Brembo pad replacement

[jdcobra]

Just did some maintenance on the car and the one of the last things I’m looking to do is get a decent set of pads/rotors for my ‘14 GT with Brembos. Don’t want to go with stock pads/rotors but looking for something that will handle spirited and daily driving. Car won’t see any track use, at least for a while.


JD

 

[Coz]

I use StopTech (by Centric) slotted rotors and PowerStop Z26 pads.

Excellent stopping power and just a little dust. Even used them for my beginning road course outings and they worked well, but they are not designed for all out aggressive driving on the track. I do recommend their "Track Day" pads for that. Work real good but dirty as hell.

RockAuto has the best pricing.

 

[twistedneck]

Biggest upgrade I ever did was HPS pads. I also used stock pads and Raybestos racing pads. Nothing has the bite and consistency and lack of noise like the HPS. They are pricey though. and they are only good for slightly elevated temps over normal hi performance Akebono pads.

 

[chris_302]

Centric rotors work really well. Stoptech pads work ok, you can look into G-loc, carbotech, PFC. They all carry Street pads all the way to track pads.

 

[Coz]

One note on the Centrics is if you get the plain rotors, get the high carbon steel version. The StopTech (made by Centric) slotted or slotted & drilled rotors are made from these high carbon versions.

 

[jdcobra]

Yea I was looking at getting these

 

[Coz]

jdcobra,

What is shown above is for a base GT with front 2-piston sliding calipers (non-Brembo) on a 13.2" rotor. The 2014 Mustang GT with the Brembo package (or Track Pack) has the 14" rotors with the 4-piston Brembo calipers. LMR's price for correct 12661089PR items is actually $5 less than the smaller ones. RockAuto's price for each 14" front rotor is $87. That's almost $95 less per pair. The rears are $67 each. About $55 less than LMRs for the pair. RockAuto will charge for shipping but you'll still save a lot. I've attached a screenshot of the Rockauto page.

If you want to spend a bit more TireRack had Cryo treated StopTech rotors for $146 each. Same part numbers except for CSL or CSR at the end.

 

[jdcobra]

Oh ok, thanks man! I greatly appreciate it

 

[Coz]

No problem! Good luck on your upgrades. Let us know how it works out for you. Merry Christmas!

P.S. if you are ever interested in taking it to the track and want to upgrade your rear brakes to the 13.8" rotors that the 13-14 GT500s have, let me know. You keep the existing calipers and pads and use an aftermarket spacer to move the calipers out to accommodate the bigger rotors. The spacers are available new from a guy that makes them on eBay for about $100 for a pair. I have a used set available because I eventually replaced the axle brackets with the GT500 versions. But you have to pull the axles to do that.

 

[twistedneck]

No problem! Good luck on your upgrades. Let us know how it works out for you. Merry Christmas!

P.S. if you are ever interested in taking it to the track and want to upgrade your rear brakes to the 13.8" rotors that the 13-14 GT500s have, let me know. You keep the existing calipers and pads and use an aftermarket spacer to move the calipers out to accommodate the bigger rotors. The spacers are available new from a guy that makes them on eBay for about $100 for a pair. I have a used set available because I eventually replaced the axle brackets with the GT500 versions. But you have to pull the axles to do that.

wont that throw off the brake balance? or is the bite the same and you just get a little more rotor?

I have to keep the small one to accommodate a 15" drag race wheel

 

[Coz]

I wouldn't call the stock setup as "balanced." For example, the base Mustangs and base GTs have 13.2" rotors with sliding calipers up front with the same brake/rotor set in the back. The Brembo/Track Pack upgrade to bigger rotors and Brembos up front with the rear staying the same could arguably be causing an imbalance by making the front do more work.

The bigger rotor in the back is s well known upgrade and works well. It can even slightly reduce brake dive since the rear brakes are doing a little more work.

The front brakes are probably doing 70% of the work stopping the car. The bigger rotors in the back may shift that by about 5%.

The pad to rotor surface are is identical but the bigger rotor allows more brake torque to be applied. Analogous to putting a breaker bar on s socket.

The effect on front to rear braking can also be affected by wider tires in the back, rear shock rebound settings, etc.

