So I am thinking of upgrading to some Rotorpros rotors for the looks.

Now which pads would be an upgrade from the OEM ones? The car is street driven only on sunny days during the spring/summer. Not tracked or driven hard....occasionally a spirited run at most.

I like the fact that the stock pads do not cause a lot of brake dust and are pretty quiet. So it would be nice to find a brake pad that improves stopping but without sacrificing minimal noise/brake dust build up.

 

I'm running Hawk ceramic pads. No dust, no noise, and much better stopping than stock (I also have PowerSlot rotors in the stock size).

 

That was what I was thinking as well. I guess the key here is the ceramic component in terms of minimal noise/dust??

Is it really that much noticeable? Do you know if there is any good DIY articles for swapping out the pads?

 

EBC RedStuff I used had minimal to no dust, good feel and bite, and weren't too pricey. Also a ceramic pad like the Hawk. I've heard some people don't like the brand, but they worked great for me on the street.

Pad swap out is very easy, just rent the local auto store rental piston compressor tool:



http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...uestid=2288137

It's a bit tough compressing the piston the first time around, but once you do it's basically five minutes to swap the pads and bolt the caliper back on.

TacoBill's write-up:
https://themustangsource.com/f669/ro...w-pics-453294/

 

Does anyone know if the Hawk HPS pads are that much noisier and dusty compared to the Hawk Ceramic pads?

My car is only driven during sunny days in the spring/summer and I would not mind the extra stopping power of the HPS pads.....but if it is going to be that much more dusty, I will probably go with the Ceramic pad as I do not want to be cleaning my wheels all the time.

Though it sounds like the Hawk Ceramics are an improvement over OEM in terms of stopping power.

 

Based off your other posts, I'd say get the ceramics, you'd probably be unhappy with the extra dust and/or extra noise from the HPS (I was way pissed the StopTech pads dusted much more than any others I put on, won't put them back on, waste of $120+ -- and their ads specifically say lower dust!).

I'm gonna try the HPS out and hope for the best, but if it's the same dust (not just dust, sticky dust) that some of these other 'performance' street pads generate I'll switch to the ceramics. Or maybe go back to the EBC redstuff, they're better than stock and virtually no dust.
decisions, decisions...

 

Thanks Josh, I just ordered 4 rotorpros rotors and the Hawks Ceramic pads today. Can hardly wait to get them

Do you know of any DIY write ups for brake pad replacement? The link you posted earlier is for the replacement of rotors from TacoBill. It will come in handy when I swap out the rotors.

 

Uh, you just sorta pull them out of the caliper and put the new ones in:



This shows the caliper with the bracket still on, there's two screws on the back that separate the two, they have telescoping dust covers on them. Once those are loosened the bracket and the caliper are separate, and the pads fall out.

You can see the bolts here in my photo too:



The hard part is compressing the piston back into the inboard caliper, loosening the bleeding screw (with a tube attached for overflow) will help.

You might look into getting a Chilton or Haynes at your local autoparts store, though.

Or here:
http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forum...tml#post806827

 

Josh thanks again for your help. I found a couple of You Tube videos that were pretty good.....though I think a couple of steps are missing. Hopefully between these videos and your info here I can piece things together.

Yes, I know there are basically 2 bolts that hold the caliper bracket in place and then there is another 2 bolts that separate the actual caliper from the caliper bracket.

I am just trying to figure out exactly what to do here with the master cylinder and the brake fluid?? Also, the tools from the kit you posted from AutoZone was used on the You Tube videos for the S197s......though I have seen some info on using a C clamp to push the piston back in. Which do I use? Is the C clamp for a different year Mustang??

I have a dupli caliper paint set and I can not see how people have been painting the calipers properly without taking the brake pads out first??

 

don't loosen the bleeder no need for that.

 

If you want to paint the calipers properly, it's best to completely remove them, then mask off the pistons and line fittings, then spray paint following the can's instructions. If you're going to do that, might as well replace the lines with some stainless braided ones, like StopTech, Goodridge, or J&M. Regardless you'd have to bleed the system afterwards.

This StopTech manual shows you how to do the brake lines:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/ma...A_11-11-04.pdf

You just wouldn't be doing the new caliper.

http://www.hotpart.com/shop/index.ph...uct_detail&p=3

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=8&ModelID=5

 

And I didn't need to collapse the pistons on the OEM caliper as I replaced mine, so not sure how others have done it. Using the old pad as a press with one or two C clamps over the pistons should work fine. The brake tool kit should work well on the rear single piston one, though.

 

Yes, to do the rear you should use the tool kit.
(Note that he also mentions using the old pad.)

 

From what I can see, I think the tool kit from Autozone Josh mentioned has the tools for piston compression for both the front and rear brakes (i.e. one of the circular pieces for back brakes, rectangular piece for front brakes)??

If one is just replacing the pads and rotors only, does the system need to be bled? My car currently only has less than 14,000 miles and I am replacing pads for performance upgrade and the rotors for cosmetics.

 

no need to bleed as long as you don't open the bleeder to compress the caliper.

 

Hawk HPS. Not noisy, dust is actually a very light color, you won't notice it compared to black dust most other pads put out.

 

Seems to be a very mix bag of reviews for the Hawks HPS pads, so I thought I would be safe and order the Hawks Ceramics.

 

Does anyone know if there is any asbestos fibers in the OEM or Hawk pads?

 

http://www.ehow.com/facts_6927568_ce...rake-pads.html

http://www.aa1car.com/library/trtu796.htm

http://www.seattlepi.com/uncivilaction/brks16.shtml

 

Here is a couple of youtube videos on DIY brake pads for those interested:

http://www.motorz.tv/blog/1129/ford-...-installation/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpeKWzdnfkQ

If anybody has some good links or references please let me know.