I understand that it is best to replace PCCB brake pads early because they have a rivet attached to the backing and need to be changed before they work through the material. At what point (material pad depth) should I replace these so that I don't score or ruin a Ceramic rotor?

I'll replace the pads myself. Any other parts needed?

Best place to buy factory Pads?

TIA

 

Been advised to change at 50%. This was based on utilizing PCCB OEM pads. Easy remove and replace proceedure. Have BNIB OEM front set if you have not sourced a set yet.

 

I bought from Suncoast. I have gone below 50%, but I've heard it's risky. I watched them like a hawk as well as flipping the front pads since they taper on the way down.

 

for track use you need to swap at no more than 50% and watch taper. You need to keep as much heat out of the rotors as possible or wear will accelerate.

 

I know this is question depends on huge a lot of factors but for a daily driven, non track gt3 w pccb- what do you think the approx mileage would be for 50 percent wear. 10,20 30k for the pads?

Just trying to get a very rough idea as I don't know visually what 50% looks like as I got my car used.

Also do 997.2 pccbs come with wear sensors? What's % life do these normally come up at?

Thanks and just looking for rough guidelines if possible

 

Yes they come with wear sensors. They come in when pad is very thin. If pad is as thick as backing plate that is less than 50%

 

Thanks for all the responses...

On a similar note is there and Audi Dealer that sells OEM parts at a wholesale price similar to what SunCoast Does for Porsche parts. I need some Front Pads for an 09' R8.

TIA

 

I replaced mine (sourced for Suncoast) on all 4, at 50% wear on the fronts. (at about 15k miles) on my 997.2 GT3.

Cheap insurance on $20k worth of rotors.

 

Anybody know what 50% wear actually means for OEM pads? MMs or inches?

 

My 997 TTS has 15K miles and I just checked pad thickness and it is about 10 mm for both front and rear. I just got the car, and the original owner was very easy on brakes. I am getting dust when I drive it, and I brake hard, so I suspect about 20K miles (replacing at 50%) is all you will get with some good spirited street driving... It's easy to measure though with a small scale and flashlight.

 

My new set of PCCB pads from Suncoast have pad material of 11.3 mm on the rears and 10.8 mm on the fronts. Bought them 4 years ago when my car had 11K miles on it because somebody convinced me they didn't last long.

At 24K miles I measured all pads, top and bottom. The most wear for each corner was:

R Rear - Top, outside and inside - 10.7 mm
L Rear - Top outside - 10.3 mm
R Front - Bottom inside - 9.9 mm
L Front - Bottom outside - 9.9 mm

The front pads had wear tapers of about 0.8 mm and the rear tapers were about 0.4 mm.

So, the maximum wear on the front was 0.9 mm and less than 1.0 mm for the rear. This doesn't seem right with a wear taper on the front of 0.8 mm, but I double checked the measurements.

I won't go into the measurement details at 31K miles, but the wear was less per unit distance than the above list because I did a couple of long distance drives, one trip of 1.5K miles and one of 3.5K miles.

My car now has 42K miles and I will be flipping the pads at my next engine and trans. oil change.

Zero track, but a whole bunch of canyon driving.

 

I thought I'd share my results:
15,000 miles on the car. I did maybe 4 DE's (Because Race Car)

3 of the 4 Front Pads were showing metal through the pad. I assume this is the rivet? If so I'm shocked that it shows so early. The pads didn't look to be 1/2 through the material. Also I was shocked at how tapered the pad was. This next set I will rotate.

Here's some pics.

 

From your measurements (12 and 11 mm) and backing plate thickness is 6 mm, you are at 5 mm pad thickness, so time to replace (at the conservative 50% level for track). I guess I am surprised to see the wear sensors showing, and so much taper showing. How could one ever take them to 3mm for street use???

 

I was very surprised at the amount of taper in wear... .07in = 1.77mm

So those are the wear sensors in the pads, good to know...

 

I replaced my STOCK pads with some PAGIDS over weekend. When I removed the stock pads there was both an aluminum flat metal plate and an additional metal thin bracket on the stock pads. The new Pagid pads did not come with these metal plates... Anyone know if the metal plates should be used or not? Or, just put the pads on without the metal plates between the piston and pad? Searched site and could not find anything on this... Thanks!