1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
You are going to get a lot of "OPINIONS" on this subject. The main question is do you do any exhuberant driving with high performance, fast intense runs, etc? If not, then most of your questions are a mute point. Buy whatever your budget and taste can afford. As long as you mount these parts correctly you should get good, solid performance for years to come.
1. Should I buy ceramic or semi-metallic pads?
I like EBC greenstuff because they generate very little dust. They are/were the most expensive pads I could buy at the time. Good braking, no squealing, low dust.
2. Should I insist on Zimmerman rotors? (read a lot of support for them,
2A. Should I NOT get the cross-drilled ones, since someone wrote that these have a tendency to "crak with age?"
Brembo and Zimmerman or OEM will be fine for your driving needs. I seriously doubt that you will be driving fast enough to ever crack the cross-drilled, but who knows. The cross drilled look much better, but performance-wise they do not offer leaps and bounds on performance for the regular drive and I have read comments from users complaining about their squealing. For normal driving which rotor to choose is an issue of cost and taste. Brembo are the cheapest I believe, but Zimmerman are good as well, albeit a tad more costly. There are tons of options out there: cross drilled, with groves, plain, etc. For the everyday driver it comes down to cost, appearance.
3. Should I purchase accessories like "caliper cleaning kits" or "anti-brake squeal lubricant?"
I highly recommend you do, specially if you are going to be doing this for years to come. Cleaning the calipers, like cleaning your engine, will give you satisfaction if nothing else. A clean caliper (or engine) is easier to diagnose if there ever was a leak, rust, stuck caliper piston, etc. The antisquealing material is a must, IMHO. You should also consider Brakekleen, a bucket, some rags, gloves, a mask (this is a must since most brake dust is asbestos! -or used to be-). Keep some high temperature grease handy aswell so you can lubricate the caliper pins etc.
4. Should I use "Thesaabsite" or "Europarts" to place the order?
Both of these sites are excellent site sponsors. The Saabsite has terrific customer support. Eeuroparts has free shipping above $39.00. Eeuroparts can be hard to get a hold of sometimes, so pick whichever is cheapest. They are both very compentent and sell parts that will match your vehicle (assuming you select the correct vehicle, year and engine).
Regards!
:)
PS> There are some sites on the web which have pictures of the entire process, you might want to go over those before you start. Changing the rotors and pads on NG Saabs is actually really easy and very gratifying.
BEWARE: of the rotor retaining screws :)
posted by 24.5.7...
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
