New drum brake shoes cost well over $150.00 per set and typically are only available through the manufacturer for use on vehicles that are under warranty. Even then it is rare to find them. The only thing you can find for replacement shoes is "relined", meaning the expensive metal frame is reused, and only new linings are bonded and / or riveted to them. This is also why there is a "core" charge. They want your old shoes back so the frames can be reused. These relined shoes are also approved for use on warranty brake jobs. Be aware, however, you can go a lifetime before finding a vehicle that actually gets a standard brake job under warranty because they are considered a "consumable", like tires and belts. These, along with clutch discs, are subject to abuse and misuse by the driver that the manufacturer has no control over. That's why no manufacturer warranties them.
Disc brake pads are just the opposite. The cost to stamp a new metal backing plate is much lower than the cost of cleaning an old one to be reused. Therefore, just about any new pad you can find will be all new. That's why there is no core charge for pads.
Whether or not the metal part is new or reused is completely irrelevant to the quality of the brake job. The overwhelming, most critical factor is the lining's "coefficient of friction". That has to do with how hard it grabs the rotor or drum. All manufacturers spend a real lot of resources on research and development in this area to insure balanced braking, front-to-rear. That coefficient of friction changes with temperature and must still remain balanced as that temperature changes. All replacement pads and shoes have to match the coefficient of friction of the original parts, regardless if you buy the cheapest parts you can find, or the most expensive parts with advertised gimmicks. That is not something you have to search for. That is implied when you go shopping for those parts.
In some cases you'll find a new lining is slightly thicker or thinner than the originals because the mixture of materials used wears at different rates. Sometimes a shoe's lining will be narrower to offset higher friction. For that reason you may find replacement parts that look physically different. All of them must still perform exactly the same as the originals did.
Be aware all brakes are strong enough to stop a wheel under the hardest acceleration possible, although brake fade does enter into the equation. There is no benefit in buying a shoe or pad that advertises shorter stopping distances. They all can already lock up a wheel, so the stopping distance is a factor of the tire's traction, and that goes to zero when it is skidding. Some of the better replacement linings may use formulations the develop less gasing at real high temperatures. That "off-gasing" is one form of brake fade. It acts like millions of tiny ball bearings between the lining and rotor.
The difference in cost of these parts from different suppliers has to do with how aggressively they inspect them during the manufacturing process, how popular that part is, which translates into making thousands all at once, or setting up the equipment to make a run a few dozen sets, whether or not new anti-rattle hardware and anti-squeal shims are included, and whether or not the pads are treated to reduce squealing, or they rely on the installer to do that. The prepared pads are a better choice for do-it-yourselfers who just slap on a set of pads and think they performed a professional brake job. For most domestic car models, pads can be replaced by a competent do-it-yourselfer in less than 30 minutes. An experienced brake system specialist working as efficiently as possible will need about an hour to an hour and a half to do that brake job, so you know there's a real lot more that goes into a quality brake job.
Sunday, March 3rd, 2019 AT 5:05 PM
