As the title says... What are people using for 88 brake pads?

I always liked the Raybestos PGD378M pads, but they are currently unobtainium.
Rockauto shows every part number out of stock, as do most of the parts stores, except for a couple of uninspiring "house brands".

For performance street/mountain road driving. Y'all know the drill.

Thanks!

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 09-10-2023).]

Summit has some EBC green pads. Lots of folks use the to track their cars. EBC

[This message has been edited by Spadesluck (edited 09-10-2023).]

I was using the Wagner Thermoquiet pads which work well- but they found out I liked them so (As usual) they stopped making them.....

Years ago I tired the EBC greens and did not like them. They made noise until they warmed up, and they produced a LOT of dust.

In general I am not a fan of metallic or semi-metallic pads because they wear rotors faster. I prefer ceramic pads, and have Dynamic Friction ceramic pads on my '88. They are available here (second listing on this page): https://www.partsgeek.com/c...e/brake_pad_set.html

quote Originally posted by lateFormula: Years ago I tired the EBC greens and did not like them. They made noise until they warmed up, and they produced a LOT of dust. In general I am not a fan of metallic or semi-metallic pads because they wear rotors faster. I prefer ceramic pads, and have Dynamic Friction ceramic pads on my '88. They are available here (second listing on this page): https://www.partsgeek.com/c...e/brake_pad_set.html

I am also a fan of ceramic pads. I went to the link, above, and they only have one set in stock. Want to do the entire car.
Thanks for the link. Still a possibility.

I had considered the EBC pads, but dust is also a consideration.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 09-11-2023).]

I have Porterfield R4S street compound ceramic pads on my 88, stop good and no dust. I have about 12,000 miles with them and am very happy with them.

https://porterfield-brakes....=1816&manufacturer=0


R4-S – The performance street pad, this pad offers the least dust and squeal of any of the street pads we carry. It is very rotor friendly and will last as long as your stock pad but typically they last a little bit longer. **NOT FOR TRACK USE** **NOT FOR USE WITH CCM DISCS**

I run Yellow Stuff pads. They stop very, very well, but dust like crazy.

My main concern on brakes is stopping FAST on COLD pads and rotors for 'OMG' moments like a child leap into the street!

Since I replace plain/stock rotors with new brake pads each service, I'm not worried about rotor 'life'.

When I'm looking for new brake pads, I want 'pins' in the back of the pad to engage the rear piston holes which not all brands have the pins.

I was lucky to find two sets of Wagner ThermoQuiet MX378 brake pads on eBay which are now installed on my completely rebuilt system....

Also, I found two sets of Raybestos R-Line MGD378M Brake Pads as spares which were on eBay too.

Plus I ordered the "unobtainium" Raybestos Element3 PGD378M Brake Pads back in March which Summit's expected date to ship is still 9/29/2023. I checked the order last week and Summit said "YES", the date is still September. Either they'll cancel the order OR I'll have them!

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Original Owner of a '88 GT and under 'Production Refurbishment'

[This message has been edited by Vintage-Nut (edited 09-11-2023).]

quote Originally posted by fieroguru: I run Yellow Stuff pads. They stop very, very well, but dust like crazy.

This, this is what I run. I just want stopping power but it does get annoying having dirty wheels all the time. I used to run Axxis Ultimate pads but those have been gone for years.

Okay. Just ordered a set of ceramics off of eBay.
Brand is NewTek. But when I clicked on the picture, it flashed "Wagner" for a split second, so who knows.
The description is Galaxy Plus Premium Ceramic.

I suppose that we shall see.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and info.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 09-11-2023).]

The Hawk HB100 plus pads work great with a bit of modification.
The pin holes need to be enlarged a bit and the metal backing plate ground down on each side a bit as well.
But they do fit and work great.

quote Originally posted by mcguiver3: The Hawk HB100 plus pads work great with a bit of modification. The pin holes need to be enlarged a bit and the metal backing plate ground down on each side a bit as well. But they do fit and work great.

I'll hang on to this for future reference. I just went to their page and couldn't find a "plus" version. Found a whole lot of other HB100 part numbers, though.
They listed a .480 and a .625. I'm guessing those are pad thicknesses?
Where does the backing plate need to be ground? On the edges? Not a show stopper. Just curious.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 09-12-2023).]

.480 thickness
They need to be ground at each short edge to fit between the bridge.
When you try to fit the pads into the brake frame you will see what I mean.
Its not much maybe 1/32" each side? I forgot how much. I eventually milled the bridge to make things easier going forward.

quote Originally posted by Larryinkc: I have Porterfield R4S street compound ceramic pads on my 88, stop good and no dust. I have about 12,000 miles with them and am very happy with them. https://porterfield-brakes....=1816&manufacturer=0 R4-S – The performance street pad, this pad offers the least dust and squeal of any of the street pads we carry. It is very rotor friendly and will last as long as your stock pad but typically they last a little bit longer. **NOT FOR TRACK USE** **NOT FOR USE WITH CCM DISCS**

I also installed Porterfield R4-S pads on my Indy. They work fantastic.
I have never had that “running out of brake” feeling with them - cold or hot.




