Brake discs and pads

[doug424]

Hello everybody, my name is Doug Barrass and I own a 1998 XK8 convertible.
The time is fast approaching for me to change the front discs and pads on my car. Some three years ago I fitted aftermarket discs and GreenStuff pads. I chose the discs as they looked identical to the Jaguar ones but were half the price, and the GreenStuff pads to cut down on brake dust on the alloys.
Pretty soon after fitting, the car developed a shaking under heavy braking which I put down to the discs. Brake dust was reduced. I am considering fitting GreenStuff dimpled and grooved discs and fresh GreenStuff pads.
Would anyone care to offer any opinons or any suggestions based upon their experiences or those of others?
Doug.

[mike020150]

I can recount a similar tale. My original discs (on a '97 XK8) reached minimum thickness and developed a slight braking wobble not long after I'd bought the car secondhand. The mileage was less than 30k. I used non Jaguar discs from a regular Jaguar advertiser and non Jaguar pads. Braking was fine for a short while (5k miles). Then, the car began to develop another wobble. I'm genuinely not tough on brakes (my 1977 V12 coupe still has all 4 of its original discs!). So, I was reluctant to condemn the 'new' discs. However, after checking ball joints, run out etc, I was forced to concede that my still brand new looking discs were the culprit. I changed them for a different, still non Jaguar, brand and eliminated the problem. Maybe the Jaguar discs and some aftermarket brands, although soft, are slightly more resistant to warping than some others?

[Sharfrs2]

I'm just about to change my discs for EBC with greenstuff pads and aeroquip hoses. I have heard that you have to bed everything in by not driving over 50 and with no hard braking for the first 300 - 500 miles, not quite sure why unless it's a kind of tempering process

[ozzytom]

Hi- people , have recently fitted grooved/dotted discs from EBC along with Red stuff pads. They sounded like a great idea but not so sure now! Last weekend we attended a show and shine day at Queensland Raceway (we moved to Brisbane in Oct.2007) and after the presentations ,for a mere $30- (£15- ) we were aloud to hit the track for up to two hours !!!!No overtaking on cornering-pass on the right as on the road. Anyway - after a mind blowing /no holding back 12 laps i decided to quit while on top. Alllowing my engine and brakes to cool down for about an hour we drove home. Next day i drove out of the garage with barely ANY brakes-scarey!!! Being fast road/track pads i decided to try Warming the brakes up with bursts of speed and prolonged braking, this eventually worked but i now don't want to have to do this too regularly. I have heard that Mintex make some of the best pads -is this so ???P.S. these cars are FANTASTIC on the track and i could have thrashed Many a so called muscle car on the day-these XKR's will take racing to the next level.Tom

[GrandTourer]

I know someone in the Jaguar Car Performance Business who advised me strongly against using EBC disc/redstuff pads, as he has used them in similar conditions as you have - he also races an XK and previously XJS.
The discs were buckled after quite a short time

[MarkyM]

I have EBC green and their dimpled grooved discs too, absolutely no problems after 3yrs and almost 40k miles. The braking is still above what I got out of the stock OEM pads and now no dust. Strangely a year after I fitted them EBC advised that they shouldn't be used on cars of greater than 200BHP but I've had no probs.

My next move will be a set of Akebono ceramic pads the part numbers are EUR394A Front and EUR688A rear for years 96-2002

They are supposed to offer the same low dust as the greens but are around 40% lighter and better wearing/stopping capabilities.

Could have picked up a set stateside for around £80 incl. delivery but regrettably they were all out of stock (details got posted on the roadfly forum).

Regards

Mark

[GrandTourer]

Thanks, Mark for your input
Just goes to show how different experiences can be be different people.
This makes this whole business so interesting