Brake pad question

[Frodo]

Was looking at my brakes just now and discovered I'm definitely ready for new pads in the rears. (I must have done the fronts more recently because they're still in pretty good shape.) Anyway, while muxing around in the garage, I found these from a few years ago:



They've been used some, but have 9-10 mm of life left in them. They are Textars, and are definitely previously off this car. The rotors seem to be in good shape, and within spec.

Is there any reason I couldn't slap these on there for the worn out pads?

[986 Boxster]

Originally Posted by Frodo

Was looking at my brakes just now and discovered I'm definitely ready for new pads in the rears. (I must have done the fronts more recently because they're still in pretty good shape.) Anyway, while muxing around in the garage, I found these from a few years ago:



They've been used some, but have 9-10 mm of life left in them. They are Textars, and are definitely previously off this car. The rotors seem to be in good shape, and within spec.

Is there any reason I couldn't slap these on there for the worn out pads?

Nothing wrong with that. I`ve put used pads on used rotors before.
A friend of mine changes from street pads to track pads using the same rotors every time he goes to the track.

[husker boxster]

The rule of thumb is the pad needs to be thicker than than the backing plate. These pass that test. If you're not doing a lot of performance driving, they should last a while, but keep an eye on them if you install them.

Punkin just passed 80K mi. Still goin strong.

[Frodo]

Such an unrelenting tease. Have reluctantly given up on Punkin’—you’ll eventually be laid to rest with her I’ve pretty much concluded. I am glad to hear she’s doing well. Gonna stick with Seal Grey for a while. Having just done wp/thermostat, coolant tank, coil packs, plugs (zero misfires!) and rear brakes, at nearly 110k, she’s still runnin’ strong too.

Just today…



In case you’re wondering about the Brake Wear light immediately below the speedo/odo, I have to confess I sometimes try to get too many miles out of parts including, sometimes, brake pads.




That exposed channel is, of course, the tunnel for the sensor. Though the wire was still intact, the plastic material surrounding that portion that inserts into the pad has officially seen better days. Just pulled the wire out completely for now…need to decide if I want to buy a replacement or just plug it back in and zip tie it out of the way. Or I suppose I could cut off most of it and simply twist/solder the wire ends together. In spite of self-incriminating evidence to the contrary, I generally keep pretty close tabs on pads and don’t particularly need the sensor.

The Textars should definitely last awhile—haven’t done any track driving in a few years and, without that, I’m pretty easy on brakes…with the occasional, sometimes noteworthy exception.

I’ve got in-laws in Hastings, by the way…pretty sure you know where that is

[husker boxster]

Just keep in mind the responsibility of overriding the sensors. I have the sensors in Sydney zip tied out of the way, but that's because I'm in there often swapping street pads with street / track pads. I've left the sensors in place on Punkin because I don't look at her pads unless I have the wheels off for some reason. Obviously you don't want to go past the wear zone warning depth. With power comes great responsibility.

I have been to Hastings a time or two, but haven't visited the Kool-Aid Museum. You should see if your relatives can take you to Tessman's for a tour. We hold our Club Race at MPH. The track was resurfaced during the off season and lap times are now 4 sec faster. Unfortunately, our race / DE was 2 wks after I got Sydney back and she had nowhere near the break-in miles needed to participate. But I volunteered to be the pace car for our parade laps. Let's just say they were rather sporty, esp Fri. I toned it down a bit on Sat but got yelled at by our race director. He was right, but it was worth it.

[Frodo]

If I ever get out there…it’s been awhile. We used to live in Manhattan, KS—Hastings was a helluva lot closer those days. It looks like the Tessmans live right on the other side of the Hastings airport from my in-laws—like 1.5 miles as the crow flies. My wife tells me Kool-Aid was invented in Hastings, truly a claim to fame! (She’s not been to the museum either. In her defense, she left for UNL in the mid-70s and has, by and large, not looked back. Don’t think the museum was there when she was growing up.)

And yeah, you’re right on the brakes. I do watch them closely, at an absolute minimum every time I change the oil, but typically even more often than that. And I tend to record what I see in my maintenance records (a word document with pretty good detail). But sensors are dirt cheap, I’ll go ahead and get one.