Brakes question - friends car.

[Josh_Emerton]

Hey guys

friend of mine has an old merc, and her boyfriend 'drove it too hard' and now the brake discs/pads need replacing.

Im thinking 'that cant be too cheap on a merc' and then i suggest generics and she rkns it HAS to be merc only parts because "generics dont fit". Apparently she had generics put in last time and they didnt fit properly and squeaked a bit, til she had Merc ones put in.

Now I'm no expert and dont claim to be, but surely there would be generic ones that would fit? As a cheaper alternative?

[Blakey]

i would expect if they fit properly in the calipers then they are fine, there would be companies that make the same shape as the merc ones anyway

[draevon]

I'm sure Merc would have told her that they have to be genuine parts, but if a reputable brake manufacturer makes a part that they say fits the model, I'm certain they would work fine. Brake discs can't tell what logo was on the box the pads came out of.

[tadz0rz]

I think the squeeking in the brakes more comes down to the compound in the brake pads. When i did mums fiestas brakes, they didnt have the OEM spec brake pads. Ie the ones i got were cheaper than the OEM and worse.

If the compound in the brake pad has too much metal in it it can cause the sqeeking or squeeling noise...

But i could be wrong...

[LZY_EYE]

Merc don't even make pads. They will be built by someone else to merc specs. Tell her to get some decent ferodos or something and it will be fine.

[Paggsy]

If you can provide Year and Model i'd be happy to source you some part numbers Josh

[LZY_EYE]

Working hard as usual Krispy!!

[Paggsy]

You know it

Just happy to help out where I can... It has to be easier than sending Josh to a store

[Josh_Emerton]

Thanks bud! I'll give her a ring at some point today, see if I can find out. Im not sure if she even knows lol!

About what Tadz said, can anyone confirm or deny that?

[Josh_Emerton]

Thanks bud! I'll give her a ring at some point today, see if I can find out. Im not sure if she even knows lol!

About what Tadz said, can anyone confirm or deny that?

[Paggsy]

I'd be putting my money on the fact that if he's driven the car hard (and I presume that included hard breaking) then he's glazed the rotors... in which case most, if not all compounds would squeek.

But yeah Tads if on the right track... It could also be as simple as some breaks have a small metal plate that sits on the break pads... when the pads are worn too low they will vibtare against the rotor indicating that its time for new pads

Hope that helps mate