My rear brakes are 12 years old with ~107k miles on them (the originals). The fronts are probably only a few years old. The stopping power of my car is absolutely terrible compared to our 08 Avenger (two different cars obviously), but what can I do besides replacing the pads and shoes to get better stopping performance for my car? Thanks.
(98 neon sport dohc)

 

Since the fronts do about 80-85% of the stopping, try upgrading to some Hawk pads. You can also use 2nd gen front rotors as they are slightly bigger.

Another option is to upgrade to the SRT-4 brakes, but that is a bit more than you may want to do.

 

Well this is a year old...but I finally got it done. Put 2nd gen rotors on along with Hawk HPS pads. I followed the bedding instructions...and after that they worked excellent.
But this morning the brakes were just as bad if not worse than before....until I got them really hot. I figured this is normal, but it still seems it takes a long time for them to get warmed up (after several hard stops)...and at first it's if they don't work at all.

 

You may need to bleed your system and put in some fresh brake fluid. Also check the brake lines.

 

Try sanding the shoes to get some fresh meat on them, clean them out and adjust them

 

As DAS said earlier. Make sure you check your rubber brake lines. When they get old, the inner liner starts breaking down and it can cause the cylinders at the wheels to not get the proper amount of fluid to do the job. It appears to be a fairly common problem on some Neons.

 

Thanks guys....I found out that after 13 years the original brake fluid was still in the car. (Thanks Dad)
I flushed it out really well (the black fluid and chunks of foliage...that is) and got new fluid in, sand the pads down a tiny bit....and the brakes are superb.

The only problem I have now is the left wheel caliper makes a clicking/somewhat of a grinding noise when stepping on the brakes...particularly at lower speeds. The pins and all the parts are greased and working well. There is often a constant squeek that comes from the wheel as well. I'm thinking this is an axle/CV joint issue, but need to look more into it.

 

Sanding on the brake pads distorted the layer that holds to the rotor. The pads can also get very brittle from powerbraking too much, the constant squeaking might come out when the pads wear into the rotors again.

Usually when i change pads (on any vehicle of which i havent changed pads before) i prefer new rotors as well. Much easier, and the pads are guarenteed good.

 

Thanks.....the sanding actually helped in my case since mine had a glazing after they were operating incorrectly because of the fluid. All is well with the brakes themselves now.......the squeaking is being caused by a wheel bearing.

 

a wheel bearing... oh boy. lol Yeah i just got done changing all 4 in my project..

it'll run you about 100 bucks each side, give or take 20 depending where you buy from. You will need the hub and bearing to do it, the front you will need to pull the spindles off and press them in or have them pressed in.
I pressed mine myself but you gotta be super careful not to ruin it. Make sure when you press the bearing in, use a massive socket that will guide it by the outside circumference, then when you press your hub in, hold it by the inside ring with a smaller socket. Take your time with it and you shouldn't have any trouble. Thats how i did it with front disk brakes, havent got started on the back ones yet..