Trying to get an order together for FCP.They list 3 different brands of brake pads,genuine Volvo,mintex,and the $$$ akebono.Are they worth the extra dough?Also do you think I should go with new hardware for my parking brakes[earlier post].?thanks

Volvo pads work well but leave your wheels dirty all the time.
Sorry but I have not tried the other two brands.

I am very pleased with the AAXIS Delux Plus pads I put on the 245 last year.
Clean wheels, dependable braking wet or dry. I am putting them on all my cars.

I haven't tried the ceramic pads, but I understand that they wear your rotors down faster. Not like rotors or pads wear all that fast anyway.

I use semi-metal pads. The Beck Arnley pads I installed recently have more dust than the previous raybestos, which didn't seem to have any at all.
Still clearly less than the organic pads.

Will
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1990 740 Turbo, on its way to stock specs, maybe beyond

I have used Akebono carbon ceramics on my wife's '05 Accord, her '04 XC70 and on a few others. They do not squeal at all and produce almost no brake dust, they stop just OK, with not a lot of initial cold bite (that was a good thing on the Accord, that had VERY touchy brakes) but do a decent job otherwise in every other way. I don't really like them on the XC70, not enough initial bite. If you can deal with brake dust, OEM / Ate pads are the way to go for strong cold initial power all the way to the full stop. A good cheap pad are Mintex in the red box. I keep finding those for dirt cheap on eBay.
Charles

Also available from FCP are PBR metal master, which I have used on all my cars. Offer great pedal feel and fade resistance, and some less brake dust.
From the description I would think the most noticable advantage to Akebono is reduced brake dust.
Not sure what is wrong on your E brake, but if all the cables and attachments are OK, then just replacing the shoes should fix them (assuming the shoes are worn to nothing). Painful, but I've done them with no additional hardware needed.
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84 242Ti IPD bars&springs, 89 745 16v M46 IPD bars, 89 744 16v M46 IPD bars, 93 945 Turbo AW71, 91 245SE AW70 IPD bars, 93 245 CLassic M47

Thanks looks like PBR will be good enough for me.I had one shoe of the parking brake delaminate, so now I need to change them out.I think they were the original Volvo shoes on my 87 240.So I need new shoes and perhaps a "spring plier".I hope I don't run into any more surprises.