time to replace rotors and pads (96 upgraded)

[CALL AAA]

Happy New Year, everybody!
I have the 96 upgrade on my '92, and it's time to replace the pads and rotors. But I can't remembr what parts were from what year. Were the calipers from the 96, and the rotors and pads from the 94?

I would like to get the best pad and rotor combo I can get slotted rotors and the grippiest set I can get but I would like to avoid dust if possible. I don't remember which ones made lots of dust, and what they were made of.

So basically, I need:
a) to know what size rotor (and matching pad) I need.
b) what I would use for racing and if that set-up makes a lot of dust.
c) where I should buy them. I would like to buy from someone like SHO NUT or another Forum-recognized vendor.

Did anyone understand what the **** I am trying to ask? I don't.
Thanks!
Tony
Can anyone recommend a brand and distributer?

 

[shojuan]

Calipers are 94 on up. Brackets, pads, and rotors are 96.

The 96 Ford (not Motorcraft) pads are low noise, don't dust, and have good feel. I went with those on my 94 but I was debating between Carbotech Bobcats and the Fords. Went with the gentlemanly Ford pads on the ATX's 96 upgrade and Wilwoods for the 89. The Ford pads are plenty for the Gen II. Maybe I'm missing something from the Fords vs. the Bobcat's maybe not. Bobcat's probably dustier (have them on rear of 89 but never clean the weaves anyways so don't know how old that dust is).

Anyhow, the Ford pads are up near the top of the brake page on shonut's website. P/N XF3Z-2001-CB. He also sells the bobcats. Just make sure you focus on 96 pads so you don't get stuck with a smaller pad, which might fit.

If you want slotted rotors just get some powerslots from tirerack. They're plated so they'll look good a long time. Plus they're good rotors. Don't know if the stock Ford replacement rotors are plated. Don't know if they're any good either. I'm guessing they are plated and they are good rotors. Good rotors = good metal = less chance for rotor related problems. It's possible to have no problems with cheapy rotors but it's a gamble. I say cheapy rotors are for severly budget restricted folks with a surplus of free time for fixing losing gambles down the road.

You mentioned racing. For a few casual light track days scattered here and there the Ford pads would probably be fine.

Short form:

Most of time street, want to keep wife happy, no surprises, excellent manners, excellent street braking I'd say go with powerslots and Ford XF3Z-2001-CB pads.

Gonna get a little ******** on the track then get a set of Carbotech Panther Plus (shonut sells these too. You want the 598 pad size. He labels them as for the 96 anyways to keep it easy). Nice rotors or cheapy rotors your choice. Plating might melt off nice plated rotors anyways. A pair of $30 cheapies you can just throw away if they start giving you problems. Better to trash lots of those then ruin a nice set of street rotors that you take too long to part with cuz they cost 4X as much. What I'd do is run the pretty and pricey rotors on the street with my set of Ford pads and then swap to the dedicated track rotors and Panther Plus pads for the track days. Unlike the Ford's they'll dust and squeak and won't last as long.

Nothing wrong with having an extra set of pads and rotors for "special purposes".

That said, if you're budget is stretched thin but you want to take your car to the track you'll be fine to run what you brung. Plenty of folks say the Ford pads do fine on the track.

Don't forget the little things: clean, grease your slider bolts, bleed the dirty fluid outta the lines, clean your pads and rotors with brake cleaner during install, season your rotors, bed your pads, yada yada yada.

 

[CALL AAA]

Wow! Thanks for typing all that out, Rick. I think that covers everything. Will I run into any little secrets like the rear caliper "turn-to-compress" trick? That one earned me (yet another) ride on a flatbed. Thanks again,
Tony

 

[shojuan]

Not really. If the caliper pistons are a little too hard to push in or you don't have your big C-clamp/pad spreader tool then open up the bleeder screws and they should push in by hand. Bleed any air out after doing this. If using a pad spreader or C-clamp then put your old pad against the piston to spread out the tool's force and have it working more from the get go. Pretend you are an obsessive compulsive hand washer only the brake parts are your hands and brake cleaner is your soap and brake fluid is doggy doo. Careful of your paint. Brake fluid and cleaner will muck it up.

Also, if your brake reservoir is full and you don't plan on bleeding your brakes so you want to keep the bleeders closed then suck out some of the fluid with a turkey baster (have waste container next to reservoir so you can be mindful of your paint when you wield that turkey baster full of brake fluid). When you push the pistons back into their bores they're going to push fluid back into the reservoir.

If you've done brakes before then you probably know all this stuff so I'm just reminding you in case you forgot. Fronts are much easier than rears. Really straight forward and hard to screw up.

 

[Shoaz]

I'll just add a little bit:

It's not really possible to get pads that are both grippy and low dust. If you want very low-dust pads you'll have to sacrifice some grip and heat capability. Low dust pads are generally not good for the track.

What pads you'll need at the track depends a lot on which track you're going to. When I go to PIR I can get about a half-dozen weekends out of a set of race pads. When I go to AMP they'll last one weekend, maybe two if I'm careful. It's very easy to burn through a set of street pads quickly on a track that requires heavy braking. If the track isn't ******* brakes, the picture changes.

Pads aren't hard to change, and IMHO track days are a lot more enjoyable when you're not constantly worried about street pads giving up halfway through a session. There are compromise pads that can be used on street or for reasonable track use, too.

My personal preference when resetting the caliper pistons is to always do it with the bleeder open. It's a good idea to keep fresh fluid in the caliper, so resetting the piston with the bleeder open squeezes out the old fluid and prevents crappy fluid and whatever particles have settled in the caliper from getting pushed back up into the master cylinder.

This might help a bit, too:

SHO brakes at the track.

 

[shojuan]

This might help a bit, too:

SHO brakes at the track.

Awesome article Eric!

 

[LOUDSHO92]

You have 94-95 Knuckles right?

 

[shojuan]

You have 94-95 Knuckles right?

He already has the 96 brake upgrade, he's just shopping for new pads and rotors and was trying to remember which parts of upgrade are from which years.

 

[CALL AAA]

Yeah, I'm confused. Imagine that.

 

[CALL AAA]

One more thing. When you guys say "96," you mean "96 SHO," right? Are the brakes the same on a 96 SLO and a 96 SHO?

 

[LOUDSHO92]

Sorry missed that.

 

[SHOtimer]

One more thing. When you guys say "96," you mean "96 SHO," right? Are the brakes the same on a 96 SLO and a 96 SHO?

Yes, '96 SHO. The '96 SLO had the same brakes that the 94-95 SHO's did.

Doug

 

[93redATX]

This might help a bit, too:

SHO brakes at the track.

Excellent write up. Kudos to the author

 

[CALL AAA]

Yeah, that was pretty good. I think we should get some college credits for the first few paragraphs.