Kahdmus

Well, just got done changing the brake pads on my C4 for the first time...what a straightforward and satisfying piece of DIY - Nothing too difficult, nothing too frustrating, nothing too fiddly, nothing too technical and nothing too easily broken!

I used Ferodo brake pads (from Pelican) and new sensors for each pad. I followed the tutorials on Pelican and P-car.com to get a good understanding beforehand. I cleaned everything well with brake cleaner and a small toothbrush and dried thoroughly before installing pads and sensors and replacing the wheels (hope it was ok to be very liberal with the cleaner?) and I remembered to pump the breaks well and test them gingerly before taking off proper!

My annoying squeal?........ITS FINALLY GONE!!!!!!! Whoopeeee!!!!

Out of 10 I'd rate this a 2/10 in terms of DIY difficulty!

BTW, any tips on bedding the the new pads in?

P.S. Thanks again are in order to Tom. W for suggesting this was an easy DIY and being the initial impetus to do this job myself!

paul715

Hi,

Brakes are a nice easy job to do, congrats on taking the DIY plunge.
I love the brakes Porsche has, you can usually swap pads in a few minutes. Used to do it at the track all the time. Bedding them in is simple enough. Find a nice test area. I used to live near an industrial park for my post repair/mod test area.

From a moderate speed (40 - 60+ mph)
do several stops with increasing pedal pressure.
You will be able to feel the pads degassing (not as responsive).
Once your pedal pressure becomes firm and responsive you have basically bedded them in.

Good luck ,

Paul

Kahdmus

Cheers Paul!

--Howard

garrett376

Why did you choose Ferodo pads? I am looking to change mine soon and I can't decide. The ferodos are a good deal versus stock pads. Do they stop better? Wear rotors more/less? Dusty? Let me know what you find out, and why you chose them! Thanks!

Bill Wagner

Howard (and anyone else):

I'm considering changing my pads as well. For me, it's a tossup between MetalMasters and the Ferodo's you mentioned. I fixed a brake squeal about 2 years ago using just OEM parts by replacing the dampers on one wheel, but now the other is side is doing it. It seems to me the dampers, at least when they get old, are responsible for a lot of the brake squeal we get.

A fellow lister said he went with MetalMasters and just trashed the dampers alltogether and said he's been quiet ever since. Did you put in new dampers or just pull them out and leave them out?

What made you go with Ferodo's instead of MetalMasters? As far as braking effort goes, is it increased or about the same as the OEMs???

joey bagadonuts

Congrats, Howard, on the DIY success. I think your garage would've charged you at least $100 for the job.

I also use Ferodo pads. Specifically, I bought the Ferodo Premier from Performance Products.


After trying OEM and Metal Masters, I opted for the Ferodo's because I was still looking for a better street pad: low noise, low dust and good grip. My experience was that the OEM's were too dusty while the MM's were actually a little too hard. They required considerable pedal pressure when cold and always felt a little slippery. I have not had these issues with the Ferodo's--they feel great--and they're not at all noisy.

Two thumbs up.

garrett376

Joey, I had a similar experience with Metal Masters on my 65 911 - hated them! A 65 has an unboosted circuit, so I'd have to really stand on the pedal, and the pedal never felt nice and firm - NEVER! From that experience, I don't wan to try them on my C4. Sounds like the Ferodos are the way to go.

What's the difference between the Premium and regular pads - or are they all premium?

Kahdmus

I originally intended just to go stock OEM, but in culling through old threads looking mainly for tips on the installation process, I ran across many posts discussing the merits of different pads. It really seemed there were 4 main choices that stood out: Pagid (all colors), Metalmasters, Ferodo or stock.

The Pagid were noted by fellow Rennlisters for stopping power on the track, but not for low dust and anti-squeal that I was looking for. The Metalmasters seemed to be either loved or hated, with varying comments as to sqeal, dust etc. The stock is what <I think> I had and lastly the Ferodo seemed to get extremely high praise from the people who used them (one post was from Jay Gratton, who stated he thought they were the best, and he doesn't even stock that brand! This added credibility in my mind.) I then saw the price differences and Ferodo seemed to be a much better price in addition to the good reviews so I took a semi-informed chance and ordered a set plus new sensors!

My first impression is that it feels COMPLETELY different! I went for a 20 minute drive after install and gradually increased firmness of braking. The "pumpy" feeling went away and yet the pedal remains nice and firm - I can feel the degree of breaking much, much better than before but with less effort to apply, no squeal so far and we will see about the dust. If my impression changes over the coming weeks I'll be sure to post my opinion.

As for Premium vs. regular, I didnt shop around after I had decided on Ferodo's - I saw them on Pelican listed as only one standard flavor and ordered without further ado! Incidentally I was informed by the reverse of the packaging that the ones I fitted were for Carrera 2/4 and the Ferrari 348!

Cheers,

--H

Bill Wagner

Thanks, Howard, and everyone else.

But did any of you remove the dampers and leave them out???

Kahdmus

Bill, sorry to be an idiot (and show it off!) but which part is the damper? Is this the anti-squeal on the back of the pad, I dont see any other sound dampening part? Maybe that means I dont have any? The caliper had no other moveable parts I could see aside from the pistons and obviously the clip to hold the pads and sensors. There did appear to be some 'crud' in there (hence my liberal use of brake cleaner and tooth brush scrubbing) could this be a disintegrated damper?

--H

joey bagadonuts

Garrett,
Premier is simply the Ferodo brand name for their street pads. They also offer some popular dual-purpose items, the DS2500 and DS3000, which are different compounds. My experience is limited to the Premiers.

Bill,
I've removed the dampers from my calipers. The pistons are in direct contact with the back side of the pads and I don't believe this has led to excessive vibration or squeal.

Tom W

Howard, I think Bill is refering to the suction cup like things that go on the back of the pads. I think your 'crud' was just crud - dirt and pad dust. The dampers usually require a putty knife to remove to make the pads easy to slide out. I'm guessing that you did not have in there and didn't have any installed.

I'm happy to hear it went well for you. Next you'll have to do an oil change.

Bill Verburg

Anti squeal pads

RSAErick

Same here. I've removed the vibration damper, with no ill effects.

Erick

Bill Verburg

I've done it both w/ & w/o the biggest knock on w/ is the PIA to change pads quickly(especially when they're hot)