Brake pad recommendations

[The New Trixie-Lee]

Hi guys,

Just had a front caliper start to bind up on #51 so I'm going to buy a caliper rebuild kit and new pads as a matter of course. The system will get a full fluid flush and bleed and I'm going to replace the flexis while I'm at it for piece of mind. Does anyone have any recommendations on brake pads? I'm thinking EBC redstuff, or will their Ultimax be sufficient? Also as I'm away from home where all my tools and Haynes manual are, could some kind soul please post up the torque figures for the caliper attachment bolts, caliper sliders and wheel nuts please?

Thanks in advance,

Marc

[T16]

My own personal opinion having used EBC in the past is I think they are **** and wouldnt go near them again.
I found Ferodo a much better pad for my personal tastes, and Carbotech XP8 were alright too I guess. (they make up custom sizes to anything you want)
Now as I get even older, and do not take anything on a track, I prefer the nice bite from cold of the OE friction material.
1) guide pins 28nm
2) Hose to caliper 16nm
3) Caliper to Hub 100nm
4) Torx bolt for disc 33nm
5) wheel nuts 125nm

[David]

Tried Mintex and Pagid (now fitted), and found them fine for normal use. Only real "problem" I had , was that the Mintex pads squeaked on the back pads when braking in reverse only. May just have been my car. Although changing to Pagids resolved it, I did change the pins and saddle-plates for Elise ones at the same time, which may also have had something to do with it?

Off topic a bit, Marc, is to advise you to get a RAVE CD which is the electronic Workshop Manual really, and contains most torque settings etc. (some are even accurate!). Available from XPart dealers or, in lock-down times: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-ZT-R75-GENUINE-MG-ROVER-XPART-TECHNICAL-INFORMATION-RAVE-DISC/263709186899?hash=item3d664adb53:g:ieIAAOSwCcZaDGd f .

David

[MartinSClark]

David do you have the part numbers for the pins and saddle plats to hand. Many thanks

[David]

David do you have the part numbers for the pins and saddle plats to hand. Many thanks
Lotus Elise version, Used on the fronts on the Lotus, rears on our cars of course. Not expensive (that price is for one wheel, though) :
https://www.eliseparts.com/shop/braking/misc/ap-2-pot-front-brake-caliper-plate-pins/
Excellent service when I used them in the past.

Needed to very slightly file them (half a mm -ish) to fit, as others have advised is necessary.

David

[The New Trixie-Lee]

Tried Mintex and Pagid (now fitted), and found them fine for normal use. Only real "problem" I had , was that the Mintex pads squeaked on the back pads when braking in reverse only. May just have been my car. Although changing to Pagids resolved it, I did change the pins and saddle-plates for Elise ones at the same time, which may also have had something to do with it?

Off topic a bit, Marc, is to advise you to get a RAVE CD which is the electronic Workshop Manual really, and contains most torque settings etc. (some are even accurate!). Available from XPart dealers or, in lock-down times: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MG-ZT-R75-GENUINE-MG-ROVER-XPART-TECHNICAL-INFORMATION-RAVE-DISC/263709186899?hash=item3d664adb53:g:ieIAAOSwCcZaDGd f .

David

Many thanks for everyone's suggestions, and I'll look into this RAVE CD. I mean, I've got a few rave CDs from the 90s, but I'm sure you mean something completely different 🤣

[The New Trixie-Lee]

My own personal opinion having used EBC in the past is I think they are **** and wouldnt go near them again.
I found Ferodo a much better pad for my personal tastes, and Carbotech XP8 were alright too I guess. (they make up custom sizes to anything you want)
Now as I get even older, and do not take anything on a track, I prefer the nice bite from cold of the OE friction material.
1) guide pins 28nm
2) Hose to caliper 16nm
3) Caliper to Hub 100nm
4) Torx bolt for disc 33nm
5) wheel nuts 125nm

Thanks so much for those torque values 👍

[David]

Many thanks for everyone's suggestions, and I'll look into this RAVE CD. I mean, I've got a few rave CDs from the 90s, but I'm sure you mean something completely different 藍 ZAA000400, "Models Rover 75 / MG ZT / MG ZT 260 / V8", re-issued by Xpart 2017.

