Author Topic: Brake Pad Opinions please. (Read 6603 times)

Fred · « **on:** March 01, 2009, 07:34:19 PM »

Pops car has 79,000 + miles on it and it's time to think about brakes. Yes, I'm still on the OEM brakes. What do y'all think? Stay with OEM or go with something else? If something else.....what do you suggest? Remember Pops drives sllllooooowwww.

Critterman · « **Reply #1 on:** March 01, 2009, 07:37:49 PM »

Well pop you can stay with OEM's, switch to hawk pads, go with the DDM big brake kit, or any of several options available at DDM. There may be other vendors, but I go with what I know and use.

Fred · « **Reply #2 on:** March 01, 2009, 07:51:29 PM »

So I take it you recommend the DDM stuff?

Jimmyo · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2009, 08:29:09 PM »

79,000 miles on OEM pads says quite a bit about the OEM quality. I would stay with stock.

Fred · « **Reply #4 on:** March 01, 2009, 08:33:13 PM »

Mine is a daily driver with a commute of 70 miles round trip a day mainly highway. Not complaining about the 79k on OEM mind ya'. OEM's have served me well.

MomsSol · « **Reply #5 on:** March 01, 2009, 08:35:38 PM »

Quote from: Popsintx on March 01, 2009, 07:34:19 PM

Pops car has 79,000 + miles on it and it's time to think about brakes. Yes, I'm still on the OEM brakes. What do y'all think? Stay with OEM or go with something else? If something else.....what do you suggest? Remember Pops drives sllllooooowwww.

WoW ... that's a LOT of mileage out of OEM brakes! 'Course we don't call you LolliPoPs for nuthin'

So ... for those of us that have been accused of NOT applying our brakes .. can we expect longer wear??

Critterman · « **Reply #6 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:20:57 PM »

Quote from: Popsintx on March 01, 2009, 07:51:29 PM

So I take it you recommend the DDM stuff?

In a word "yes

Lucy'sDaddy · « **Reply #7 on:** March 01, 2009, 10:02:45 PM »

IMO, Hawk HPS pads are THE best pads out there for our daily drivers. I've been running them for 4 1/2years now, and just changed them on my Monte last fall, after 2 cars, 4 years, and 115,000 miles of HARD driving. They still had probably 30-50,000 miles left on them, but the rotors were gone. We have them on the Silverado, also. That's what's going on Lucy when it's time, or sooner.

Chemist · « **Reply #8 on:** March 01, 2009, 11:17:15 PM »

Pops,

I'll second the vote for the Hawk HPS pads. They are strong, quiet, and durable.

spicy3480 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 01, 2009, 11:43:30 PM »

When I first upgraded my brakes, I used Hawk Ceramic pads on the front and HP+ on the rear. The HP+ pads squeaked too much, so I went with Hawk HPS on the rears and they were much better in terms of noise. I was happy with this setup, along with stainless brake lines...much former pedal feel. I have since gone with the DDM calipers up front and are very happy with them. These calipers also use Hawk HPS pads. Either of those two choices work well...the OEM pads are not bad at all...it just depends of you have the cash to burn or not.

lil goat · « **Reply #10 on:** March 02, 2009, 01:18:31 AM »

I run HPS on my truck they are great, I will hopefully run Wilwood on the Solstice before the OEM's wear out, if I don't get the Wilwood I will get HPS for sure.

sol_man · « **Reply #11 on:** March 04, 2009, 08:44:51 AM »

Ditto on the Hawk pads, ran them on my G35 for a long time and the harder you push them the better they work! Although that kind of mileage from OEM would make me lean in that direction for your needs.

DirtyMike · « **Reply #12 on:** March 04, 2009, 08:09:35 PM »

i wore my stock brakes at about 18,500 and my hawk hps are about to go as well at 25,000...i dont baby my car:) but i would like longer lasting, and soon as i get $$ im going tce/willwood bbk..

DeepBlueGXP · « **Reply #13 on:** March 05, 2009, 09:53:10 AM »

I'm still on my stock pads at 42K.

spicy3480 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 05, 2009, 09:56:36 AM »

The stock pads and rotors really do a nice job...just a small rear bias on this car. A simple pad upgrade will solve that...I have gone with Hawk HPS on the fronts and rears. I have also used Hawk Ceramics on the front, as they give off way less brake dust and are super quiet. Now I have the DDM caliper setup, and that uses Hawk HPS pads on the front, but they are specific to the caliper.

snaponbob · « **Reply #15 on:** March 05, 2009, 10:36:53 AM »

If somebody wants a full set of lightly used Hawk HPS pads I would sell them for half price.

