98 V70 T5 Brake Pad Choices

Post by **sleddriver** » 13 Apr 2016, 02:00

Spent some time with the wheels off, measuring rotor & pad thickness + inspecting the flex hoses.
The front rotor is 26mm wide with a 2mm lip. The pads are down to 4.5mm thick. How thick are new pads? The front rotor was last replaced about 8 yrs ago and has only had one set of Volvo OEM pads on it.

The rear rotor is 10mm wide with < 1mm lip ( ~ 0.04") The pads are 7mm outside & 5mm inside. I think these are Pagid. No squeeks but occasionally I hear the "rear-end-rumble", noted for skinny rear pads.

I've been checking Autohaus, RMEuro, FCP, IPD, AutoZone, Advance Auto, etc. reading reviews on OEM's, Bosch QuietPack?, Akebono, ATE, Jurid, Pagid, etc.

Any suggestions? Advice? The front drvr brake hose looks fine but the pass. front is showing signs of rubber rot. So I want to replace both of these. Would also be an excellent time to flush the BF. Might also need to pickup some flare wrenches, though down here no road salt nor rust like up in the NE.

Post by **abscate** » 13 Apr 2016, 04:50

For my 1999 Alldata reports front wear limit of 3mm and rear wear limit 2 mm. I think your 1998 is the same, so you have life left on those.

With that brake life I would replace the rotors as they will wear to spec in the next 8 years.

Post by **850 LPT** » 13 Apr 2016, 05:47

I don't think I have ever worn my brake discs down to the minimum tolerance. In my experience they will start vibrating way before that point and I will replace them for that reason.
If you are happy with how the car drives you have a ways to go before your brakes are down.

The most I ever got out of a set of brakes by the way was a set of Zimmerman's with Akebono pads on my 850. I squeezed 80k out of them which is when they were starting to vibrate pretty badly.

Post by **oragex** » 13 Apr 2016, 07:51

I installed Akebono on my front brakes. Surprise, no more of that horrible brake dust. Nice grip as well.

Post by **benpineapple** » 13 Apr 2016, 08:01

I've got AC Delco rotors and Bosch QuietCast pads. 25k on them so far, no issues at all. The Bosch pads are decently quiet for the price, and produce an astonishingly small amount of dust considering they're semi-metallic. The rotors are just okay; they're cheap, but they get the job done and are doing great so far.

Post by **mecheng** » 13 Apr 2016, 10:14

+1 for TRW pads, astonishing initial bite, better than Jurid. Those are the only two I've used. Ceramic are good for fade but some of them have poor bite and need warm up.

101 · Post by **101** » 13 Apr 2016, 11:34

My experience mirrors the others above. I have Akebono's front and back with standard Brembo rotors on my GLT wagon.

The Akebono's are very long lasting and produce minimal light colored dust ... but in my opinion they do not have the bite of the stock Volvo pads.

I'm fine with the trade off I made of having to adjust my following distance with no more black wheels after a few hundred miles.

Post by **sleddriver** » 13 Apr 2016, 12:08

I've been experiencing that dull, low, grinding noise when coming to a stop. Didn't realize what it was until someone else on MVS mentioned it. I thought the rear rotors &/or pads would be worn out. However, .04" isn't much of a lip. The Pagid rear pads are down to ~6mm after 24,332 miles and vibrating. I should have noted their full thickness when new. The Volvo rear pads were replaced at 60,606 mi.

I don't take near as many driving trips as I used to, so it's mostly in town, and the traffic around Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park, etc. is just horrible due to all the people who've moved here. Far more close-calls than in years past.

Front Brakes:
Sept 2000 @ 48,959 mi: Pads replaced. (Volvo).
Aug. 2003 @ 92,375 mi: Pads & rotors replaced. (Volvo).
July 2007 @ 137,700 mi: Pads replaced. (Volvo).
Jan. 2011 @ 172,464 mi: Pads & rotors replaced. Front calipers rebuilt. These now have 38,536 mi. on them. (Volvo).

Rear Brakes:
Sept 2006 @ 126,062 mi: Pads & rotors replaced. (Volvo).
Oct. 2012 @ 186,668 mi: Pads replaced (Pagid). Pads now have 24,332 mi. on them.

Note to self: Cap, rotor, wires last replaced April 2005 @ 109,247 mi.

Post by **sleddriver** » 14 Apr 2016, 16:51

Update:

Turns out Pagid is now under Hella and completely separate from Pagid Racing.
Front pad thickness: 19.5mm, so only 23% of their total thickness remains.
Rear pad thickness: 15mm, thus 40% of their total thickness remains.

Hella-Pagid

Post by **erikv11** » 14 Apr 2016, 22:24

Front pads are realtively cheap for what they give you (braking!), I would get new ones soon. Front rotors should easily weather another set of pads.

Bizarre how fast the rear pads are wearing, only 24k on them and more than half consumed! Makes me ponder if the fronts are fully operational. Anyway, normally I would say swap them around (outside to inside) and forget about it for a while, but it sounds like the remaining 4 mm or so of useable material may go quickly. Rear rotors will last seemingly forever, I would definitely let them wait unless you just want to replace them.

So agreed, I would replace all the pads. It's boring but when I need pads I have just gone with the OEM ones up front, they work great and never squeak. I know they are dusty but so are a lot of roads. In the rear I have had several different makes, would have to look it up, they last so long that I don't remember offhand.