Over the weekend I decided to pull the cheap front brake pads that squealed like a stuffed pig everytime we stopped for ceramic pads, and i figured i would go ahead and toss some new plugs in as well. So I went to my buddies house and we jacked up the drivers side. I checked for side to side and top to bottom play. Found some side to side play and the upper balljoint boot was almost completely gone. Changed out the pads and went to the passenger side and did the same. this time as soon as the tire was off the ground it moved. It had about 1/2" of play and the upper balljoint boot on that side exploded covering everything in grease including the whole inside of the rim. Kinda impressed me actually. So I figured since theres 160k on the tickier might as well replace all the ends and joints along with the hubs, since I have one thats bad. When I got home I ordered all the parts and even some new headlights. Im will be a busy man next weekend and will have to bribe a couple friends to give me a hand. That should tighten that front end right up. Perfect timing to since its gonna be 60 on Saturday so we can sit in the sun and work. BTW the ceramic pads have a different feel to them. This is the first time I have used them but the pedal feels a bit softer and the front end isnt nose diving everytime you push it.

 

Good luck man. Hope it all comes apart as planned and goes back together well. Funny how routine maintenance turns into projects haha

 

wow definitely sounds like time to take care of that stuff.

and the beauty of ceramic pads is that they have consistent stopping power over the braking distance, does not fade as the rotors heat up.

 

I put ceramic pads on about 4 years ago. Sense then I have chewed through three sets of rotors! I don't think I will be using them again!

 

thats another point, ceramic pads eat rotors, because when stopping SOMETHING has to give, with metallic/semi-metallic pads the pad gives, ceramic pads are harder so the rotor gives more, you will be replacing the rotor with every set of pads, although it sounds to me like you have another problem if you are eating up multiple rotors per set of pads.

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Im hoping it all goes smooth. We have done more then our share of rebuilding front ends. Im definetly going to do the upkeep on this since its a real good vehicle. Mayb when Im done with the front end te GF will let me start doing some mods.

I will keep an eye on the rotors when its time to change out the pads. Thanks for the heads up. I will post pics as we go. I can only hope no one has rigged anything.

 

Best to go get some good high performance rotors if you are running ceramic pads otherwise they will eat the cheap ones alive.

 

Had to do that last year...rotors, pads, ball joints, and hubs. Goodluck with the work man and cant wait to see the pics.

 

Got home from work today and I have parts. Most are in, all tie rods and hubs are here. Just waiting on headlights. Looks like its happening this weekend. I might have to have a spare person just to take pics.

 

And I have to COMPLETELY disagree with that statement.

Ceramic pads are great with reducing brake dust, but that is about it in general. They are mainly for the "look" of a clean rim, so more of a city street machine look, not a good all around pad or shoe, in fact quite the contrary.


Ceramic does not like heat. They glaze over quite quickly with heat and then lead to failure and inadequate braking. If you want a show truck then yes add them, but if you want a good city driver, tow machine, or a hill driver then stay away! Also I have found ceramic dusts just less then semi/metallic, but it still dusts.

The only pad / Shoe I buy is Duralast Gold Series as they are a mix between semi/metallic and ceramic. You end up with a hell of a lot less brake dust then regular ceramic, and you get the stopping power you need in the rest of the playing field. All the people I have turned to this pad are very happy and they last as well.