Fred · « **Reply #16 on:** March 25, 2009, 09:43:58 PM »

Thanks for all the replies. Due to budget constraints (pending wedding of youngest daughter) and the fact that the OEM's served me well for 81K+ I took the car to a dealer today for brakes and an alignment. If I get the same service outta these I should be good to go until 162K+.

tazz · « **Reply #17 on:** March 25, 2009, 10:15:54 PM »

Hawks are great pads I had them on my Ford Truck.
Has anyone tried EBC pads? I also had these on my Truck and they were actually better than the Hawks.

lil goat · « **Reply #18 on:** March 26, 2009, 07:45:37 AM »

Here is a comment I read about the new Wilwood setup I thought was kind of interesting, makes sense to me, follows the line of thought that you can not improve stopping due to the ABS and computer control of our brakes distance but rather stopping consistancy. I know when I get mine hot they cartainly don't work as well. This is from Solstice -Sport.com, they build race cars amoung other things.

With any car using a factory ABS setup, you really cannot shorten your stopping distance because the ABS controls that. If someone is selling a brake kit, and says it will stop faster, it is not true. What you can do is make that big brake kit from Solstice-Sport and Wilwood give you the same continuous stopping distances time after time, stop after stop. When you are on a track, or are out just driving in a spirited fashion, the brakes get hot, pads can glaze, and your stopping distances increase. With our setup, you get the reliability of race car brakes, with the factory assistance of ABS. There is no better setup available!

snaponbob · « **Reply #19 on:** March 26, 2009, 09:01:14 AM »

Goat, there is a great BIG "yes, but" that was not covered in their answer. Discounting the traction available on a given piece of pavement, there ARE some variables that can be addressed that can shorten braking distances; weight (progressively expensive as weight is reduced), TIRES (not nearly as expensive), and front/rear balance (tricky to address). They are completely correct about consistency.

Let me share what I have learned over the years of soloing many different cars and how the Sky was addressed. With about 8,000 miles and less than one season of solo I had KILLED the front pads. There was plenty of material left but they had been overheated too many times, were fading quickly, and were starting to disintegrate. The rears were almost unworn. Reasons: The stock pads are good to about 500 degrees and so is DOT 3 fluid. Although solo is not all that demanding on brakes (NOTHING like track days where stock pads could fail in a few hard 10 lap sessions) it is still stressful. Also, typically GM biases the brakes to the front (liability is the dominant factor) beyond the normal amount of work the fronts do over the backs - that's why the front disks, calipers, pads, and fluid circuit are bigger than the back. Putting big disk kits on the front without doing the same to the rear will further bias the balance to the front. (Vendors have all said, in phone calls, that they are gauging acceptance - sales - of the front kits before investing in rears, but they are starting to show up.) In my case, I installed Hawk Plus pads on the rear with Hawk HPS front pads. (I actually DON'T like the HPS pads very much, personal feel issue, but used them because I don't like to mix and match brands when there are "sets" involved.) Once everything bedded in there was a very real difference in stopping feel and response, BETTER. With DOT 4 installed the system is now good to about 650 degrees and is nearly 100% fade free. NOW, all four corners are doing nearly equal work once the car has taken a "set" in braking and actually does not dive as much as the rears are helping more. The other easy to address factor is tires. The GXP equipped Goodyears are 220 TPC rated tires which are okay, but in cold weather they do not work as well as in warmer weather. Tires with a lower TPC rating will generally have a better level of grip, BUT, construction and tread design are important as well. If the same 220 TPC tire was available as a, say, 180 rating there would be some improvement in stopping distances all other things being equal. The down side is shorter tire life. (Ask anybody with Pirelli P Zeros and Michilen Pilots.) All that said, physics ALWAYS wins, and lower weight can be stopped quicker. A Sol 2.4 Z0K (about 2700 pounds) WILL out stop a GXP (about 3050 pounds) any day. And when I have my Hoosiers on (TPC 40 !!!) my car stops WAY quicker than with the Goodyears.

lil goat · « **Reply #20 on:** March 26, 2009, 09:57:33 AM »

I agree with you Bob, I was just cut and pasting and addressing the brake pad/caliper issue. In winter I run the stock wheels and tires. This weekend the SSR's and Bridgestone RE-01's go back on, the improved braking is great as the unspung weight is reduced by 7 lbs per wheel (I even bought light weight lug nuts, 1/2 lb per wheel). This improvement is from physics not brake pads. I bought the SSR's not because I particularly liked the way they look, I don't but I do like the way they work A LOT! The Bridgestones, I love and they were a gift. They sidewalls are so stiff most shops could not even mount them, and they are very sticky.

News:

Welcome Guest!!!

Author Topic: Brake Pad Opinions please. (Read 6603 times)

Jimmyo

lil goat

lil goat

lil goat