Front Brake Pads & Disks

[#1]

Yesterday's afternoon task was to fit new brake pads & disks to my 12 year old vehicle, a job I have done before on a number of various cars during my lifetime and having the correct tools I was not too concerned about doing the job but try to think through where a problem might arise, which it did but not where I expected one.

My main concern was undoing the countersunk screws that hold the disk on getting the disk off but that presented no problems, what caught me out was the brake pads, they looked exactly the same shape and size of the old pads and I was using a new fixing kit which the pads slide into except they would not, all rust etc had been cleaned off with a wire brush but still no luck, tried the old pads and they fitted ok, now if I was using cheap pads that might explain it but I was using Pagid disk pads which are a well known make.

So what did I do ?

I filed the paint off at the ends of the metal lugs but still no luck so,

I used a grinder to take a few thou, well I guess it was a few thousands of a inch and the pads fit !

Caliper went back on no problem and brakes are certainly a lot better but I am still puzzled why I had to resort to the action I did, before anyone asks the pads can only go in one way and all the pads needed a bit removed in the way described, I have never had this problem before so the puzzle remains.

[#2]

A few years ago I had a Renault that needed new disc pads.

A quick check on a couple of sites told me what I needed based on make, model and year of manufacture.

I purchased the pads but when I tried to fit them I had the same problem.

A bit more research and I found out that during manufacture the line had 2 different brake manufacturer options available, namely Girling or Lucas which were not interchangeable.

Wire brushing the calliper revealed the name Lucas, I swapped the pad set for the correct make and all was well.

When I was checking online for what was required there was no mention of 2 different makes.

[#3]

@Strat

Thats interesting and sounds like the reason why I was having a problem.

There were several options on the make of brake pads for my vehicle and it seemed logical to go for a better make of pads on the basis they would be more effective and the braking is certainly improved compared to what ii was.

Before attempting to fit the pads I checked to see if they were identical, visually they were but clearly they were not as they did not fit.

I did come across a few articles where others have had the same problem and took similar action to what I did but without access to a bench grinder it would be down to using a file which could take some time.

Main thing is the brakes are much better

[#4]

The lads at the garage see this fitment issues a lot.

Its normally down to cheap mass market poorly made parts.

Brembo OR Ferodo parts seem to fit perfectly without any fettling needed, plus they normally come with new fixings to.

[#5]

Yes, I've encountered that sort of issue where the new pads were too tight a fit, out came the file

PS. I hope townman is reading this

[#6]

Out of interest the old ones were ferodo and the new ones Pagid which are a well known make, so would not have expected any issues with them.

[#7]

I had similar problem with front brake pads I bought for my VW Bora TDI.  I bought a set of pads through E Bay.  Pads where advertised as PAGID came nowhere near to fitting.  Turned out to be cheap fakes.  I contacted PAGID they asked me to post to them, which I did they sent me (free of charge) a full set of front and rear pads and discs.  Now duly fitted.

Beware of where you buy from.

[#8]

Pads and Discs, wow. They were obviously grateful you'd let them know someone had been forging their products. Nice one.

[#9]

Hard to know what is real and what is fake these days unless you frequently use that item and know what to look for.

Must admit the fact they did not fit it crossed my mind they might be fake but I purchased them from euro car parts and they came in the proper box, this does not rule them out as being fake but I guess a company that size sells a lot of brake parts, often to the trade so my thinking is that someone more experienced in these things would soon have spotted them as fake and a company that size cannot afford to be dealing in fake goods.

[#10]

Interesting.

There's a deal of difference between fake and pattern-parts. I would think the non-dealer service industry would go out of business if if wasn't for the availability of pattern-parts. Which are usually considerably cheaper than original equipment.

It is not unknown for manufacturers to use pattern-parts on the production line when a parts shortage exists, this applies not only to the motor industry, I know it happened in the domestic appliance industry. Nor is it unknown for pattern-parts to be better quality than originals.

So how do you define fake or pattern-part?

[#11]

A few years ago I had a Renault that needed new disc pads.

That's a coincidence, because a few years ago I had some discs and pads that needed a new Peugeot. Never had another car that ate so many of its own components.

[#12]

I bought a 2nd hand focus, it came with a spare set of pads. When I went to fit them ... they didn't fit even with an angle grinder I couldn't have made them fit. Put it back together and bought a replacement set from ebay.

My current car, a Seat Leon, had pitted rear discs when I got it, so I replaced the discs and pads, then this year the handbrake was poor, even after tightening up the cable.
So took off wheels and checked pads, hardly any wear. Google turned up the fact that the handbrake return lever wasn't fitted with a spring resulting in it staying on or nearly on. Bought a pair of springs off ebay and fitted them (bit of a pita that was) and now my handbrake is nice and tight and works.

[#13]

Was in garage yesterday mechanic was telling Lady her car had a short circuit in the wiring,  she asked how much it would cost to lengthen it.

[#14]

A logical response

[#15]

---

@shivers wrote:

Was in garage yesterday mechanic was telling Lady her car had a short circuit in the wiring,  she asked how much it would cost to lengthen it.

---

A blonde moment, obviously ! !