How to Rate your Brake Pads

There are a number of factors that you should pay attention to, so as to value the quality of your new set of brake pad. All these factors are usually linked to the friction material formulation and manufacturing process. Manufacturers always have to sacrifice one to benefit for another. Therefore, you should look into a number of characteristics to rate the brake pads.

1. Braking Force
   
   The brake pads must not only gain sufficient grip with the rotor, but the grip must be constant, and should be less affected by the temperature being released by the brake rotor. The braking force should always be proportional to the force exerted to the brake pedal. All these together will give you a smooth stop, and great pedal feel and sensitivity, which is significant in nowadays’ heavy traffics conditions and jams.
2. Overheat Recovery and Brake Fade
   
   The brake pads should be able to have excellent heat recovery and low brake fade for safe driving. This means that the brakes must be prompt enough to stop the vehicle despite overheating of brake pads. The heat recovery effectiveness can be tested by applying multiple emergency brakes while moving down the steep hill. Usually braking force might decrease with each subsequent brake applied, however the brake pads must have sufficient grip even on the very last brake under every circumstances. Brake pads that are unable to support overheat recovery may cause the vehicles to be unable to stop in time.
3. Damage to Brake Disc Rotor
   
   Every brake pad will have some effect on the rotor, but some manufacturers do not pay much attention to it and leave it on end user's shoulders to take care of the brake rotor replacement cost. A “rotor-friendly” brake pad that doesn't compromise to all other features is not easy task for manufacturers. Nevertheless, it is very beneficial to the end users who are concern about total-repair-cost. Brake pads that are greatly abrasive may cause you having to skim or replace your rotors each time your brake pads are replaced. This means more costs will be incurred when the brake pads are too abrasive. Hence, the quality of the brake pads may affect the brake disc rotors.
4. Noise and Vibration
   
   Noise and vibration is may be your first impression to the quality of the brake pads as it is easy to find out for noise or vibration. However, you should never put the blame only on the brake pads because it may be produced by other parts in the brake system, or even improper installation of the brake pads. The absence of original shim provided by the car manufacturer after installing the brake pads may also cause the noise and vibration.
5. Wear Off (Lifespan)
   
   This is one of the main concerns of the end users, whether how long the brake pads can last. The average lifespan of the brake pads at normal road conditions is around 30,000km to 45,000km. However, brake pads that take longer time to wear off may affect the brake disc rotor, as it may be too abrasive to the rotor, just like the concerns mentioned in ‘3. Damage to Brake Disc Rotor’. Sometimes it is due to the other conditions that shorten the lifespan of the brake pads, such as the driving conditions. In mountainous conditions and overloading the vehicle, drivers will tend to brake more often, hence resulting in shorter lifespan of the brake pads.
6. Brake Dust
   
   No brake pad is without dust. Dust is unavoidably formed by the wearing off of the brake pads and rotors. Eliminating brake dust may affect the performance of the brake pads. Many manufacturers use carbon graphite or cheap rubber in the friction material formulation for cost saving materials, which will produce a lot of black dust, dirtying your fancy rims. You will see it soon after installation and using it for some time. It is not an easy task for manufacturers to avoid, so if your rims stay low dust or dust free, it should be much appreciated. The type of friction materials of the brake pads will affect the amount of brake dust produced.

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