Brake pads & discs

asbokid

Horizon81 wrote: »

Was the original quote (of £214) for Citroen parts? If so then it's not bad.

As for people quoting paying just £30 for discs and pads - well, would you trust your life with that quality of parts? Worth paying for decent brakes.

By law, all brake pads sold in Europe must conform to ECE Regulation 90 which stipulates that their performance must be within 15% of the original.

Are you an expert in material sciences and vehicle braking performance?

Or are you just another grubby backstreet garage owner who has been fleecing his punters on brake components ever since time immemorial, who doesn't want his cash-cow to dry up?

Kilty_2

TBH I wouldn't personally fit the cheapest I can find - I've done it before and the performance was definitely down on the originals.

almillar

I think there are a lot of unnecessary disc changes going on in this country. The disc shouldn't wear. I understand that pads are better and there can be more strain, and maybe more wear, but if the friction material hasn't worn out on the pads, the disc should be fine. If there's no lip at the edges, and no deep grooves or scratches (on both sides of course!) then the disc is absolutely fine.

s_b

almillar wrote: »

I think there are a lot of unnecessary disc changes going on in this country. The disc shouldn't wear. I understand that pads are better and there can be more strain, and maybe more wear, but if the friction material hasn't worn out on the pads, the disc should be fine. If there's no lip at the edges, and no deep grooves or scratches (on both sides of course!) then the disc is absolutely fine.

what you have to remember is the old pads will have made their own mark on the disc
now if you put new pads on old discs the pads need to bed in to where the old pads left off
now
each car is different and each make of pad is different and therefore some pads will take longer to bed in
the problem is unless the customer is sensible it can be hard to explain that they need time to bed in but you are saving them money
so its quite often easier to do discs and pads and give the customer a feel good feeling and less hassle


last year vosa stopped mot garages failing scored discs because a lot of fast fit garages were using it as a cash cow

Bongles

almillar wrote: »

I think there are a lot of unnecessary disc changes going on in this country.

There could well be.

almillar wrote: »

The disc shouldn't wear.

Do you mean that? I'd be alarmed if someone suggested my discs needed changing as often as my pads. But if the discs didn't wear at all I think I'd have to suspect magic was afoot.

Bongles

asbokid wrote: »

By law, all brake pads sold in Europe must conform to ECE Regulation 90 which stipulates that their performance must be within 15% of the original.

I've never been concerned that cheaper parts won't stop the car, but I've sometimes been a little disappointed that they've seemed to wear out quicker - suggesting that they might be a bit of a false economy.

bigjl

Horizon81 wrote: »

Was the original quote for Citroen parts? If so then it's not bad.

As for people quoting paying just £30 for discs and pads - well, would you trust your life with that quality of parts? Worth paying for decent brakes.

So Mintex and EBC are not quality parts?:(

You need to do some research before having a pop at other posters.

Don't want to buy some discs and pads for a C2 do you, £150 to you, quality parts aswell, innit.:rotfl:

bigjl

Bongles wrote: »

There could well be.



Do you mean that? I'd be alarmed if someone suggested my discs needed changing as often as my pads. But if the discs didn't wear at all I think I'd have to suspect magic was afoot.

As I think I mentioned before, the compounds of pads have changed greatly over the years, pads are now much harsher on the discs than in the days of pads containing asbestos.

Personally if the discs are an extra £30/5 and you are in there anyway then it makes sense to change both, labour charge is almost the same.

Police and Ambo services change discs and pads, never just pads.

Yes there is nothing worng with just changing pads, and in all honesty if I was doing the job myself and skint I would just change the pads, but I would accept that the new pads will not last as long as new pads on new discs.

My wifes Clio needed pads on the front recently, as is the way it happened mid month, so mega skintness.

I changed the pads easily in half an hour, almost certainly aided by the fact the car is fairly new and nothing was stuck or difficult to remove.

But I know that I will have to change these pads soon, as the discs are worn, not excessively, but enough for me to be putting some money to one side to replace the discs and pads within the next few months, pads were under £20, and i am happy to basically throw that money away when I redo the job.

However, if I had the job done at a garage I would be looking at two lots of labour.

There is no safety issue with doing the pads only aslong as the discs are within tolerances and not warped.

But best practice is discs and pads.

bigjl

Kilty wrote: »

TBH I wouldn't personally fit the cheapest I can find - I've done it before and the performance was definitely down on the originals.

Spot-on, also the old discs with new pads scenario would hamper performance slightly aswell.

I only use OE brakes or EBBC, though as others have said Mintex are good aswell.

Bongles

bigjl wrote: »

Personally if the discs are an extra £30/5 and you are in there anyway then it makes sense to change both, labour charge is almost the same.

I take your point about the labour cost (which is either money if I pay a garage to do it, or my time if I do it myself), but working on the basis that

a) Discs last as long as probably three and certainly two sets of pads, and
b) A pair of discs costs approximately twice as much as a full set of pads

I can't make it make sense purely financially to change discs before they need changing. Putting new pads on old (but still serviceable) discs would have to result in a significantly higher pad wear rate than new pads on new discs to justify it for me.

YMMV (it sounds like it does )