by "Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
Published 03/13/2017 at 13:33
by "Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
Published 03/13/2017 at 13:33
Tags: brakes
; Damn brakes
STARS: 1
T’OPPO the early afternoon, Oppo! It’s getting to be that time — time to change out the brakes on my Fiesta. I’m still on stock equipment and lately they’ve been feeling kinda slushy, so I figured might as well use part of my tax return to get ‘er done, so to speak. Your advice in the matter would be greatly appreciated.
Now, I dunno if the rotors/drums need replacing, too, since I haven’t actually taken a gander yet. But for sure the car needs new pads up front, and new shoes in the back.
I’m also due for a wheel alignment (thanks, potholes!) so I’m gonna have the shop check while they’re doing that, but I wanna DIY the brakes.
So, my question for Oppo:
What are some economically priced pads and shoes that will still have a decent lifespan and offer decent performance? Recommendations on rotors and drums welcome, too, but I really don’t think they’ll need replacing just yet.
Specs: 2013 Ford Fiesta sedan, base equipment. And I live in a very warm hot, very humid climate (yay, Texas!).
"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
03/13/2017 at 13:40, STARS: 3
OEM everything. I believe you can take your disks to an AutoZone or O’Reilys and they can resurface them on site. I’d call in advance though just to make sure.
"Captain of the Enterprise" (justanotherdayinparadise)
03/13/2017 at 13:41, STARS: 0
I like to use ceramic pads and always find asbestos free pads when replacing
"EL_ULY" (uly)
03/13/2017 at 13:44, STARS: 2
OEM pads. Not sure if the rotors and drums can be resurfaced since i’m not there the measure their thickness. If so, i’d get them resurfaced. If not, aftermarket rotors are fine. As far as pads, I recommend OEM.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/13/2017 at 13:44, STARS: 0
Maybe that’s true for cars that aren’t bargain basement level cars, but my car is the definition of econobox. For instance, I didn’t get the OEM tires when I replaced them last December because I found some Yokohamas that were rated better for a similar price.
Also, I’m not made of money. If I can find a more economical alternative for similar performance/lifespan, then I’m gonna do that.
"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
03/13/2017 at 13:45, STARS: 1
I duno about the Fiesta but in my Twingo, the price difference between OEM replacements and high quality brembo stuff was really small. Braking is noticably better than when I bought it and certainly better than just before I changed the worn stuff out.
"Toby F., Manager" (itsmefromhr)
03/13/2017 at 13:48, STARS: 2
I, as well as my family, have been using O’Reilly and/or AutoZone brakes and rotors for all our non-performance cars for over twenty years w/out any issues. If it means anything, I also drive my non-performance daily driver like a performance car. You may also want to flush your brake fluid and possibly replace your brake hoses.
As for your alignment, if you plan on keeping the car for at least another 5 years, you should check out Firestone’s lifetime alignment. It cost me about $195 a few years back IIRC; and it has paid itself off.
"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
03/13/2017 at 13:48, STARS: 3
“T’OPPO the early afternoon, OPPO!”
FIFY.
"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
03/13/2017 at 13:48, STARS: 0
Be wary of the cheaper alternatives. They might not be the best. You especially don’t want to cheap out when it comes to a car’s stopping ability.
Pads for my car were only about $150 for the front and rear sets. I can’t imagine a set of pads and shoes for a Fiesta costing more. And you don’t need new disks, you can just have them resurfaced if they need it.
"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt)
03/13/2017 at 13:49, STARS: 2
Thought about doing the fluid at the same time? While the pads are probably getting to around that time, in my experience living in my own hot and humid hellhole, squishy usually has more to do with old brake fluid than pads.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/13/2017 at 13:51, STARS: 0
Yeah. I don’t want to “cheap out” per se, but I do want to know what kinds of alternatives are out there. And yeah, I figure there isn’t enough wear on the discs to replace them (they might need resurfacing.... maybe?) but, if people have insight on that, too, it’s good info to file away for later, ya know? I’d rather know too much than too little.
