I have an old vehicle and need to know the difference between organic brake pads and semi-metallic?

Question

car is fixed right. Do I need to have semi-metallic brake pads? Does this affect safety of the vehicle? What about rotors? What should I need?

Answer 1

metallic have metal in them,and they last alot longer but they are harder on the rotors,it does'nt really matter which ones you use.

Answer 2

If you had posted the year/make/model you would have gotten a specific answer by now, but you didn't so I can only generalize.

Some brake pad manufacturers have a selection of brake pad materials for a single model of vehicle. You may have a choice for example between semi-metallic, organic or ceramic materials. There often will even be different choices among those among those reflecting different quality of pad. Literally you could hae 4, 5 or even 6 choices for one car!

However, the vehicle manufacturer will specify what type of material you should use and I would not recommend deviating from that. For example, as a service writer I will not deviate if a vehicle specifies a ceramic pad and put on a semi-metallic, just because the SM pad is cheaper and might make it easier to get the sale. Ceramic or nothing.

Contrary to what someone posted above, Organic pads no longer use asbestos. They use Kevlar instead, bonded with carbon based materials. If your car takes an Organic pad (not common anymore) then you definately want to stick with organic.

Answer 3

There is a huge difference in the quality of brand pads and that is usually reflected in the price. Use what is specified on your car originally. Organic simply is a polite way of saying that the pads are made out of Asbestos which is no longer used on cars new. You can buy replacement pads in cheap versions made out of asbestos though. They don't stop as well or disipate the heat as well, but do create less wear on the rotors. Semi-metallic pads have several different components with some metallic material in them. that metallic material makes them better at removing heat and have less fade. There are also some even higher quality pads available made out of more exotic materials at even more prices. Normally the computer at the parts store will specify what is "original equipment" and that is what is usually best to retain your braking quality. Asbestos or "organic" as they are now called pads are used on essentially most all old cars from the 70's or early 80's and back. Some high performance cars back then though did have some semi-metallic pads on them originally, but not many. Rotors vary in quality also reflected in the price. Use a good brand like Raybestos, or Wagner and you can't go wrong. The real cheap ones are made in China and often warp easily or wear faster due to cheaper alloys in the metal. Of course if your car happens to be an old "beater" then just use the cheap stuff and don't worry about it. I do that myself on cheap cars that are "not long for this world". You didn't mention what year, model, or whatever you were talking about so just assumed that is newer vehicle in that is probably newer than early 80's??. You can find out all sorts of info on this subject on the websites for brake manufacturers and auto forums as well as some folks get really into the differences in car parts. :-)

Answer 4

It definitely matters which you use. These "mechaniks" shoukd get some knowledge. Semi metallic pads should only be used on vehicles that are very heavy. They are designed to operate at higher temperatures than regular pads. If you pull a trailer on a regular basis or carry loads in a pickup or perhaps do a lot of down hill driving then you might use them. They require a heavier brake pedal pressure if you use them on a regular passenger car.Stay with what the mfg. calls for. Semi metallic can actually be un safe on small cars.

Answer 5

Semi metallic pads i've got used have what sounds like little brass flakes in them. Ceramic pads i've got used have been somewhat hissy interior the way they sounded when I used them and that they gave off much less airborne dirt and dirt. Ceramic pads run cooler and are extra proof against fade. Ceramic pads have stronger placed on, yet you will no longer know this for 40,000 miles.