BRAKE Pad, Rotors, & Calipers Discussion Thread (OEM, aftermarket, etc...)

[Matt230K]

Snow in Toledo already? I'm in Cincy, we just got rain yesterday. But my C7's are coming off soon for winter. Just using the 16" coupe wheels for the winter with Michelins. Shouldn't need snow tires.

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[mleskovar]

I am very happy with the Porterfields in the front but they didn't work in the back (pads overlapped the rotor edges and made clicking noise). The stock pads in flat/freeway So. Ca. would have gone at least 50K miles I believe. The Porterfields have worn 25% in 17K miles and almost no rotor wear (unlike stock pads which ate the rotors). Stock pads 'feel' more linear in stopping power but Porterfield pads feel close enough and I believe stop better...and will fade less (but I haven't pushed either that far yet).

[patronus]

Brake pad life has a lot to do with how much stopping you do.

If you do a lot of city driving, you use the brakes more than another person who drives interstates mostly.

Also, automatic transmissions offer virtually zero engine braking so brakes on auto tranny cars tend to wear a lot faster than those with manuals.

[Vince]

i just replaced my brake pads about 2 weeks ago. I went with the porterfields. My wheels now stay alot cleaner. The install was very easy too.

my one question is how long does it take for them to stop squeeking? they squeel a little bit at the very end of my stops, like the last 6 feet.

also after some really hard driving my pads where smoking. Is this normal or does this go away after a while?

[CitronC230K_03]

i heard sometimes brakes will make soise but it fades after they get worn in. if it continues id take it back. i had that happen to me once and they didnt refinsh the rotors engough the first time, and after they did all was good.

[mleskovar]

Pads should not be smoking and I doubt that they were. Especially Porterfields that have a very high heat resistance. Are you sure that oil or grease isn't getting to the pads? What kind of grease did you put on the backs of the pads to stop the squeeling? If it wasn't high temp...like white ceramic grease (I recommend) I bet that's what was smoking. Grease on the back of the pads keeps them from vibrating and causing the squeel.

[SoCal240/6]

Originally posted by Vince
my one question is how long does it take for them to stop squeeking? they squeel a little bit at the very end of my stops, like the last 6 feet.

also after some really hard driving my pads where smoking. Is this normal or does this go away after a while?

If they are squealing now, they probably will not stop. Its possible, but probably not.

If it were my car, I'd take them out again, champer the edges a little more, clean them up (get all the old antisqueal off), apply new anti-squeal, thick, and let it dry 1/2 hour or so, and put them back on. (I had the exact same problem as you - squealing in the last 10 feet or so - but was able to stop it by doing what I described).

They shouldn't smoke. There may be some "stuff" on the surfaces (grease, etc). That will probably burn off and the smoke should stop.

[galaxygrrl]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the advice.

Cheers,

Beth

[Vince]

i took the hard run again and no more smoke. but i didn't go quite as hard this time. the squeeling is fading away too. It's very faint now.

[Buellwinkle]

My squeeling went almost completely away after about a month.

[young]

hey beth,

on my other car, the pads went after 12000 miles. almost all of those miles were on hills and local (short distances)... so i think your pads going so soon is normal, especially on your hill!

[Big Sheesh]

I went to their homepage and saw two types of pads:

R-4 and R-4S. Which ones did you guys buy?

[Tony De Mattei]

Just returned from my local dealer (RAB Motors, No. CA) for my first "A" service at 10,600 mi.

In addition to the "A" service, an alignment was completed to correct an off-center steering wheel (turned to the right), new center vent ordered to prevent the fogging issue, part ordered to resolve my single BAS/ESP alert, resolve the Check Engine light issue (replaced the coolant temp sensor).

Seems like pretty standard stuff...

My 2002 C230K is an automatic. My BACK brakes have 40% of the pad remaining, the FRONT pads have 80% remaining. 90% of my mileage is freeway miles so I was not expecting this much wear at 10,600 mi. Also surprised that the front pads are wearing twice as fast as the rear.

I consider myself a conservative driver (do not drive aggressively).

Any thoughts?

Happy New Year to all!

Tony

[young]

i also have only about 12000 miles and i think the front brakes are basically gone. i'm going to take it in soon to get the brakes taken care of.

but most of my driving is stop and go so i'm not totally suprised. my other car needed new pads at 12000 miles... but, for that car, it's covered under the maintenance plan.

