Brake pad 101 needed

[expat]

There was a time where if you needed a brake job you bought a set of brake pads for your vehicle at the parts counter, or dropped the car off at a brake specialist, no questions asked.

Lately I was looking for brake pads, the choice was a bit overwhelming. Organic, semi metallic, ceramic, plus different formulations even from the same manufacturer for a given application. What to do?

I guess going OEM is the safest route, but what if that is not an option and you have to go aftermarket.

Each manufacturer sings their product's praises. But what are the trade offs?

 

[The_Jeff]

dust, noise, performance, longevity, rotor wear, price.

There's your matrix.

If your car came with ceramic, it would be prudent to keep ceramic.

New pads come with friction codes, eg FF. First is cold, second hot. GG grabs better than FF.

 

[camrydriver111]

You can't go wrong with OEM friction material.

If car came with ceramics, replace with ceramics. If it came with semi-metallics replace with semi-metallics.

Brand is up to you, how much you want to pay, how good is the pad.

 

[dlundblad]

It is my understanding that:

Ceramic creates less dust, costs more and wears rotors faster.

Semi metallic is good on all aspects except dust. They even perform better than ceramic.

I have no idea about organic.

 

[MNgopher]

If you are happy with the OEM brakes, than nothing wrong at all with going that route.

After that, I fall in the camp of:

-If the OEM brakes were semi-metallic, replacements should be too.
-If the OEM brakes were ceramic, replacements should be too.

Most retailers have it marked what the OEM formulation is.

 

[cat843]

Akebono Pro ceramic. Probably the best pad out there for normal (non racing) driving. Its OEM for some cars and reasonably priced.

While you can go up in pad material, never go down from OEM. So if you had semi-metallic then no organic, only semi metallic or ceramic.

 

[NHGUY]

Basically its down to grade....cheapo,better,best.....and material..ceramic,metallic.First,you get whatever was OEM material,then decide grade.Easy.Its the multiple brake packages like Silverado 1500 that confuse people...

 

[camrydriver111]

Originally Posted By: cat843
While you can go up in pad material, never go down from OEM. So if you had semi-metallic then no organic, only semi metallic or ceramic.


Ceramic and semi-metallic are different. I would not rank them and say one is better than the other.

It all depends on your application.

Some guys put ceramics in their BMWs because the OEM semi-metallic pads are very dusty, but it's a big downgrade in pedal feel, performance, and sometimes they squeak like mad. Even with a top brand like Akebono.

As I understand it the pros and cons are:
Ceramic: Better rotor life, less dust, less initial bite, less fade resistance, higher noise
Semi-metallic: Lower rotor life, more dust, better initial bite, better fade resistance, lower noise

 

[nwjones18]

My brake pad strategy is to go with OE friction material then choose between factory pads and Wagner Thermoquiets from Amazon.

 

[nthach]

My brake pad theory is stick with OEM friction chemistry. I've seen all the brake pad suppliers specify different than OEM as replacement.

 

[expat]

Part of the problem is, one of my vehicles is a 74 Triumph Spitfire, another an 84 Toyota PU. I,m sure pad chemistry has changed over the years, forinstance Copper content has been reduced for enviromental reasons, and perhaps back in 74 Aspestos may still have been a component.

I tend to want to favour semi metalic in both applications, but the variety available seems a bit overwhelming.

 

[buck91]

A few years back when ceramics were just becoming popular I had some mediocre experiences and tended to err towards semi-metallic. Today I don't think that holds true nearly as much. Certainly not in the raybestos ceramics on the mustang nor the Thermoquiet ceramics on the truck- both seem to work very well.

 

[mjoekingz28]

But think of this, if the cheap pads coat the outside of your wheels with brake dust, imagine what it is doing to the inner part of the wheel you rarely, if,ever, wash....also, all of,the suspension and drivetrain, rubber boots, caliper seals and so on.

 

[expat]

Which is harder on rotors, semi metalic or ceramic

 

[spasm3]

I consider rotors sacrificial. If a brake pad is easy on the rotors, is it really a good friction material? I run Hawk superduty pads on the avalanche, wears the rotors but stops better. If it eats up the rotors, i don't care, i need to stop when towing, a set of rotors is cheap in the scheme of things.

 

[Srt20]

IN my experience, semi metallic are harder on rotors, stop better, more visible dust, and don't last quite as long. Not that it's a big deal.

On performance apps, like racing, I use semi metallic.

On my daily drivers I tend to use ceramic mainly because the dust is less visible. I did notice that more pedal force was needed, which again was not a big deal after the first few stops.