Brake pad replacement question

I'm thinking of switching out my stock pads for porterfields or pagids for the track, and putting the stocks back in afterwards. I've been looking at some of the diy's. Loren's on renntech, and some others say you need this: http://www.suncoastparts.com/product...Code=brakesC4S Every time you change the pads. This seems kind of ridiculous to me, are people really paying this much every time they swap pads? I read about the vibration dampeners, those are definitely not going back in. These tutorials say yes, replace: http://www.bombaydigital.com/boxster...s/change_pads/ http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...-instructions/ This one doesn't mention it: http://www.planet-9.com/files/Changing_Brake_Pads.pdf Can I get by reusing the old bracket/bolt/pin? How often should these be replaced? Thanks! Edit: One more question: Can I remove the sensor wires, or are these mandatory? I'll be checking the brake pads often, so I'm not worried about needing a light to go off reminding me.

I would say you probably don't need the new pins and clips. It really depends on how they look. Swapping out pads really is easy. I have gotten it down to 45 minutes. I also disconnected the pad sensors. Just unplug them from your stock pads and zip tie them up to something. A lot of opinions on the pads here on RL. Best place to do a search is on the racing tab. PFC's, Pagids. Carbotech's.... Van did a great DIY on changing the rotors with a good tip on changing the pads. Use a channel lock with a small piece of cardboard to protect the painted caliper and place the channel locks on the caliper and the pad. You don't need to do that in the inside pad only the outside. This depresses the pistons in the caliper and you can easily pull the street pads out and plunk the track pads in. The more you do it the easier it becomes. Good luck!

if they look good.... dont replace. Dampers are a pain if you swap pads, I dont use them. I also cut and soddered my sensor wires together. I keep an eye on my pads. No issues here.

pad swap for track DUDES is pretty common and most of us can do them pretty quickly - in fact removing the wheel is the hardest part I also removed my sensors on the 86' - these are pretty darn easy to swap too. how often do you plan on doing a track day and have you exhausted your stock pads from better skills.. the stock ones will get you a long ways if not

I've done about ~15 track days in this car already. So far brakes have been stock. I've gone through 3 sets of pads and a set of rotors already. I usually run in the advanced group, so I know I'm long overdue for some upgrades. Stock pads have held up beautifully on track so I never thought about upgrading. Stock brake fluid as well. That'll likely change to something better in the near future. The C4S has the turbo big reds though, without the turbo speed so there's less stress on the brakes. I do about 10 track days a year. Maybe more next year.

time for an upgrade!! have you changed your own pads in the past? I am 100% sure someone at the track would love a couple beers in a garage on a saturday and in return they would show you how... its dayam simple!

I've never done it before. Always had my mechanic do it, and it's never been cheap. The process seems to be simple enough. I was just wondering about the conflicting directions of the diy's regarding those pieces. Looks like common sense is the solution. Thanks! Varun

yea, I didnt read em - sorry.... i would get with another track guy and buy him/her some beer/wine and have a tech party... its fun and worth every second of time you invest!

You don't need new/replacement pins/springs/cotter pin for any of the corners. I have just about 100k miles, with tons of track days and the pad retainer 'springs' and pins are all original. You don't need the antisqual shims either I tied my brake wear sensor back and never looked back at the first chance I got. Put in nice fresh Motul RBF600/650, Pagid Black (the pure race pads) and a way you go. Just remember to swap out the pads back to stock ASAP after your track event. The Blacks will eat your rotors for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Have fun.

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You aren't using your brakes. USE THEM!!! Although I am a very late and heavy braker, the stock pads don't have enough friction or temperature range on the hot side to hold up. And neither does the fluid.

Wow, and I thought I was a heavy braker. Of course, the track makes a huge difference in how well the brakes hold up. Most of the track days in this car have been on Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow and Infineon. I've never experienced race pads, so maybe the brakes aren't at their best and I'm just not realizing it? I've never had any brake fade though. I always got the feeling that the street tires were the weakest link.

Change your fluid and pads. I think you haven't realized the potential of your brakes yet.

or the pucker power of your back side

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Yeah, those are my tracks too. For example, at LS, My brake marker is 3.25ish on T2. The Pagid race pads will mean you're getting into ABS each and every time, and you should be if you're braking like you mean it. The street tires are always the weaker link, but you'd be surprised what you can do with them. Last year, my best time on ****ty Sumitomo tires was a 1:52 with Pagid RS44 (orange). A year later without any other tracks between was a 1:49 on sticky rubber (R888) and Pagid Race pads (Black), and I know i'm leaving time on the plate at the Rainey Curve due to not having enough *****. Here's a sample recent laguna outing... http://vimeo.com/14903155

So the Blacks are an upgrade and your tech stays busy. Sounds like it has held up and tech has good eye. Goodluck. Regards,

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Hi! Thanks for the info. I do get into abs on (most) corners. Looking good on track! My best on LS has been a 1:48:032, stock everything on Contisportcontact 2's. I take turn 2 as a double apex. That's what they taught me in skip barber, and I've been too lazy to change my line for that turn. I hear the double apex is only good for smaller(formula) cars, but I always find myself pulling away harder from that turn than most other people, so I don't know. Maybe I'll try both in Rfactor and see what happens! Still, I don't doubt the benefit of track pads, that and new fluid will be going in before the next event. It seems that the SRT fluid lasts longer than the motul, but since I'll be doing the changes myself, I might go with the motul anyway. Thanks for the lap time btw, I just posted about that in the racing forum! Edit: Just watched more of your video. Really smooth! I'm no expert, this might help your times a bit, but then again I might be full of crap, so take whatever you want from it: I like to get on the throttle a bit earlier for 4 and the corkscrew. On the corkscrew I'm full throttle as soon as I line up with the tree, so I swing out almost to the outside berm coming out(this actually has me driving across the track to get on-line for rainey). Also I like to tap the brake just before 7, full throttle right up the hill and then threshold for the corkscrew while getting some rotation on turn-in from the weight transfer of acc to braking. Turn 6 is also a light tap on the brakes followed by full throttle way before the apex. The camber on that turn really sucks in the car. --Varun

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How bad is it for the rotors? Seems to me that if it's hard on them for the street, it'd be the same for the track... I've heard the yellows are nice on the rotors. Is there a big difference in performance between them? With the blacks, how many track days can I expect the rotors to last? (Sorry for all the Q's!)

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Thanks for the pointers. I know i'm leaving time all over the place sadly, and I probably doing that conciously because this is my only car; drive it there and back. And these days, I don't get out on the track much. This was the first and only track event this year. You're right on the corkscrew, but I've scared myself silly with the car almost hitting the wall once, and so I keep it all in check. On the uphill on 6, I probably slow down a bit too much as well. This time around, I tried all sorts of lines through 2 and of course, there are so many of them (single, double, etc). Double is only really for these miata folks and smaller cars; and when you're defending your position but as you know, the stock camber possibilities on the car means it really still understeers so I wind up trailbraking to get the *** end around. This time around, I was getting weird fuel starvation issues coming down the corkscrew with anything less than half a tank of gas on full throttle. Will have to check that in the future. I think on stock rubber, 1:48 is damn good. The black pads are ok when they're up to temp, but cold, they eat rotors. So you want to minimize.

My pins didn't easily slide in and out and required a little tap from a hammer. I put them in my drill and spun them in some steel wool. Now they work great. It would be a ridiculous expense to swap that stuff out each time (pins and bracket) but if you do it I'll take your old parts!