Original PCCB pad thickness

[Milnsey]

My front pads are down to 6mm and I seem to remember reading that pads should be replaced when half worn on pccb equipped cars , does anyone know the original thickness please ?

[elisered]

Cannot help on the thickness point but I had mine replaced at 8 years old this year and even on a low mileage car there was clear deterioration in the surface condition of the pads. There is marked improvement in feel now.

[arcamalpha]

10-12mm new. Also replacing mine at 5/6mm at 7 years of road use. Will be interested to see the state of the pads.

[Milnsey]

Great , thanks both. 9 yrs and 37k miles Will replace soo. Quoted £962 by OPC

[Jim1556]

Milnsey said:

Great , thanks both. 9 yrs and 37k miles Will replace soo. Quoted £962 by OPC

For a set of front pads?

[gtsralph]

Try this site for size information. Pad depth includes backing plate which is generally 6mm

https://www.bremboparts.com/europe/en

[ChrisW.]

Front

https://www.pagidracing.com/en/product-search/race...

Rear

https://www.pagidracing.com/en/product-search/race...

[ChrisW.]

With PCCB's the recommendation is to change pads at half worn to minimise heat soak into the brake fluid.

I found that with the PCCB's at this point, it was the integrity of the remaining pad material that was a concern ... with substantial thermal stress of the pad material which had clearly deteriorated due to excessive heat.

This was transformed when I fitted Surface Transform discs ... they ran much cooler than the PCCB's and preserved a much longer pad life with further reduced brake dust as a consequence.

[Milnsey]

Cheers for the advice all. Appreciated

[arcamalpha]

Recently had new pads fitted. Remembered this thread and thought I'd measure them. Curiously the new pads are only 8.5mm from surface to backing plate. I guess inflation, materials cost and profit margin have driven new pads to be thinner...

Edited by arcamalpha on Wednesday 18th September 21:29

[ChrisW.]

There was talk of a change in pad materials but this does seem very thin ...

[Milnsey]

arcamalpha said:

Recently had new pads fitted. Remembered this thread and thought I'd measure them. Curiously the new pads are only 8.5mm from surface to backing plate. I guess inflation, materials cost and profit margin have driven new pads to be thinner...

Edited by arcamalpha on Wednesday 18th September 21:29

Are these pagid ?

[arcamalpha]

Yup. Pagid P40 3W FF. Not sure it's a PCCB-specific pad but it is the same model as the ones that came off.

[Milnsey]

arcamalpha said:

Yup. Pagid P40 3W FF. Not sure it's a PCCB-specific pad but it is the same model as the ones that came off.

Therefore will only last 4.25 mm until half worn

[ChrisW.]

If not a PCCB pad maybe it should not be replaced with the same not a PCCB pad ?

It's not the percentage pad depth that is the issue ... it's the residual pad depth that is recommended to minimise heat soak ?

[arcamalpha]

ChrisW. said:

If not a PCCB pad maybe it should not be replaced with the same not a PCCB pad ?

Not sure!

ChrisW. said:

It's not the percentage pad depth that is the issue ... it's the residual pad depth that is recommended to minimise heat soak ?

Totally agree. So new pads being thinner is a shame. But they're still a good chunk thicker than what came off!