[levelr123g]

12000 and your brakes are gone?
i have close to 20000 and it doesnt even look like ive used my pads, you must be driving extremely hard.

[young]

did i mention that i live in the hills? so a lot of braking going downhill. i don't drive that hard at all... really...

[Lynn]

Originally posted by Tony De Mattei
Also surprised that the front pads are wearing twice as fast as the rear. Tony

The fronts do 75 to 80 per cent of the braking, so they will wear much quicker than the rears.

[Matt230K]

The mechanic may have just looked at the pads and given an estimate instead of actually measuring the thickness. If he was just guessing, you might actually have more pad than this left. That does seem like a lot of wear for mostly highway driving.

[mleskovar]

All depends on your driving style and location. 40% (if that's accurate) remaining means replacement at about 18,000...not far from average
in the city I would guess. If you are a 'late braker' expect reduced pad/tire/shock/car life. Pads have reduced life in mountain and city environments as well.

[DCXdynodog]

Originally posted by Tony De Mattei
Just returned from my local dealer (RAB Motors, No. CA) for my first "A" service at 10,600 mi.

In addition to the "A" service, an alignment was completed to correct an off-center steering wheel (turned to the right), new center vent ordered to prevent the fogging issue, part ordered to resolve my single BAS/ESP alert, resolve the Check Engine light issue (replaced the coolant temp sensor).

Seems like pretty standard stuff...

My 2002 C230K is an automatic. My BACK brakes have 40% of the pad remaining, the FRONT pads have 80% remaining. 90% of my mileage is freeway miles so I was not expecting this much wear at 10,600 mi. Also surprised that the front pads are wearing twice as fast as the rear.

I consider myself a conservative driver (do not drive aggressively).

Any thoughts?

Happy New Year to all!

Tony

If you accelerate hard and spin the tires slightly these cars can throw the rear brakes on. Could be that or it's confused and throwing the rear brakes on cause it thinks it spinning. The BAS/ESP light would make me suspicious of that and the dealer should warranty the brakes if that is the case.

[Matt230K]

Originally posted by DCXdynodog
If you accelerate hard and spin the tires slightly these cars can throw the rear brakes on. Could be that or it's confused and throwing the rear brakes on cause it thinks it spinning. The BAS/ESP light would make me suspicious of that and the dealer should warranty the brakes if that is the case.

Rear brake wear depends a lot on how the ESP acts. It seems like on most cars, ESP doesn't cause a whole lot of wear on the rear brakes. But the worst is the ML55. The rear brakes must be working even when the yellow triangle isn't flashing because these brakes have been wearing out completely in 10,000-15,000 miles. Just be glad this doesn't happen on the coupe. You would be replacing pads constantly.

[galaxygrrl]

Hi all!

I'm going to Seattle this weekend and I have a friend up there who works on my car sometimes. He's done things like change the fuel filter, changed the AC/heater fan, spark plugs, etc.

My brake pads are gone in 15,000 miles (whazzz up with that?) and I thought I would ask him to change them in exchange for an all you can eat sushi lunch.

But, I don't know if this is a simple thing to do or not. He can definately do it, but he does not have a shop, so is this a lot of work to change the brake pads without a lift?

Also, I know everyone said to get porterfield pads, so where can I buy these online inexpensively?

Thanks in advance.

Beth

[jlm]

GG,

This is a pretty simple job, with or without a 'shop'. I'm in the middle of some home improvements, and can barely squeeze my coupe in the garage, but I wanted to get my Porterfield pads on. I got the job done in under an hour, even using the car's jack. Only points I would advise are to get a few zip-ties to secure the brake pad wear sensors (if you decide on Porterfields as well) and to use a proper torque wrench.

All the sushi you can eat? For some that would be a GREAT deal!

jlm

[Buellwinkle]

Don't know if any price for the Porterfield pads can be called inexpensive, just search the forum, I believe you'll be paying about $150 shipped. Some people were happy with their Pagid pads and they cost about $50. You may also want to consider the AMG brake conversion for $650, I would if I lived in S.F., they'll stop better, last longer, not fade as quickly...

[b4chow]

Originally posted by Buellwinkle
Don't know if any price for the Porterfield pads can be called inexpensive, just search the forum, I believe you'll be paying about $150 shipped. Some people were happy with their Pagid pads and they cost about $50. You may also want to consider the AMG brake conversion for $650, I would if I lived in S.F., they'll stop better, last longer, not fade as quickly...

where can you get the amg brake conversioni for $650. I'm very interested.