'88 XJS front brake pads recommendation.
 

My '88 had the familiar front brake grind sound when braking. Looks like it's brake pad replacement time. Any recommendations as to brand and type to use that still gives long life to the rotors? Thanks.....

Have you visited rockauto.com? They have pads and rotors for less you spend in a pub in one night.

I've experimented with different pads and had great luck with Raybestos PGD9M (rear) and PGD135 (front). No noise, very minimal dust, good bite. I've used these on 3 different Jags,

Cheers
DD

Thanks for the tip. I've used them some in the past and will check them out after I figure out what's the best brand to try on these cars....................Mike

This is what I wanted to hear. When I've done this sort of job on other cars I've found that sometimes the highest rating pads do more wear damage to the rotors than happens to the pads and pads are cheap compared to rotor costs. In the end I'd rather do a simple pad replacement twice than have to deal with rotor replacement. I'll check rockauto.com and buy the raybestos as you suggested. Thanks to all for the help. With the cold weather gone here I'm back to Jag maintenance again, mostly preventive maintenance (hopefully), ............Mike

Mike,

I agree. I had many bad experiences with "Lifetime Warranty" brake pads that chewed deep grooves in my rotors.

Just to add to the conversation, when your XJS was new, Jaguar brake pads were typically branded Lucas but were made by OEMs that included Jurid, Ferodo, Mintex and Ate. Those brands have become more difficult to find in the U.S., but PartsGeek still offers Jurids and Ferodos. I assume the friction material formulations are probably "improved" relative to the original organics.

I especially loved the old Jurids and Ferodos, with a soft, fine-grained organic material that was easy on rotors with superb stopping power and feel at the expense of OE quantities of brake dust, which is to say, quite a bit. I haven't installed either brand on an XJS in recent memory so I can't give the current formulations a thumbs up, but Jurid is an OE to the premiere German marques and Ferodo is frequently the OE pad on cars equipped with Brembo calipers (Porsche, Ferrari, XKR, XJR), so they're usually superb. I think the last set of XJS pads I installed were Mintex and they were also very good, with OE levels of dust.

In the bargain-priced category like Raybestos, I've had excellent performance from the Wagner ThermoQuiet pads and have installed them on a wide variety of vehicles including Jags. I've installed Wagner ThermoQuiet pads and Raybestos rotors on many vehicles - an excellent and affordable combination. The NAPA Ultra Premium Organic pads are also excellent, but more expensive.

If you are willing to spend more and would like pads that produce significantly less brake dust, the Akebono and EBC Green Stuff ceramic pads offer very good stopping power and feel.

Cheers,

Don

Akebono pads are superb but, last time I checked (yes ago), were not available for the older Jags. They were fantastic on my old XJR.

Many many years ago I tried a set of Ferodo pads but the dust was just too, too much. I learned at that time that Ferodo (and almost certainly others) sells different compositions to different markets. The set I bought was from a distributor who purchased bulk lots from Europe; "USA spec" Ferodos were supposed to be less dusty.

I'd wager a week's pay that, nowadays, even the most revered brands engage in a lot of "label engineering". Global manufacturing, complex corporate parentage, and all that.

Cheers
DD

In general terms, I'm afraid that there is a pretty good relationship between dust produced, and braking performance. More dust = better braking. Unfortunate, but true. Akebono have been shown to produce minimal dust, but mediocre braking. I just put up with the dust.

Ever noticed how OEM pads tend to produce tons of dust? It's because they were selected for the best braking performance.

My last set of pads came from a local chain. Kragen. Raybestos, I think. great. Not to soft, not too hard. Possibly my last pair!! Or installed by me!! No ne4ed for the hard type for hard use.

But, the "loaded" calipers that are astern came via Rockauto. Just right there as well.

Modern pads have no "ASBESTOS". bETTER IN AL WAYS!!!


Carl

Wow, thanks for all for my now new knowledge of brakes for the Jags. The history of it all helps too (thanks Don B). Right now the cars sits in the garage not being driven at all until I solve this problem. I ordered Raybestos for the front pads early already, nothing for the rears yet. I'm inclined to order the rear pads for the best stopping power since visual dust really isn't an issue. I'll post here once I get it all done. I'll be jacking it up soon once the parts are all here. I'm assuming that the rotor quality is pretty good for all the brands mentioned here. I may have to replace them all. .............................thanks, Mike.

I would use the same make and compound front and rear, if not you may find brake balance problems with either front or back locking up early relative to the other.

Thanks Greg. Now that I think about it you may be right. I guess I better stick to what I bought for the front and use that brand for the rear as well. Having done brake work on all my cars for years I have never found it an issue before but not knowing these Jags in the year I have I rely one help on here to sort out the unknowns. Like others have said, brake technology has come a long way in recent years in all the brands but in my case I'd like to get it right the first time and not have to re-do the project all over again. Again, thanks everyone for the advice. .......................m

Hi 51rover

When I was fitting New Brake Pads, which although made by a well known manufacturer were really nothing special as far as the compound they were made from was concerned

I specifically wanted the ones that had the grooves cut in their surface, as these were the type that were on the Car when I bought her and since I found them very good, I wanted that same type again

Which was purely and simply a matter of personal preference and since they were a well known make I ordered some from ebay, 'What could possibly go wrong'

The answer being much more than you could imagine, as some of those Sellers on ebay were using 'Generic' Photos of those Brake Pads

Where going by some of those Photos, I thought I would be getting Brake Pads with those 'Grooves' only to find that I had been send a Set of Pads that 'Didn't have those 'Grooves' cut in the Surface

So being a bit obsessive, I decided to send them back and order from elsewhere, only to find that the same thing happened again! which was massively annoying as I'm sure you may imagine

Where in my determination not to be Third time unlucky, I insisted that the Seller sent me an actual Photo of what was in the Box, so I would know exactly what I was getting

As has been already said there must be a lot of 'Badged Pads' out there that have been made by different manufacturers, which could possibly result in somewhat different tolerances depending on where they were made

Which could possibly explain, why some of those Brake Pads can be a very tight fit in their Calipers, as when I was replacing the Brake Pads on one of my Cars

It took me an hour each side with a FBH and Chisel, to get the old Pads out and so whenever I fit New Brake Pads now, I always grind a few thou off each end of the metal backing plate, so that they are a perfect fit in the Caliper

As I did have a sticking Brake Pad once on 50 Shades my Grey XJS that almost resulted in the Car catching fire

You can see how I did this, about half way down of Page:9 of my 'Cherry Blossom' restoration thread (see link below)

Making sure my New Brake Pads were a perfect fit in the Calipers by grinding a few thou of each end of their metal backing plates