XPost: comp.mobile.android, misc.phone.mobile.iphone   
   From: spam@nospam.com   
      
   Michael Trew wrote:   
      
   >> Many inexpensive pads nowadays are FF, GG, and even HH.   
   >   
   > I'll keep an eye out for that next time ordering on Rock Auto.   
      
   The bad news is that they won't say and the bad news also is that if you   
   call them up they won't even know what you're talking about - but - the   
   good news is it's printed on every pad ever sold in the United States.   
      
   So when I call for pads, if they're in stock, I ask the guy to go out there   
   and read me the numbers. It's a long list of numbers but the letters A thru   
   about H will show up twice (usually the same but not always) for the cold   
   and hot friction ratings.   
      
   I find it amusing when I ask people how they choose brake pads and they   
   tell me all sorts of bullshit but they don't know this basic spec.   
      
   And yet it's the most important spec for a brake pad, it's friction rating.   
      
   Fun facts:   
   1. Marketing has figured out that people are stupid   
   2. Marketing has figured out that people want a number line   
   3. So Marketing gives people a (bullshit) number line   
      
   What marketing gives them is bullshit good/better/best number lines like   
   price & wear warranties which have nothing whatsoever to do with the specs   
   of the pad itself.   
      
   Or worse, meaningless good/better/best terms like   
   a. Non Asbestos pads   
   b. Metallic pads   
   c. Ceramic pads   
      
   As I said, they can put a spec of anything in there and call it that.   
   If you don't believe me, call the marketing guys and ask them like I did.   
      
   >> Most people don't know what I'm about to tell you...   
   >> What happens (based on most theories I've seen) is there's a chemical   
   >> reaction that occurs when you brake where if you _hold_ down the pedal   
   >> _after_ stopping, then a tiny bit of pad is deposited (as a footprint) onto   
   >> the hot rotor.   
   >   
   > Interesting to know.  That's hard to avoid when driving an automatic,   
   > but I instinctively pop a manual into neutral and let off the brake   
   > unless I'm sitting on a hill.   
      
   Actually whether or not it's an automatic or manual doesn't make much (if   
   any) of a difference in my experience, although I know exactly what you   
   mean in that an automatic will creep forward after a stop.   
      
   But what you do is compensate for that creep by slowing the car down and   
   stopping well before you would otherwise do.   
      
   Instead of exiting the highway and then jamming on the brakes and HOLDING   
   them there in that spot (while they're red hot) waiting at the light, you   
   apply the brakes earlier and slow down more gradually and then you stop the   
   vehicle well before the light. Then you can slowly creep forward where the   
   main goal is to NOT keep the pad pressed close to the hot rotor at the   
   exact last point but to move it along. You can shift the automatic into   
   neutral if you want (I do that often) but it's not even required if there   
   is enough of a flat or upward slope to prevent the automatic from creeping.   
      
   You can also apply the parking brake, but that has its issues also.   
      
   But the main point is to be COGNIZANT that it's your own foot that is   
   causing what most people think is brake rotor WARP.   
      
   Fun fact: What percentage of people actually _measured_ the rotor warp   
   after vehemently claiming that their rotors warped?   
      
   Hint: Zero.   
   --   
   Posted out of the goodness of my heart to help others & to learn from them.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)