In an extreme dry braking event if one of the wheels is about to lock up, the ABS system will handle it.

I've never had a problem nor have I heard anyone else have an issue.

 

[ATRAIS]

I liked my HPS pads when i had them. Currently running Autozones new "Duralast GT" pads up front and have been very impressed esp. For the price. They actually even survived a track day lol they do dust up pretty fiercely tho.

 

[9TMAREEE]

Second the hawk HPS's, did those with centric premium blanks on my 14' brembo car and they work great. Much better stopping and harder initial bite than stock pads and rotors and dust seems to be minimal too. The cars my weekend cruiser/ spirited driving car and the brakes have been stelar

 

[jdcobra]

Ordered these and will be going with the HPS pads this week

 

[jdcobra]

Went and bedded the brake pads in after finishing up the install today. Did anyone else have to adjust the parking brake? I’m guessing minor brake fade after bedding is normal? I may bleed them again tomorrow just to be on the safe side

 

[Coz]

Yeah minor fade is probably ok. If you're not going to track it you probably won't encounter the same braking conditions used during bedding.

However, since you mentioned bleeding your brakes, is what you're experiencing actually brake fade or your fluid boiling?

If you had a firm pedal but it took more force to stop then it was fade. If you had a spongy pedal then that was your fluid. Bleeding will not affect the former but will help with the latter.

If it's your fluid, bleeding will resolve that and if you're not tracking it it will be unlikely to reoccour on the street. Unless you are a wild man .

If you want to minimize boiling your brake fluid again, I suggest you change to a DOT 4 fluid. Motul RBF600 or Wilwood EXP600 are popular with people who track their car but a 570 fluid is a bit cheaper and will probably be more than enough for street use.

Don't recall having to adjust the parking brake. Did you change rear pads too?

 

[jdcobra]

Yeah minor fade is probably ok. If you're not going to track it you probably won't encounter the same braking conditions used during bedding.

However, since you mentioned bleeding your brakes, is what you're experiencing actually brake fade or your fluid boiling?

If you had a firm pedal but it took more force to stop then it was fade. If you had a spongy pedal then that was your fluid. Bleeding will not affect the former but will help with the latter.

If it's your fluid, bleeding will resolve that and if you're not tracking it it will be unlikely to reoccour on the street. Unless you are a wild man .

If you want to minimize boiling your brake fluid again, I suggest you change to a DOT 4 fluid. Motul RBF600 or Wilwood EXP600 are popular with people who track their car but a 570 fluid is a bit cheaper and will probably be more than enough for street use.

Don't recall having to adjust the parking brake. Did you change rear pads too?

Yes, I changed front and rear pads with Hawk HPS pads with the centric premium blanks. I bled the brakes and everything looked good so maybe I’ll just bleed them once again to make sure.

Yea, I was going to get motul but had two full 32 oz bottles of Prestone dot 4 that never were used and recently purchased so I decided to go that route for now.

 

[jdcobra]

Yeah minor fade is probably ok. If you're not going to track it you probably won't encounter the same braking conditions used during bedding.

However, since you mentioned bleeding your brakes, is what you're experiencing actually brake fade or your fluid boiling?

If you had a firm pedal but it took more force to stop then it was fade. If you had a spongy pedal then that was your fluid. Bleeding will not affect the former but will help with the latter.

If it's your fluid, bleeding will resolve that and if you're not tracking it it will be unlikely to reoccour on the street. Unless you are a wild man .

If you want to minimize boiling your brake fluid again, I suggest you change to a DOT 4 fluid. Motul RBF600 or Wilwood EXP600 are popular with people who track their car but a 570 fluid is a bit cheaper and will probably be more than enough for street use.

Don't recall having to adjust the parking brake. Did you change rear pads too?

Also, with the Brembo pistons, you are supposed to bleed from both bleeders correct? I mean since they are dual piston calipers I went ahead and did so just to be sure.

 

[Coz]

Yes. Both bleeders.

 

[chris_302]

Very unlikely that you boiled your fluid during the bedding process, most likely air in the brake system.

Bleed the brakes and hit the pedal couple times. Always start with the rear right, rear left, front right, front left. Keep in mind if you bed the pads again, do not use your e brake during the process.

Chris