Have you ever lost a brake pad?

[Beunhaas]

Recently I had to brake pretty hard on the highway, causing my brakes to stick. My car started shaking, made grinding noises and the pedal sunk a bit. When I braked again I heard a pop and the pedal sunk even further. The shaking and grinding stopped. Luckily I was pretty close to my destination. When I checked my brakes I noticed the outer pad on the rear driver side was missing. How does this happen? Those pads were only 6 days old. They were properly installed and worked fine before all this happened. I only paid €9 (14 AUD) for all four rear pads, so I didn't expect top notch quality, but this is a serious safety issue. I guess the pad delaminated / disintegrated.

Did this ever happen to you guys?

[Quismiff]

First time I've come across it, in cars, get it all the time in Trucks, but that is usually caused by pad de-lamination as you mentioned. the bonding of the friction material to the backing plate isn't quite up to scratch.

You will now have to get a bit replaced back there (rotor, caliper, carrier) unless you were incredibly lucky. Get in touch with the garage that fitted the brakes, or if you did the work, get in touch with the manufacturer, or the retailer that sold you the brakes, they will need to quarantine that batch and check them all to make sure it doesn't happen again.

What brand were the brakes? The crowd I work for have started importing Borg and Beck parts from the UK.

lancerdarryl works in a workshop so might have seen this before.

[lancerdarryl]

Very strange.... who fitted the pads ? Were they correct pad? Do you have any photos?
Did the outer pads have a big stainless steel retaining clip on them?

[fearfulmaster2]

Years ago, either ACA or TT had a segment about cheap import pads that "shatters". Have not heard that actually happen to anyone until now.

[burfadel]

$3.50 a pad isn't much. That's $3.18 without GST. If you bought it online and it included postage...

You don't have to get the dearest pads, but quality isn't something that should be compromised to save a few dollars. I guess you were considering they were the rear pads, and the front brakes do most of the braking. You definitely want decent pads on the front. I guess the quality of those rear pads are reflected by the price. If it were a brand name pad the conclusion could be that they are fake. Those brake pads are potentially something you can report to the product safety website as it's a serious thing to have happened. Contact the retailer first though. If they snub you report the product here :
https://www.productsafety.gov.au/contac ... fe-product

[Quismiff]

OP is in the Netherlands so Australian product sites aren't going to help them, but they should have the same avenues for reporting faults. And the market is flooded with all sorts of copies no matter where in the world you are (ebay, aliexpress etc) you definitely get what you pay for, and sometimes you get lucky.

Looking for NL auto parts stores and I found one that sells Brembo rear pads for €49.99 down from €92.57 (not local so I wouldn't know where else to look )
Same pads from sparesbox AU$67.96 down from AU$79.95

[Lancer1993]

Pretty cheap pads, I've been pricing them and looking at paying $150-$200 or more for the set of 4.

[burfadel]

Yes, the price is very suspect! I missed they were in the NL, so it would be in US dollars. Even when all other factors included, the US$14 should ring alarm bells. That said, it's not impossible! Just hope for the OP that it hasn't done other damage.

[Beunhaas]

Me and my father in law installed the pads. He's been a mechanic for over 40 years and knows what he's doing (I'd like to say the same about myself ) plus we tested the brakes thoroughly after the installation and inspected everything again. Everything was fine for six whole days. I compared the new ones to the old ones and they seemed pretty much identical.

The pads that failed were STARK automotive pads, a German company. The came with all the clips and plates. Oddly enough the store I bought them from (also in Germany) is no longer selling them. I plan on contacting the store and tell them what happened. I might also contact STARK to see what they have to say. Luckily there seems to be little damage. The disk is a little bit bruised and I think I can save the caliper. I'll try not to be such a cheapskate in the future.

Looking for NL auto parts stores and I found one that sells Brembo rear pads for €49.99 down from €92.57

I ordered these yesterday.

[Lancer1993]

I was planning on doing a full pad and rotor swap laster this year on my CJ but after this I'm having 2nd thoughts.

[Quismiff]

If the reseller isn't selling them there could be a reason for it, how long ago did you purchase them? Sometimes when left in an unfavourable environment (damp, cold, or rapid temperature cycles) they can have issues, and after heating up a few times the glue degrades rapidly and it spits out the friction material.

There possibly is a recall, but I can't find anything on their website, or Google. That and Google thinks it is helping by only giving me AU relevant results even when I use European URLs

Hope they gave you a deal when you said you were recommended by a Kiwi bloke in Australia

I was planning on doing a full pad and rotor swap laster this year on my CJ but after this I'm having 2nd thoughts.

I'll let you know how I get on with my Borg and Beck stuff, Its out of the UK and we sell it through Supercheap (mainly for European vehicles, but enough enquiries and Lancers may be included too )

They even do these,
And these

[Beunhaas]

I bought those pads just before reading your post. You basically recommended me something I just bought

You can get pretty much any part for a decent price from Germany. I really like AutoDoc. They can be as much as 50% cheaper than regular automotive stores in the Netherlands. They also sell from the UK, but Germany generally is both faster and cheaper for me.

[Quismiff]

I bought those pads just before reading your post. You basically recommended me something I just bought

You can get pretty much any part for a decent price from Germany. I really like AutoDoc. They can be as much as 50% cheaper than regular automotive stores in the Netherlands. They also sell from the UK, but Germany generally is both faster and cheaper for me.

Telepathy! always wanted that skill, call me Professor X

[Lancer1993]

I've had my ADB T2s and Brembo pad in for a year now, traveled interstate so done about 18k on them and the still stop like crazy good.

You get what you pay for, my package including the install was around $1000!

Only down side is they are very sudden when cold and OMG the brake dust, just got done taking a months worth of dust off my wheels.

[bumblebee]

Mmmm
Not necessarily
The composition of the brake pad makes a big difference and you don't have to spend a trillion $ on a decent pad