I’ll call the local O’Reilly’s though, and see what they say about resurfacing. I didn’t know they did that.
"Phatboyphil" (justphil)
03/13/2017 at 13:52, STARS: 0
1) Wouldn’t assume the rear drums are done, the rears wear significantly slower than the fronts.
2) You don’t need to get OEM. I normally use Centric and I’ve also heard good things about Raybestos, although never used them myself. Personally I’d also trust the OEM spec pads from anyone who makes high performance pads too, such as EBC, Hawk, etc.
3) Also don’t forget to check the fluid as well! Although at 30k it’s doubtful it’s bad.
"Phatboyphil" (justphil)
03/13/2017 at 13:55, STARS: 1
Also don’t forget to get brake grease to lube the slide pins. Also certain points on drums you should lube as well, just don’t recall of the top of my head.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
03/13/2017 at 13:56, STARS: 0
How many miles are on it? There’s more than a fair chance that the rear shoes don’t need to be replaced yet either. Always a good time to check your brake fluid as well.
I haven’t been disappointed by advance auto silvers on DD’s. I had more aggressive pads on ye olde miata, but I rattlecanned my wheels flat black to deal with the brake dust. Aggressive generally means more dust and less life especially on the cheap.
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
03/13/2017 at 13:56, STARS: 3
OEM tires are almost universally trash.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
03/13/2017 at 13:58, STARS: 2
RockAuto is actually pretty good in this regard - they arrange their brake parts by fanciness level/similarity to OEM, and they’re nearly always cheaper than a local parts house. That being said, going with local parts house stuff, it’s mostly a question of matching OEM *type* more than specifically OEM parts. For example, semi-metallic gets replaced with semi-metallic, that sort of thing. Arbitrary upgrades (say, to ceramic) don’t always work like you’d expect - for one, ceramic pads on substandard or poorly cooled rotors can cause problems.
Brands-wise... I dunno. Mid-grade at NAPA/O’Reilly seems okay for house brand, Raybestos also seems okay.
As to the rotors, you should be able to find out what the minimum thickness on them is and measure with a caliper (or even a tape). If they’re a couple millimeters bigger than the minimum and pretty smooth (not a big job to grind), you can get them done for like $12 per, usually. However: if you can get new rotors for like $20-$25, it may not be worth it. On a lot of cars it isn’t.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/13/2017 at 13:58, STARS: 0
It’s definitely something I have to check, as well. Overall, though, the car is getting to the point where more and more “major” things are needing to be replaced or maintained. I’ve had it since the fall of 2012 and it’s got 64,5XX miles on it right now. So... brakes, fluids, and such are getting there.
Changed the tires out in December. Need to get the alignment. And the next oil change is due, too (about 100 miles left this cycle, which I’ll finish out this week). I figure if the weather is good this weekend, we can knock out that stuff all at once.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
03/13/2017 at 14:00, STARS: 0
they still sell asbestos pads?!?
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
03/13/2017 at 14:00, STARS: 1
I just went the NAPA rout and everything seems to be good quality at somewhat reasonable prices. $60/pair for front brake pas, rears were $45 or so. Rotors were $35-$45 per rotor, my rotors were shot so I didn’t bother with a resurface. Car is a Mazda 3, a surprising number of parts on my car say FOMOCO.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/13/2017 at 14:01, STARS: 0
Yeah, I actually don’t think the drums are done (nor the rotors in front, either), but I think the info would be useful to know anyway.
Thank you for recommending brands! I’ll look them up!
Fluid definitely needs checked, and likely replaced. Car has 64,5XX miles right now, so yup... it’s time.
