Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 185K miles

My brake wear light is popping... the rears. Checking my records, these are the original pads and rotors from new. Cripes that is a ton of miles.... I guess I am not driving aggressively enough! I replaced my fronts twice at 75K miles, and then at 167K miles.

I checked the pads and they still have some meat on them... I think I will delay the installation of new stuff. I am going to cut the sensor wires and twist them together to stop the stupid light. How long should I go before I need to change them? Well I did some analysis of thickness at my second change of the fronts and I drove over 7K miles and could have gone about 8.7K miles on them. See here for my calculations back then:

https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...ter-light.html

So given these are the rear and I am wearing them down at least twice as slowly.... well cripes that is another 15K miles... over another year!! I will not tolerate that stupid light hence me cutting and shorting the sensors.

Anywho. Back to my main question... OEM or Porsche labeled? I know this gets asked quite a bit but I want to enhance this to be more specific to FCP Euro. So some questions:

1 - Do I really need the shims (those little discs)? I never replaced them on either of my Porsches ever with 380K miles total. FCP sells them as part of their brake kit.
2 - Do I really need that hardware kit... the two pins, spring-pate thingy, and cotter pins? Sometimes I replace them, other times no... I doubt this is really necessary.
3 - FCP notes a few different makers as OEM. What do you think about the parts list below... are these really Porsche parts? Kit is $547.22

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/por...agid-997brkt39

I purchased OEM, not-Porsche labeled rotors one time for my Boxster S and the hats were not coated and they rusted. I could tell no performance difference but that rusting really annoyed me... they may have been OEM but they were not the same. Also, FCP Euro shows the exact same parts picture for Zimmerman as well as Sebro rotors... odd, they should not do this IMO as I am trying to determine the presence of hat coating. Also, I don't ever remember having Pagid pads, I think mine have always been Textar but maybe the last set was Jurid.

Comments? Tips? BTW, I can bang this work out in no time, but for whatever reasons, I still have questions every time.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

I have ordered from FCP before and have been happy with the experience and prices.

JustinCase

I don't know a lot about the mechanics of changing the brakes, but I do have some information to consider:

1. I have the original Porsche hats and they have always been rusty from 10,050 miles to the present (86,000 miles). Looks to me like you rolls the dice and takes your chances unless someone can point your in a better direction. If so, I want to know, too.

2. I am extremely happy with my Hawk ceramic pads (all the way around). I bought them to reduce the brake dust problem (which they did), but I currently have 63,000 miles on them *including the fronts.* I still have 5-6mm on the fronts and 8mm on the backs. With your driving style, they would probably last forever. I could never tell the difference between them and OEM pads -- maybe someone else can -- but I also know Hawk makes ceramic pads for track use, too. In my experience, worth a look.

Floyd540

World indoor record for brake life. However my experience in the NE is people don't stop for anything. Red traffic lights seem to be a waste of time.
Back to the subject:
Geniune OEM Porsche rotors are easy to spot as they have the wear dots on the outer edge of the rotor. Aftermarket ones do not. Not a requirement, but neat to have. Also real Porsche rotors with the grey coating sells for $175 at a friendly Porsche dealer, only 40 bucks more than aftermarket. They used to be same price or less than aftermarket ones. (look at the wear dots on yours and tell us how much is left).
The only other thing is pads and I do not use Porsche branded pads as they are still pricey and made by the same usual suspects . Pagid, Ate, Hella, Jurid ,Texar etc. for OEM type compound. Who makes what for whom is confusing as probably the friction material all cones from the same supplier. Don't buy anything else , ,clips, screws etc you don't need it unless it is corroded beyond use.
If you want to not go with OEM style compound , the Hawk seems to be popular. You want street compound, not performance or even worse track pads for your situation.
As a refresher, the pedal in the middle can be used for slowing down or even stopping if necessary.

jbkusa

Thanks for starting this thread Bruce… I was just looking at the same kit yesterday asking some of the same questions. Looking forward to hearing additional opinions.

I have pagid pads now and no complaints. They do squeal a little when light breaking. Great on spirited drives.

jayzbird

As said above, all the miscellaneous bits they tell you to replace, except for the sensors, basically last forever and are not necessary to replace unless corroded. If the vibration dampers are glued on you can cut them loose with a putty knife and reuse. They don’t need to be glued on to work. Well actually I’m not sure exactly what they are supposed to do, but I never had any brake squealing or other issue on stock pads with them unglued.

Petza914

If doing rotors, make sure they're e-coated and don't use wheel cleaner for chrome wheels on them or it will strip the coating - only wheel cleaner for painted wheels.

Hawk Ceramics are my pad of xhoibe for my non-PCCB cars.

I like slotted rotors though, so don't do OEM. I use dba.

Steven C.

I do a lot of brake jobs from race cars to friends and family street cars and am not a fan of Sebro rotors. For a cost effective coated rotor I prefer Zimmerman. But you can hear different opinions on either. I have never had a problem with them on a street car. As for pads, a cost effective pad with no noise or squeak is Powerstop. They do not make a front pad for the .1 right now but they do have the rears, and seems to be the same for the .2? They say they will have fronts next year when I asked. These are half the cost of Hawk and perform well for daily drivers looking for lower dust. Not a performance pad though.

I have never left the shim pads out when working on Pcars so can't comment on this but lubricating all contact surfaces of the pad to the caliper is essential. Anti-seize or disc brake grease is your friend. The vibration pads do glue themselves to the brake pads and I separate them and apply anti-seize. Best of luck!

Spastblast

Could you explain why you're not a fan of Sebro @Steven C. ?

Steven C.

Sure, I bought a set for a 928 I owned years ago and although they worked fine the coating didn't protect as well as the Zimmerman's I had been using and they seemed to wear quicker, forming an outer ridge sooner. All empirical evidence from my experience. I also wanted to note that like Petza914 mentioned I am using the Hawk ceramics on the front of my .1 for now as those were the only pads for the front I would buy.

jbkusa

@Bruce In Philly so what did you end up getting?

Bruce In Philly

I ordered just the rotors, pads, sensors, and the retaining screws from Suncoast. No other parts but these. All Porsche. IIRC, Suncoast offers pairs of rotors at an attractive discount with both rear rotors together for $392.

Total with tax, free shipping was $690.00

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

Floyd540

When a "friendly" dealer has genuine Porsche labeled parts at a price at or near (sometimes even lower) than the aftermarket OEM type parts, why not? Bruce gets the real deal rotors with the wear dimples and proper coating. My rotors (from Circle) were actually less money than the ones from our well known aftermarket suppliers. Friendly dealers include Suncoast, Circle, Sunset and sometimes Gaudin. Check 'em out before buying OEM style stuff.
Be careful out there.