Date:         Mon, 1 Sep 1997 21:46:47 -0700
Reply-To:     TBill <tbill@STARTEXT.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon mailing list <Vanagon@Gerry.SDSC.EDU>
From:         TBill <tbill@STARTEXT.NET>
Organization: Portfolio Management
Subject:      Re: Brake pads
Comments: To: Danny Fuller <dfuller@BIOMAIL.UCSD.EDU>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

>
> 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.

So, the moral of the story is to stay away from Firestone?  Or don't
trust anybody?

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.

Well, with 141k and still lots to go on my pads I shoudn't worry about
it.  But I'm not happy with my stopping distance. No way can I lock up
the wheels!  Was thinking about replacing the pads anyway to see if I
could get better stopping power.  What think?

TBill
>
> Dan Fuller