How much did you pay for your brake pads

[acdcfan]

How much were you expecting to pay for a quality pad with an integrated wear sensor? (I assume you were buying something good rather than one of the many cheapo brands out there).

no ware sensor, it is 2007 diesel.

Personally, i wouldn't buy any parts from SCA (great for accessories & cheap tools though) as the drones behind the counter don't appear to know much about parts.

i will go with REMSA front and rear. it is not SCA web site but it was DBC performance web site Pads

Rather than buying on price, shouldn't your priorities be: cold performance, hot performance, pedal feel, dust, noise, disc erosion, durability?

I am thinking about all those things, one of the reason I wish to go with REMSA pads..I rather keep replacing the pads rather than disc rotors. So what I am incline to look for are pads gentle on the rotors, not worried about the brake dust and do not wish to feel ripped of.

Also, rather than "thinking" you are getting low, why not pull a wheel off & measure the remaining pad thickness? IMO, anything down to 2mm is fair game on a 10mm original pad thickness. How are your discs wearing? Are they starting to lip? What thickness are they & how does this compare to the minimum?

Sunday job... Last December, at 60k service, pads were down to about 30%, not sure how much more has been lost.

Just not sure how some website can sell pads without asking for VIN number of the vehicle?

[brad]

You realise our forum sponsor (the one I linked) sells Remsa?

No wear sensor on a 2007? I'll be blowed, you learn something new every day.

[Polo GTEye N9]

I have been talking to Greg at QFM High Performance Street and Track Pads! about Remsa's for mine and at $99 a pair with sensor I'm getting the brake fluid GT dot 4 from him too. Great to have a sponser like GSRallysport QFM......

Al

[ian]

I rather push pistons back carefully then releasing the nipple

By pushing the pistons back you are pushing any condensation and over heated brake fluid back into your brake lines ,also this can over fill the master cylinder reservoir, I'd rather have clean fluid in my wheel brake cylinders . Also there's a chance you can damage the seals.

[acdcfan]

has some German slotted front disk and EBC red stuff for $450......just used some clamps to clamp the pistons back, didn't release the nipple....all good....half hour job!!!

You didn't have to use any of tools like below





These are used to turn and push pistons back on cars with ABS. Does your have ABS?

[brad]

These are used to turn and push pistons back on cars with ABS. Does your have ABS?

No, they are used to push pistons back in on cars with handbrakes integrated into the caliper. That's why they have the locating pins. You have to turn the piston as you push it in.

[acdcfan]

No, they are used to push pistons back in on cars with handbrakes integrated into the caliper. That's why they have the locating pins. You have to turn the piston as you push it in.

Thanks for your clarifications... I did not know that. What about the fron ones?

[acdcfan]

Also, rather than "thinking" you are getting low, why not pull a wheel off & measure the remaining pad thickness? IMO, anything down to 2mm is fair game on a 10mm original pad thickness. How are your discs wearing? Are they starting to lip? What thickness are they & how does this compare to the minimum?

I have just checked front pads and IMO they have at least 50% left with rear pads at about 35%. Did not measure it, btu I think I am fine for another 6 months, maybe more.
Disc rotors show slight lip of about 1mm on both front and rear. Don't have poper tool to measure thickness of disc rotors but they look fine to me, no need for replcement.

[brad]

Thanks for your clarifications... I did not know that. What about the fron ones?

Most non-integrated handbrake caliper can be reset by putting the old pad on the piston & using a suitable sized G-Clamp to press the piston back in. It doesn't need much force & should be done reasonably slowly. Crack the bleeder nipple or syphon some fluid out of the MC to relieve the fluid pressure.

Are you sure you have sufficient amatuer mechanical knowledge & experience to do the job properly & safely?

[brad]

I have just checked front pads and IMO they have at least 50% left with rear pads at about 35%. Did not measure it, btu I think I am fine for another 6 months, maybe more.
Disc rotors show slight lip of about 1mm on both front and rear. Don't have poper tool to measure thickness of disc rotors but they look fine to me, no need for replcement.

50% & 35% of what? What is your datum?

[acdcfan]

Most non-integrated handbrake caliper can be reset by putting the old pad on the piston & using a suitable sized G-Clamp to press the piston back in. It doesn't need much force & should be done reasonably slowly. Crack the bleeder nipple or syphon some fluid out of the MC to relieve the fluid pressure.

Are you sure you have sufficient amatuer mechanical knowledge & experience to do the job properly & safely?

I used to change them on my VS commodore for the good part of 10 years. Also have proper tool to push pistons back in, and never had to release the nipple (front or rear)
There are things about cars I don't know, as ilustrated above, but there are thing I do know and can do.

[ian]

I used to change them on my VS commodore for the good part of 10 years. Also have proper tool to push pistons back in, and never had to release the nipple (front or rear)
There are things about cars I don't know, as ilustrated above, but there are thing I do know and can do.

Yes you didn't have to as the Vs didn't have ABS brakes.

[acdcfan]

Yes you didn't have to as the Vs didn't have ABS brakes.

And hand brake was separate operation to brakes.

[gslrallysport]

Crack the bleeder nipple or syphon some fluid out of the MC to relieve the fluid pressure.

Brad,

You've been spot on with everything you've said, but I'm not sure about the above. You should never have to crack the nipple if the mc was filled to the 'full' line when when pads and rotors were fitted, and no fluid has been added since. The mc can be used to tell when the brakes are low as the fluid level will be lower. The mc should never be topped up unless fluid has leaked from the system somewhere, so provided this hasn't happened, then there should be no need to take fluid out of the system when new brakes are fitted.

Cheers,
Greg

[Rob Burns]

Brad,

You've been spot on with everything you've said, but I'm not sure about the above. You should never have to crack the nipple if the mc was filled to the 'full' line when when pads and rotors were fitted, and no fluid has been added since. The mc can be used to tell when the brakes are low as the fluid level will be lower. The mc should never be topped up unless fluid has leaked from the system somewhere, so provided this hasn't happened, then there should be no need to take fluid out of the system when new brakes are fitted.

Cheers,
Greg

THe brake fluid service interval on VWs is 2 years or 30,000km so if the vehicle has been services correctly then it's likely there's more fluid in the system than from the factory.

I agree on not opening the nipple as it's not required to push back the piston whether the vehicle has ABS or not. The rear pads do require a special tool that pushes and turns the piston at the same time. The fronts can just be pushed back like 99% of cars out there.


Cheaping out on brakes is just dumb. They're the second most important part of the car (after tyres) and if they fail then you're pretty much boned. The value of the lives of the people who ride in my car are worth signifcanty more than teh difference in price of a ood set of pads and a cheap set of pads.