Date:         Sun, 31 Aug 1997 21:32:43 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Danny Fuller <dfuller@BIOMAIL.UCSD.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Brake pads

Hmmm....are you sure those are brake pads and not the backing plates?  Just
kidding!

My original pads died at about 60K, I discovered they were gone on a Sunday
P.M., I knew the dealerwas closed, I saw an ad for a brake "special" at
Firestone, so away I went.  Of course they found the wheel cylinders were
shot (?), so I had to spring for a new set ($70).  As I drove home
afterwards, I found my leg was bouncing up and down about 3 inches whenever
I put on the brakes.  I took it back a few days later to have them fix it,
it was marginally better unless the brakes got hot, then it was horrible.
When the pads wore out six months later, I found they had turned the rotors
down to about 8mm! No, they didn't wear down that far, because there was no
"lip" on the edge.  I replaced the rotors, put on semi-metallics, found
those to be grabby, so I went to the dealer and bought OEM pads.  Oh yeah,
the rear cylinders that they put on were leaking by this time, so I had to
replace them as well ($12 from NAPA, lifetime guarantee).  The OEMs wore
out in 20K miles, three times as fast as the originals, go figure.  I
recently put on a set of NAPA lifetime pads (organic) and I've been pretty
happy with them, so far.

Dan Fuller