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Girling Pad and Rotor Recommendations? 700 1992

I am placing an order for replacement rotors and pads to do a brake job on my 1992 745 Wagon this week. I would like to ask for your suggestions for what are my best options regarding what to put on my car. My old wagon is no racecar so I see no need to put $200 rotors/pads on it but I would pay a bit extra to get better than stock rotors and pads if the result was better braking, longer lasting brake job, etc What are your suggestions?








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    Girling Pad and Rotor Recommendations? 700 1992

    I very strongly recommend semi-metallic pads. Not organics and not ceramics.

    My order of preference for pads:
    semi-metal, ceramic, organic. (I actually don't ever install any pads that aren't semi-metal)

    Why?
    Semi metal pads produce almost no dust, perform well when warm/hot, and don't deposit as much crap on the rotors (the actual cause of "warped" rotors) as organics. The semi-metals I run actually work better after a few seconds of braking - the opposite of organics rapid fading. They don't grip super well when cold (the first few stops of the day and after driving 5 minutes on the freeway with no braking). There is no "progressive" braking feel - the harder you press, the harder they bite.

    Ceramics work. They're tough on rotors and produce almost no dust. They're expensive. I don't personally believe there's any worthwhile benefit to running ceramic pads.

    Organics suck. Organics really really suck. I can feel brake fade from organics after about 5 seconds of braking. They glaze the rotors with pad material. They create a lot of dust. They don't wear the rotors much, but they deposit a lot of pad material on the rotors, leading to hot spots, cementite, and eventually to uneven wear aka warping. Organics have "progressive" braking - meaning that you have to press exponentially harder to create more braking force.

    My advice: Buy authentic brembo, ate, or girling OE rotors and buy whatever semi-metallic pads are available. Rockauto.com usually has them on clearance for dirt cheap, in the neighborhood of $15.

    Don't forget that brake fluid should be completely replaced (always DOT4) every 2 years. Also, replacing the brake lines is something you might want to do eventually. There are recommendations for replacement after 5 or 10 years with some cars (every 2 years for my motorcycle).

    Cheers and good luck!








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    Girling Pad and Rotor Recommendations? 700 1992



    I like genuine Volvo parts here. Pads work great, drawback is the dust.

    Tasca should sell them about the same price as aftermarket.

    -Ryan
    --

    Athens, Ohio
    1987 245 DL 324k, Dog-hauler
    1990 245 DL 142k M47, E-codes, GT Sways/Braces, Dracos, A-cam
    1990 744GLE 189K 16-valve
    1991 745 GL 304k








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    Girling Pad and Rotor Recommendations? 700 1992

    Just make sure you get the right pads. Take a good look at what you have and compare them to what you see on line. I don't have ABS, so I ordered the non-ABS pads from FCP Groton. Turns out I should have ordered the ABS pads instead. Mine has a single large piston and the non-ABS pads from FCP are for 2 small pistons. Pay attention to the shape of the little spring on the tab and the single piston pads are bigger.
    --
    1992 745 approaching 500k km








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      Girling Pad and Rotor Recommendations? 700 1992

      My friend, who is going to do the brake job for me, took the tire off yesterday and the spring tabs appeared to be the V shaped type. I have ABS brakes with the large single piston.







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