Brake Pad/shoe Replacements

[gene]

I've been window-shopping online for front brake pads and rear shoes, and to be honest, I'm a bit confused, even though I'm a DIY'er who has been doing brake jobs for a very long time.

Used to be your choices were limited to asbestos and the manufacturer. Now, it's "organic" and ceramic.

Some organic is "semi-metallic", supposedly better performance at the cost of your brake discs.
I've heard that ceramic won't fade. True?

I remember that with the old asbestos pads, some were hard, with longer life, and some were softer with better performance.
I'm not sure about fade between the two.

I need to be brought up to speed!

 

[kennythewelder]

There is a lot of tech that has gone into the newest brake pads. It is kind of like this. Simi-metallic pads stop a little better than ceramic, but make more dust. Ceramic pads make very little dust. Now that being said, this is what I have experienced. I have a 1997 Chevy Silverado that I have redone. These trucks have issues stopping. I had simi-metallic pads on the truck. I switched to ceramic pads, and found that the truck stopped a lot better. This could be a result of better technology in the newer pads IDK. The old pads had been on the truck for several years. I never buy cheap pads ether. I have also replaced the master cylinder on my Chevy with one off of a newer body style Chevy. This was a big help on my truck. I have good brakes now. When I buy pads and shoes, I don't buy the most expensive but close to it. There are a lot of choices out there when it comes to brake pads and shoes. Also flushing out all of the old fluid is a big help. When I swapped out the master cylinder, I bled it before the install, then I bled each wheel 12 times to flush out the system. My brake fluid is just a clear in the master cylinder, as it is in the bottle of new fluid. Removing all of the trash from the system is a big help, and the brake system works like it should. I did the back wheels 6 times, filled the MC, did the front 6 times filled the MC, then repeated this again.

 

[jazz]

there are many opinions but the fact that the pads quality is not regulated I would stick to name brand parts. No doubt some of the real cheap pads may be nothing more than sawdust and metal shavings. Quality of rotors can also be a issue. Poor man pay twice.