"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
03/13/2017 at 14:02, STARS: 1
I think Akebono does pads for the Fiesta. I know on my car the pads work great and cut down a ton on brake dust. Not too expensive either I don’t think. You could always check Rock Auto to see what they have.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/13/2017 at 14:04, STARS: 0
Thank you for the detailed explanation and how-to, Rover! I really appreciate it. I haven’t priced anything yet because I wanted to get Oppo’s input first. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain things. :)
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/13/2017 at 14:06, STARS: 0
Fixed! :D
"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
03/13/2017 at 14:10, STARS: 1
It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt)
03/13/2017 at 14:10, STARS: 1
Generally you can just ignore drums for quite a while IMO. They hardly do anything. Discs are super easy and with OEM pads I doubt you’ve eaten into the discs enough for it to matter. You’d know because with the pads worn down, you’d have a ton of travel to get to the disc (when I wear through a disc because track pads or forget to put in the shims, it feels like no brakes until they’re down at the bottom). I’m thinking front pads and a fluid bleed should be good with what you’re describing, which is easy to do in your driveway with about $40-50 worth of parts and fluid. You’ll need a second person to help with the brake bleed though. I’ve always had good luck with centric ones, though with OE style pads I’m not sure how much it matters as long as you’re using the same material. This is the one I’d be thinking of for standard DD duty if it were my car -
http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=3973422&cc=3000984&jsn=476
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
03/13/2017 at 14:14, STARS: 1
I’m in a big family, where we do all our own maintenance, and lots of people we know take advantage of my dad having a shop, so I’ve performed and been around a lot of brake jobs - that being said, they’ve mostly been with NAPA pads and rotors because of the quick availability. We’ve only branched out to, say, RockAuto for a couple of specialty things like Centric drilled and slotted rotors and Raybestos performance pads for a Caravan, because early oughts Mopar minivans have garbage for brakes and my grandma lives on a hill...
For the Land Rovers and other old drum brake stuff that’s hard to buy, we typically reline shoes at a local clutch and brake business.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/13/2017 at 14:18, STARS: 0
Got the second person part covered already. My dad will be helping me. We usually work on cars together. :) He’s actually the one who was like, “so... when are we gonna do your brakes?” Heh.
"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt)
03/13/2017 at 14:30, STARS: 1
Yeah, you guys got this. I’d just do the fronts and see how it is then. Drums are such a pain in the ass, I’d rather lift the car a second time than do it and not need to.
"TorqueToYield" (torquetoyield)
03/13/2017 at 14:57, STARS: 1
OEM pads and brake fluid.
There’s a good deal of engineering that automakers do to make sure pads and rotors work together. You want to make sure the pads don’t eat the rotors, and most importantly that they’ll be able to work properly when cold. Had a coworker replace his DD pads with ‘track’ pads. The first cold morning he tried to stop he had a brown pants moment.
But mushy pedal is all brake fluid.
Also, change the pads first, then do brake fluid, otherwise the fluid reservoir will overflow once the calipers are depressed. Ask me how I figured that out...
"Captain of the Enterprise" (justanotherdayinparadise)
03/13/2017 at 17:07, STARS: 0
The EPA only banned NEW uses of asbestos in 1989. There are companies that still use asbestos in brake pads and many other products through this rather large loophole. Brake pads with it is an old (pre-1989) use therefore still okay to produce and make in the U.S.
"LongbowMkII" (longbowmkii)
03/13/2017 at 17:32, STARS: 0
huh. youd think that brakes would be part of that ban since they turn it into dust, you know the most dangerous form of the stuff. let’s hope that there’s a chemical reason it was allowed.
"Captain of the Enterprise" (justanotherdayinparadise)
03/13/2017 at 17:58, STARS: 0
Lobbying pretty much won that ban, it mostly had to do with the money that could have impacted businesses
"MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner" (montegoman562)
03/14/2017 at 10:19, STARS: 1
For my Milan I typically use the gold level of everything from Advance parts wise. It’s a good middle ground between the terrible cheap silver level and the too much money for a cheap daily platinum level.
"Xyl0c41n3" (i-am-xyl0c41n3)
03/14/2017 at 11:37, STARS: 0
Followed you for Oppo. Your future comments should be black from here on out. Welcome! And play nice. :)