the large rotors and "low" pressure,the semi-metallic pads would take a lot longer to heat up and "grab" better...in my van,I felt as though the pads were glazed over,and no matter how hard I pushed the pedal,I could not lock the wheels,and many times I thought I was not going to be able to stop in time!..--kind of like what a K5 feels like with 40" tires,heavy steel wheels,and stock brakes!!

 

[ntsqd]

Every brake pad compound has a specific temp range it wants to operate in. If you are either above or below that range, stopping distance suffers. Most of the "Hi-Perf" pads sold by mass marketers are pointed at hard driven street cars. Rare that a 4x4 will get them up into their intended temp range. A tow rig would possibly be a better place for that type of pad.

Fortunately for GM people the circle track crowd use the large and 'Metric' GM calipers in a lot of varying classes. Which means that there are a lot of pads that fit these calipers offered in different compounds. The large caliper uses a "D52" pad and the 'Metric' uses the "D154" pad. These designations are part of an industry standard numbering system and are universal throughout most or every manufacturer.

Try this link for descriptions of wilwood's current pad compounds. Their old 'D' compound used to be THE pad to use in a dirt track car. I've found it to work well in a 4x4 as well. The now appearently discontinued Raybestos "Brute Stop" pads performed very similarly. Wilwood has appearently dropped the D pad and I do not know which compound replaced it. Call their tech line (805.388.1188) if you are interested in what replaced it. Their 'E' pad was similar to the 'D' and reportedly does not dust as much as the 'D' does.

Manual brakes can generate just as much clamping force as power brakes, it's just that there are other considerations that drive the decision to go with power boosted brakes. Excessive pedal travel is usually the first consideration. BTW, skidding it not a desirable trait, it actually increases the stopping distance. At the very outer limits you should just only *barely* be able to skid the tires.

 

[jarheadk5]

DO NOT PURCHASE "WAGNER THERMO-QUIET" PADS!! THEY ABSOLUTELY SUCK!!

I was in dire need, and it was all the store had in stock that afternoon. Pedal effort feels doubled or tripled from what it used to be, and wet performance really sucks. It now takes more pedal effort to stop my Eclipse than it does our Mountaineer! It's been nearly 2 months, so they've had plenty of time to bed-in to the rotors...

 

[R72K5]

manual vs. power assist has nothing to do with pressure at cylinders/pads

need same pressure at them, just with manual you have to push harder with foot to get up to same pressure in cylinders than with power assist

and semi metallics i would think wold grab the iron rotors better than organics, but who knows,, it would also depend on condition of calipers, lines hoses m/c etc, and bore size of cylinders and m/c and so forth, many many different factors, variable, each vehicle is different

so im not positive,

but someone here would know

good luck