Should You Always Change Pads When Changing Discs?

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

I need to change the discs and pads on the front of my car, and have got a new pair of discs already, I was just thinking I have a set of pads that have only had a few thousand miles of wear on them and still have plenty of meat left.

would it be possible to re-use these or will that have any negative effect on the new discs?

and if i did re-use them would it be wise to get a bit of wet&dry to make sure the surface is level?

[erbs 42 1 Cars]

i personally would put new pads in as well as it beds in to that disc, the old pads might of had grooves from the old disc and effectively not getting full contact to the disc itself for a bit, less efficient braking.

 

Its your own personal choice but for the sake of 15 quid for pads its worth doing together i believe.

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

TThought as much just wanted to confirm

[Anthony 1,002]

If the pads are still OK then it should be fine to just replace the disks.

 

I did this on my 306 before the last MOT for example as the front disks were worn below minimum thickness but the pads still had 80-90% material left on them. No problems whatsoever and sailed through the MOT, and in my eyes is no different than putting new pads on existing used disks.

 

After all, way I look at it is that many agressive trackday/race pads will go through a couple of sets of disks before the pads are worn.

 

Clearly if the pads are fairly worn, are starting to crack/crumble, have worn unevenly or at an angle, then replace them as a matter of course.

[erbs 42 1 Cars]

i just replaced all 4 corners on my 205 and they were brembo discs and bosch pads total cost £90

 

i totally believe safety 1st ,its a cheap replacement

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

well seeing as I got brand new front disc for £6 each I spose Ive got a couple of squid spare, I'll get the old pads off check em over and decide then

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

As Anthony has said, new pads need to bed in anyway. Old pads will adapt to the disc over time. On either I would not rush out and do a track day on them straight after fitting (unless you take it carefully first)

 

If they are cheap wing pong pads then I would buy some decent ones and ditch the old ones. Personally I use genuine Peugeot pads. You can always pick them up cheap on eBay if you look well in advance

[Tom Fenton 1,536]

My Dad (apprentice trained mechanic of 40 odd years) has always told me that it is actually better to use old pads on new discs and vice versa.

 

I cannot remember quite what his reasoning is, and I've often fitted both new discs and pads at the same time.

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

There's a lot of different views on this. Some folk say you should never fit new discs and pads together as they will never bed iin properly, something to do with the material of the pad not sticking to a new disc (something along them lines anyway). A google search will turn up a lot of fairly in depth technical opinions!

 

I've often re-faced pads when fitting new discs. It just requires a bit of common sense really, if the pads have very un-even wear and the knackered disc is all 'wavy' replace them. If the pads still nice and flat re-use them.

IMO Fitting good used pads to new discs or vice versa is not dangerous/un-safe at all. In fact I think it's more dangerous fitting new cheap s*it discs and pads at the same time!

 

 

Al

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

the pads I want to re-use are geniune pug ones, so should be ok quality wise i think. And the new discs are good quality, I just happened to get them for pennies