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My World of Wheels Winners (Click on links below)

3.4L Supercharged 87 GT and Super Duty 4 Indy #163

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 09-12-2023).]

quote Originally posted by Larryinkc: I have Porterfield R4S street compound ceramic pads on my 88, stop good and no dust. I have about 12,000 miles with them and am very happy with them.

Does everyone know the 'lifespan' on Porterfield R4-S pads?

I looked at the pads; they have the 'pins' in the back of the pad to engage the rear piston holes however they aren't cheap!

Two Set (Front and Rear) Delivered
Wagner ThermoQuiet MX378: $68
Raybestos R-Line MGD378M: $68
Raybestos Element3 PGD378M: $76
Porterfield AP378 R4-S: $194

Edit: A full Porterfield set are more expensive than a full set of plain/stock rotors.

[This message has been edited by Vintage-Nut (edited 09-14-2023).]

quote Originally posted by Vintage-Nut: Does everyone know the 'lifespan' on Porterfield R4-S pads? I looked at the pads; they have the 'pins' in the back of the pad to engage the rear piston holes however they aren't cheap! Two Set (Front and Rear) Delivered Wagner ThermoQuiet MX378: $68 Raybestos R-Line MGD378M: $68 Raybestos Element3 PGD378M: $76 Porterfield AP378 R4-S: $194

True - not cheap...
I have the LeBaron rotors upgrade on my GT.
That's not cheap either for "better brakes".

But what I wanted was INCREASED braking capability with all stock components on my Indy.
I didn't want to change the booster, master cylinder, install Grans AM rotors/calipers etc.

BETTER PADS was the only way to do this.
I have never had that “running out of brake” feeling with Porterfields - cold or hot. So it is worth it.

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 09-13-2023).]

quote Originally posted by fierosound I wanted was INCREASED braking capability with all stock components on my Indy.

I'm thinking that we're talking about apples and oranges......warmed up vs. cold bite

In my experience, semi-metallic brake pads have the best stopping power when cold.......

quote My main concern on brakes is stopping FAST on COLD pads and rotors for 'OMG' moments like a child leap into the street!

Edit

Same Discussion / Different Time (2012)

Best Brake Pads for an 88? by Rare87GT
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/089821.html

[This message has been edited by Vintage-Nut (edited 09-14-2023).]

Update...
I installed my cheapo eBay ceramics. Finished this evening. (They do have the pins to fit into the rear piston, BTW.)
The part # is PCD378. They were right at $60 for front and rear.
Price was really not a consideration. I just needed ceramics and needed them quickly. RFTH is this weekend, and I still need to break them in, before I go.
A quick test drive with a couple of hard stops to warm them up was promising. Modulation seemed to be quite good, as far as it goes.
FWIW, I'm running Guru's 13" brake package. Would recommend it highly.

Update on my new "no-name-brand" ceramics.

With really not enough time for a proper break-in, I drove the car to RFTH, this past weekend.
They did well. I experienced no detectable fade, although I tried to not heat things up too much. Most of my brake applications were "firm-to-hard, and then release".
Good modulation, even to the point of impending lockup. (The old front pads were NOS OEM - came with the NOS calipers from Calipers Online. Those things seemed to lock up quickly, and dusted badly.) The new ones also didn't seem to dust at all.

So... 200 miles of probably as hard as it will ever get driven unless it's stolen, and I have to give them a thumbs up.

quote Vintage-Nut on 09-11-2023: I ordered the "unobtainium" Raybestos Element3 PGD378M Brake Pads back in March which Summit's expected date to ship is still 9/29/2023. I checked the order last week and Summit said "YES", the date is still September. Either they'll cancel the order OR I'll have them!

I Quit!

Summit are the middlemen and Raybestos will NOT commit a ship date which makes these brake pads.

Order Date: Mar 27, 2023 / Estimated Ship Date: Jun 30, 2023
But on May 18th, Summit sent me an e-mail that Raybestos changed the ship date to Sept 30th
Summit didn't update me again, so I checked on Oct 2nd....the ship date was changed again and “the vendor expects to ship mid-November”
I checked on Dec 1st and with no surprise - the newest ship date from Raybestos now is Feb. 24th, 2024

Summit phoned me today (Dec. 12th) and asked if I really wanted to wait for the next Raybestos ship update?

Obviously, I canceled the order........

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BTW - If you look-up Summit's Estimated Ship Date for PGD378M pads on-line today, the ad says Jan 29, 2024
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/agb-pg-d378m

I have been going through all my Fiero related items and parts, gathering them up so I can get them organized and boxed to go with my car when it sells. I have found a lot of NOS parts I forgot that I had acquired. But I did find a new unused set of EBC green stuff pads for the 88 Fiero, still in the original box. I am willing to let them go cheaply as long as I can cover the shipping and maybe $15 for the pads. So if anyone wants them, let me know. I can send pictures...