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Dustless brake pads?

My '02 9-5 Aero wagon has very nice-looking wheels, but you can never see them because they're always covered with grimy black brake dust. You can clean them off (a nearly-impossible job because the stuff sticks like glue) and within a few miles they're black again.

A friend of mine has an Audi A4, and he replaced the brake pads with Mintex Red Box pads. He says they work excellently and there is virtually no dust.

Digging on the net, most Red Box pads I find are for VW's, Audis, etc. I found a few for Saab but it's not clear any of them fit on Aeros, which have larger rotors.

Anyone know if Mintex makes pads to fit the 9-5 Aero? Or possibly another brand that works well and gets rid of the dust?

Thanks! Gary

Reply to
Gary Fritz
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9-5 front pads are the same size/shape even on Aero's the larger discs just move the pads out 10mm. I'm always wary of claims of dust free pads, the basic physics of friction means somethings got to wear, or your brakes don't work!
Reply to
murphwiz

I have direct experience with replacing the pads on a 9000 with Axxis/PBR "Deluxe Plus" pads. These pads are a softer organic compound and there is far, far less dust created compared to OE or semi-metallic pads while maintaing very good braking characteristics. They are best for street use only however as they probably would not stand up to extreme heat loads as well as metallic or ceramic material.

Y Braking MV

-Fred W

Reply to
The Malt Hound

Is there any trade off in terms of noise, pad life or rotor life (not likely)?

When I first got into Saabs, the front pads would last 40k miles of hard use - city stop and go type driving. But they were noisy. Saab listened to the customers and came out with the soft, dusty pads which did not last 12k miles. The downside for Saab was these pads had a 15K mile warranty. I got many sets of pads free, however labor was not and the warranty required dealer installation.

Reply to
ma_twain

FWIW I have over 50k miles on my pads, largely city stop-and-go. At the last check the dealer didn't mention anything about them being due for replacement. So they must have used something different in my '02

9-5 Aero -- they're soft, dusty, quiet, AND they last a long time!
Reply to
Gary Fritz

None. These are quite good brake pads. I do not know if you can find them for your particular application though...

Pad wear is an interesting subject, very dependant on your particular driving habits and techniques. Some people will wear out a set of pads in

20k miles while another driver of the same car with the same pads can get twice the mileage. Also, a set of hard pads that lasts 40k + miles will undoubtedly wear the brake disks faster than a softer pad.

One of the major advantages of these organic compound (softer) brake pads is that they do not wear the rotors as fast. Replacing brake pads is a very easy chore, one that almost anyone who is half way handy can (an should) be able to handle in about an hour, or maybe two the first time. The cost of these PBR pads is also very reasonable at ~$30 per axle, vs a set of disks at around $120 per axle (minimum).

-Fred W

Reply to
The Malt Hound

Fred, where did you buy them? I've dug around on the net and the Deluxe Plus pads seem to have very good reports, but I can't find them for the 9-5.

Thanks! Gary

Reply to
Gary Fritz

I'm using KVR pads ( see link below) on my 9-5.

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You could also try EBC's Green Stuff pads which are ceramic, and have pads for the 9-5 ( see link -
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) Both are good choices.

BL

Reply to
BL

Hey Gary,

I think I got mine (for a '93 9000CSE) from eEuroparts.com, but when I looked for your 9-5 I could not find any there. They may not make pads for that car.

FYI... I'm pretty sure that Axxis/PBR is a subdivision of Bendix. There may be a master application chart somewhere at one of the the manufacturers' web sites.

Good Luck,

-Fred W

Reply to
The Malt Hound

They have the Axxis Metal Masters (front only!?) but not the Deluxe Plus. Guess I'll keep looking. Anybody know of any good low-dust brakes that DO fit the 9-5's!?

Gary

Reply to
Gary Fritz

Looking at the mintex.co.uk site, they show parts for the 9-3 but NOT the 9-5, at all. Hm.

The axxisbrakes.com site doesn't tell what models their pads fit. They say go check with their distributors. Their distributors don't say either. Searching for someone who actually SELLS the things doesn't turn up anybody that sells them for 9-5's.

This shouldn't be this hard...

Reply to
Gary Fritz

OK,

I did a little googling and here's what I found:

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has the Deluxe Plus pads for your 9-5 but their prices seem a bit high. Interesting note is the 9-3 uses the same part number pads.

-Fred W

Reply to
The Malt Hound

I'm not surprised, I've done both cars and they certainly looked identical.

Reply to
Dave Hinz

"The Malt Hound" wrote in message news:gpWdnSF_Ad snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com...

On second thought, perhaps their prices arenb't that high. The front OE saab pads are $77 per set.

-Fred W

Reply to
The Malt Hound

Hm. OK, they say they have pads for the 9-5. Actually they say the "95," even though they have another page for "9-5," but since they say

1999 I'll assume it's still the 9-5. (What idiot at Saab ever though the 9-3 / 9-5 nomenclature made sense...)

But they don't say anything about the Aero. Are we SURE they're the same?

For fronts, yes. But on

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it shows D709DP for rear "93" pads, and D763DP for rear "95" pads.

Reply to
Gary Fritz

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that they are the same. I compared the part numbers for an '02 aero, linear and arc at

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They do not carry the PBRs for them, but the other barnd pads they do carry are all the same for the 3 models.

-Fred W

Reply to
The Malt Hound

Cool. Thanks for the help, Fred!

Reply to
Gary Fritz

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