[MartinSClark]

Many thanks David

[torque2me]

My own personal opinion having used EBC in the past is I think they are **** and wouldnt go near them again.
I found Ferodo a much better pad for my personal tastes, and Carbotech XP8 were alright too I guess. (they make up custom sizes to anything you want)
Now as I get even older, and do not take anything on a track, I prefer the nice bite from cold of the OE friction material.

There was lot of knock off EBC stuff a couple of years back. So much so that the recommendation was to buy from EBC direct. I don't know who or where they make the pads.

Ferodo - my set squeal at low speeds and is especially annoying in covered car parks but they do seem a bit quieter recently.


regards,

Kev

[SCP440]

Yes the amount of knock of EBC product on the market nearly put them out of business. I have one of the main distributors a mile from my house and they were telling me recently that they are still getting customers showing them samples. The problem was who ever was making it used poor quality pads just painted in the various colors they sell. Probably not a problem on a car rarely driven hard but if you bought pads to upgrade your braking system because of engine upgrades or you drive hard potentialy lethal. The biggest problem was I understand was material coming away from the the backing plate and poor performance.
Personally I find EBC products work well.

Steve

[torque2me]

Yes the amount of knock of EBC product on the market nearly put them out of business. I have one of the main distributors a mile from my house and they were telling me recently that they are still getting customers showing them samples. The problem was who ever was making it used poor quality pads just painted in the various colors they sell. Probably not a problem on a car rarely driven hard but if you bought pads to upgrade your braking system because of engine upgrades or you drive hard potentialy lethal. The biggest problem was I understand was material coming away from the the backing plate and poor performance.
Personally I find EBC products work well.

Steve

Second that Steve.

Kev

[T16]

I found all their pads were so hard they just ate discs. Waste of my time with expensive AP racing/Alcon rotors being chewed up. Pads produced minimal dust I suppose and might as well have been made of diamond!
Much preferred the softer compounds of other brands which wore the pads faster then the disc, rather than the other way round! :)

[torque2me]

I found all their pads were so hard they just ate discs. Waste of my time with expensive AP racing/Alcon rotors being chewed up. Pads produced minimal dust I suppose and might as well have been made of diamond!
Much preferred the softer compounds of other brands which wore the pads faster then the disc, rather than the other way round! :)

EBC do differing compounds including soft.

Kev

[SCP440]

T16 what colour pads were you using and were they good quality discs? The Yellow Stuff can eat discs but unless you track day your car you don't need something that hard. I use Red Stuff on my 260 and have found the disc ware no worse than anything else with the assurance of better brakes under hard conditions. 2 Years ago I found I had no fade on the Mountain passes in Switzerland where as I have had problems before with other cars. I fitted new discs all round on my car 33k miles ago and the discs are still in good condition, I have changed the pads once in that time at about 20k.

If you want brakes that have a real bite you can use Green Stuff but it is not great under extremes and will ware a bit more, I use Green stuff in my Jensen, the brakes on these are tiny compared with a modern car of the same size and weight and these sharpen up the pedal and allow me to lock the wheels where I would struggle before.

Steve

[The New Trixie-Lee]

Well I went with the Red Stuff pads to see how they get on. So far done about 50 miles or so local driving with no big stops as per the recommendations for bedding in. After 100 or so miles they say to perform hard braking from 60 down to 20/30mph a couple of times to finalise the bedding in process. I shall report back my review of their performance once I've managed to put some more miles and proper braking into them.

[Nich]

Why haven't you become a full member yet Marc?

Nich.

[The New Trixie-Lee]

Hi Nic,

I sent the form a few weeks ago to Tim but haven't heard back. I did send it from my mobile so maybe there was a compatibility issue, so I have sent it again today from my laptop. Hopefully I will hear back soon.

[Tim]

Not sure what happened there Marc but all sorted. Welcome to greenness


Hi Nic,

I sent the form a few weeks ago to Tim but haven't heard back. I did send it from my mobile so maybe there was a compatibility issue, so I have sent it again today from my laptop. Hopefully I will hear back soon.