Brake Pads

[tmlint]

Ok fellows I am not trying to be lazy here in asking this question. I have searched high and low through the forum for this answer and I feel like I can't seem to find the hard evidence for what I am looking for. My kit is due to be complete tomorrow and will be on its way soon. I am not going to waste any time with the stock pads that come with the complete kit. I want to upgrade when I build. I just went with the stock setup that comes with the complete kit and the 11.65" rear setup for the 8.8 solid axle. My questions is what year, make and model should I use when searching for pads to replace the stock ones. Below is what I am thinking, however before I spend the money I want to make sure I am correct.

Front: 1995 Mustang GT
Rear: 2004 Cobra or Mach 1

Am I correct in this or way off. Thanks guys!

[AdamIsAdam]

Subscribed! I think I have the stock rears in my 11.65" kit and they throw way too much dust for rears! So I'm looking to replace them.

(My fronts are 13" rotors from a `93 Cobra R. Almost NO dust and stop nicely. Manual brakes.)

[rich grsc]

OK, I'm going to be that guy. Not only aren't you have bake stopping issues, you don't even have the kit yet, and you're want to change pads?? You have no idea if the brakes are good or poor. Finish the car and drive it before you start thinking about changes. How would you know if the pads you change to make any improvements without a reference point?

[egchewy79]

I have the upgraded non-wilwood rear brakes and believe they are from 87-88 thunderbirds. honestly, in my limited go kart stage, I feel a very strong brake pedal and stopping with the stock pads. I haven't tried locking them up yet, but don't feel any concerns as far as stopping distance as of yet. I've only stopped from 40mph though, as anything faster makes my eyes water and hard to breathe too much w/o a windshield. I just made sure that I properly bedded the brakes in.

[AdamIsAdam]

I just emailed with FFR, they confirmed the pads are from: BRAKE, PADS, T-BIRD, REAR, 87-88, SEMI METALLIC.

I found them listed on Hawk's site. Of note is that Hawk lists them as Ford or Factory Five! Pretty cool.

https://www.hawkperformance.com/parts-lookup?year=696&make=79723&model=85369&submodel=&note=

[tmlint]

I just emailed with FFR, they confirmed the pads are from: BRAKE, PADS, T-BIRD, REAR, 87-88, SEMI METALLIC.

I found them listed on Hawk's site. Of note is that Hawk lists them as Ford or Factory Five! Pretty cool.

https://www.hawkperformance.com/parts-lookup?year=696&make=79723&model=85369&submodel=¬e=

Thanks I will check them out.

[tmlint]

OK, I'm going to be that guy. Not only aren't you have bake stopping issues, you don't even have the kit yet, and you're want to change pads?? You have no idea if the brakes are good or poor. Finish the car and drive it before you start thinking about changes. How would you know if the pads you change to make any improvements without a reference point?

I have a friend that let me drive his car that has the stock brakes with the complete kit. I did not like how they felt. I thought about sticking with them on mine to see if I would get used to them. My buddy said just an upgrade to some decent pads would do the trick but I was not sure which model to search to find the pads. I figured why not upgrade as I am building since I know I am not going to like the stock ones. Thanks for you input.

[AdamIsAdam]

I'm not sure which compound to go with. I emailed Hawk. I'm looking for street performance, not track. I have manual brakes. I want less dust than I have now.

[Sdonnel]

As far as the stock pads being excessively dirty, that’s an understatement. I put power stop carbon ceramics on the front and washed all rims on the same day. 100 mikes later, the rear wheels were black and the front wheels had no dust on them. With the information provided by FFR above, I will see if powerstop makes a rear set. Change them before you assemble it and be done. You won’t be disappointed.

Scott

[CFranks]

I have the bone stock pads which work great for me but I do have a booster. I didn’t personally like the feel of manual brakes, I prefer a soft pedal like my DD. Not answering your question directly but the feel also may be something to think about. Either way you’ll get the thing to stop and have a blast. Good luck!

[AdamIsAdam]

As far as the stock pads being excessively dirty, that’s an understatement. I put power stop carbon ceramics on the front and washed all rims on the same day. 100 mikes later, the rear wheels were black and the front wheels had no dust on them. With the information provided by FFR above, I will see if powerstop makes a rear set. Change them before you assemble it and be done. You won’t be disappointed.

Scott

Good point about Powerstop. I put in a full set on all four corners of my GT350 and WOW, what a difference in terms of dust. It doesn't bite initially as strongly (the OEM pads are INSANELY grippy) but it's still very strong overall and for the dust trade-off, it's worth it.

If you find a Powerstop part number, please circle back here. I'll do the same.

[AdamIsAdam]

Well THAT was easy:

https://www.powerstop.com/product/power-stop-z26-street-warrior-brake-kit/

Is this correct?
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwr-z26-199


I have the Z26 on my GT35

[Sdonnel]

While the front pads are available, it does not appear that they offer a comparable set for the rears (1987 Thunderbird).

Scott

[Jeff Kleiner]

L
...Below is what I am thinking, however before I spend the money I want to make sure I am correct.

Front: 1995 Mustang GT

Am I correct in this or way off. Thanks guys!

The complete kit front brakes use the 2 piston PBR calipers from 1999-2004 Mustang, not single piston 1995.

Jeff

[CraigS]

EBC has pads that several people like but I haven't tried. My experience is w/ hawk and the following compounds.
HPS- usually better than stuff that comes w/ a caliper, little dust, little noise.
HPS 5.0- newer version of HPS w/ same characteristics
HP+ - significantly better grip at all temps but dusty
Street/Race- seemed to me like a new version of HP+ w/ similar characteristics
Dust can be helped a lot by using this;
https://www.armorall.com/products/wheels/brake-dust-repellent
I also bought the smallest shop vac and used the brush end for cleaning wheels. I dedicated that vac to that task only.
HP+ and Street/Race compounds will transform a brake system you are not happy with. They are that good. They are also helpful for fixing the Mustang front bias when installed on an FFR. I used to run HP+ in the rear and HPS in the front.
PS whether looking at hawk or others, look for grip charts that start at 100 degrees. If the pad has no grip there, you do not want it for the street.

[tonywy]

I have experience with both EBC and Hawk. I used to use the Hawk HP+ on my Corvette for autocross and sometimes I would leave them on for street use, as CraigS states good grip but dusty. I also have a 68 MG GT that the brake performance was poor on so, I only changed the front pads to the EBC Green Stuff now the car stops as it should. I also put the EBC pads on my daily driver Ford F150, great stopping no noise, minimal dust.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Same results as CraigS. Currently have HPS on the car. The + are a bit better for AutoX but dirty. HPS are better on the street & less dirty.

Outlast is a great product for preventing the dust to stick & what does stick can be wiped off with a dry paper shop towel.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.corvetteforum.com-vbulletin/700x466/80-dust3_3a2c6390a773494dbadfae810b2796e7e0ca18c3.jpg

[AdamIsAdam]

I heard back from Powerstop rep and thought I'd post here:


For a 1988 Ford Thunderbird the front pads are Z26-199 the rear is Z26-347.

Of course, I do not see the rears listed anywhere but whatever.

[CraigS]

Used to be that Hawk had a huge chart w/ dimension drawings of all their pads. Way way back in the day when racing a 280ZX in SCCA IT class, I used to buy a pad that was slightly larger then I needed. I took a pad that fit, set them back to back and traced the good pad outline onto the larger pad. Then, w/ a respirator on, I moved my bandsaw and grinder outside of the garage and used them to make the large pad fit.