A question about stock SVT brake pads.

[gcassidy]

Hey guys, I have a question about stock SVT brake pads. Last year I ended up with a complete spare SVT brake setup (minus rt spindle) from a friend's body shop that needed a spindle for an insurance repair, and had to buy the whole setup. I'm now ready to swap out for my 79,000 mile parts on my '02.

I've been using Hawk HPS pads and they work fine for my driving. These new calipers come preloaded with stock pads. What are they like in terms of use?
If I want to replace them with new HPS pads I'll do it before installing the calipers. BTW, Hawks don't cost me much, so it's more of a which-works-better issue.

Thanks for any advice.

The pads in the new calipers

 

[4rd Toys]

Actually, I am Happy w/ the OE ford pads-

The original pads lasted me 70k+ miles and I have had zero issues.

When I replaced the fronts, I opted to spend extra $ and bought the OE Ford front pads versus the Motorcraft version.

So if you decide, and those pads are the actual OE Ford versions- I'll take them off your hands......

 

[gcassidy]

Thanks, that's good to hear.

 

[tomsgarage]

The factory pads are great! My son has an 04 SVT Focus and he ran 4 days at CMP 4 years ago and he just replaced them last month with 85k miles on them. Those brakes are bullitt proof! It would be nice if my brakes lasted me that long...

 

[Steve@Tasca]

I've run nothing but OEM pads in mine since 2004 and they work great. No issues at all.

 

[gcassidy]

Great, I'll keep the stock pads in.

Thanks guys.

 

[4rd Toys]

Forgot to mention-

There is an issue I noticed which is a tell-tell sign the pads will need changing unless others experienced this with other brands:
A) If the pads & rotors are soaked w/ water from rain and the brakes have not been applied for a period of time
B) After a good soaking from washing the car

>
There is a momentary "lapse" where the car feels like it has "no brakes". I didn't get any squeals, but this "loss of brake control" which I decided to change mine.

 

[gcassidy]

I haven't noticed any reduced braking with my Hawks after getting a car wash (which I do a lot), and it doesn't usually sit for long after any rain since it's my daily driver.

But I'll watch for that after I put these on, since I'll be using the stock pads. We're starting this Monday, shouldn't take too long. I'm gonna hold onto the old, ugly calipers & rotors since I think they're among the parts that are getting hard to find for these cars.