I'm a bit of a newb with the 80 so please go easy on me. I bought a set of 100 front brake pads (Ceramix carbon-ceramic) from NAPA and compared them to an old set of 80 pads. The metal back of the 100 pads is significantly larger than the 80's, will they still fit? It also seems like the pistons will press on the back of the pads slightly off center; is this a problem? Was going to just toss them in and let the slight ridge on the edge of the rotor grind down by itself, probably best to turn the rotors, but no time.
Couple of things:
1) NAPA pads aren't as good as OEM. They simply don't last as long or hold up as well. OEM are barely more expensive than NAPA, so you'll be ahead by calling cdan and getting OEM pads. They aren't expensive at all if you go through him.
2) The pistons pressing off center is fine.
3) The 100 series pads only work on 93-94 with rear disk and all 95-97. Make sure you have the right year/setup for it to work. Otherwise, you can get them to work but it requires some grinding.
4) You need to turn the rotors. Letting the pad grind down the edge of the rotor will likely end up with a warped rotor, a ruined pad, or both. You're going to generate a lot of heat in a small area, and heat = bad for brake systems.
Do it right or stick with 80's pads. Seriously.
I did just new 80's pads (front and rear), full brake fluid flush, replaced the rear calipers, and replaced rear rotors. The
truck went from stopping like a greased pig on ice to putting you through the windshield. Going to 100 pads will further improve that, which I plan on doing when I do the birf job. The one of the biggest advantage of 100 pads is that they are larger, which spreads out the heat from stopping more, which will really help as we use her truck to tow a bass boat over some very steep hills.
If well maintained an all stock 80's brake system will work just fine. There's absolutely no reason to go to 100 pads unless you turn or replace the rotors, you will simply be making braking system worse.
