Wearever Silver Semi-Metallic Brake Pads- Break In

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I put some Wearever Silver Semi-Metallic Brake Pads on an 02 Mercury Cougar a few days ago for a friend. They didn't stop that great first off, but I figured they'd break in. My friend says that they're still not stopping that well. I told him to try some hard braking to try to break them in, but I'm wondering now if we shouldn't just swap them out.

I thought these pads had a decent reputation.

Any thoughts?
 
The cheap parts store house brand pads usually suck. If you have to go to the parts sotre, at least get their middle line (AAP's Wearever Gold, AZ's Duralast or Duralast Gold, Napa Premium, etc)

But you should really get something better like Akebono ProACT, Wagner Thermoquiet, or EBC Ultimax
 
"Hard braking" means different things to different people. Tell your friend to Google it or do the break-in for him.
 
Bleed all 4 wheels then drive it. Make about ten 30-10mph stops, and let them cool a bit, then make a few 50-10 stops. If they don’t start biting to his satisfaction after about the 5th stop I’d change them.

Bleed the brakes though, sometimes it makes a dramatic difference.
 
Yea, I was thinking I'd ditch the silvers for the golds.
 
I had one set of Bosch semi-metallic pads on the 240 wagon. Could not wait to get them off! Terrible. High pedal pressure, squeal, poor low speed grab. Currently running ceramic front and back, no issues. On the sedan I'm running organic pads with no issues. In fact the organics have better low speed grab but with more dust.

Sam
 
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Maybe more details needed? Those pads work fine, but they will create a lot of dust and some noise, rotors will wear faster.

Did you replace or lathe the rotors? Don't expect good braking if not.

Did you do a break in? Progressively stopping fast from faster and faster speeds, allowing cool down between each stop?

How is the brake pedal feel? If not firm, you may need them bled, or could even need a new master cylinder.

Fords and Mercurys of that era often had caliper slider corrosion issues, did you take the clips out and remove any corrosion so the pads aren't binding during braking? Often a dab of silicone grease, both under the clips to reduce corrosion, and in the clips to lubricate sliding, is useful.

You could take the wheels off and examine them, consider swapping them out and there is a chance that they might let you exchange them and upgrade to the next better line by paying the price difference, as they have also allowed doing this when it comes time to replace brakes under the lifetime warranty.
 
Semi metals last longer but dont stop as well and wear down the rotors.
Composite pads stop great but dont last long and dont wear down the rotors.
 
I put new rotors on. I lubed the sliders and ears of the pads where they ride the caliper.

I didn't do much of a break in.
 
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I can't think of a worse brake pad yhan AAP Silver pads. The time I tried to use them they weren't even stamped right ( I would need to file them to get them to fit). I returned them for the Gold pads and they work fine. Silver are cheap Chinese junk.
 
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Originally Posted By: Silverado12
I can't think of a worse brake pad yhan AAP Silver pads. The time I tried to use them they weren't even stamped right ( I would need to file them to get them to fit). I returned them for the Gold pads and they work fine. Silver are cheap Chinese junk.


Good to know. I think I'll change them out.
 
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