Alcon front brake pad replacement

[bolus]

I was checking on a squeal I heard at the track yesterday by taking a look at my brake pads and caliper.  Since I know some of you aren't that mechanically inclined I took some pics when removing the pads to who how easy it was.  Whole process would take about 5 minutes per wheel. 

After jacking the car up and taking off the wheel this is what the caliper looks like from the front of the car


There is a main retaining bolt right across the center with a small little clip toward the outside of the car on the bolt


You can pull the small clip off with a needle nose plier and the retaining bolt just slides out.  The metal metal retainer just comes right off


The blue pads just pull right out toward you.  They are loose that you can pull them out by hand. 


Pads are out


reverse steps to put them back in.  Obviously if the pads are really worn down the pistons on the inside will have to be pushed outward to fit the larger pads.

pretty amazing that after 1200 miles and one track day there was only about 0.5 mm of wear.  The pads will last forever this way. 

[Driver]

Time for softer pads so you get better efficiency? Change to the blue ones when you are going to the track? I know I'd be looking for a street pad.

[bolus]

what are the advantages?  I get good stopping power on the street as it is, wear is very little.  I learned about glazing is this weekend so one advantage I can think of is getting different street pads to avoid light breaking glazing the race pads.  any other advantages?  Any thoughts on what you would go with?

[Driver]

Main thing about a softer compound for street is they work even better at the temps you see driving around the neighborhood. Most race setups require you to really work the brakes hard, get some heat in them, before they come into their own. Usually one brake pad setup oriented for the track does not work optimally for the street. As you are now acquainted with how easy it is changing pads it's really quite simple to experiment. Some of the UK guys have and a few threads there touch upon it if i remember. Might be useful even more so in colder climates.

[macpdx]

Bolus;  Great to see you have such a great learning experience with Cascade. The weather you had is perfect for a race school.
I was on the Board of directors for four years and V.P. for one year as well as racing in Conference for too many years. I'm glad to see they have kept up the great job of teaching racing.
Who was your instructor?

[bolus]

Mike but I cant remember his last name.  He was one of the spec Miata racers.  Very cool guy. 

[Terry Kennedy]

[quote="bolus"]
pretty amazing that after 1200 miles and one track day there was only about 0.5 mm of wear.  The pads will last forever this way. 
[/quote]

Note that these are an oddball size not listed on the Pagid web site. They're for an Alcon P-type, but have a non-standard thickness of 15.5mm. A little bird tells me that Brammo only charges a 10% markup on pads ordered through them. But this does tend to limit the aftermarket pad availability.

If anyone wants to see if Pagid will sell them directly, the box says:

PNP4436X502.4
SET (4)RS4-2 15.5MM PTYPE E8009R420

[ebeck]

I just checked my brake pads today.  After 5,000 miles I also expected them to be worn down, but they seem fine.  I did notice that the brake pads are some type of metal.  A magnet did stick to the pad side.  I thought that was rather odd.  I had it in my head that they would be a hard rubber compound.  But, I guess those would just wear quick.

[Flying Phil]

Are Brammo  or, possibly Pagid, the only source of replacement Alcon pads?

[Monza]

in france we can find these Pagid in several specialised dealer shop, so possibly to in US.

[bolus]

[quote="Terry Kennedy"]
[quote="bolus"]
pretty amazing that after 1200 miles and one track day there was only about 0.5 mm of wear.  The pads will last forever this way. 
[/quote]

Note that these are an oddball size not listed on the Pagid web site. They're for an Alcon P-type, but have a non-standard thickness of 15.5mm. A little bird tells me that Brammo only charges a 10% markup on pads ordered through them. But this does tend to limit the aftermarket pad availability.

If anyone wants to see if Pagid will sell them directly, the box says:

PNP4436X502.4
SET (4)RS4-2 15.5MM PTYPE E8009R420
[/quote]

Does it matter if we use the standard thickness pad?

[DarthChicken]

I doubt you'll be able to get it in the pads in the caliper.  Chances are, the thinner pads are because of the thicker rotor. 

[positron]

[quote="ebeck"]
I just checked my brake pads today.  After 5,000 miles I also expected them to be worn down, but they seem fine.  I did notice that the brake pads are some type of metal.  A magnet did stick to the pad side.  I thought that was rather odd.  I had it in my head that they would be a hard rubber compound.  But, I guess those would just wear quick.

[/quote]

There is a good probability they are semi-metallic material embedded into brake material (which in the good old days contained asbestos), which helps them with stopping and wear. The more metallic makes them more aggressive but at a cost to increase wear to the rotors.

On Grandma's car you can get by with less metallic which is quieter and dustier but will fade at a sooner rate.

Everything is a trade off. Stopping is all about heat generation/dissipation and how much/quick you need it.