Hi all,

I saw that someone else put a set of Portfield brake pads on the front of his G2 Lightning.

Being the late breaker that I am I also decided to try Portfield pads. I was the first to report almost 2 years ago that I thought the G2 Lightning sucked at braking; boy did I change my username fast that day. Now most at least think/dream about the Brimbos.

I got the pads from Portfield Enterprises LTD 949-548-4470. When I called they never heard of a Lightning so the back pad numbers were in question. This is one of the main reasons I'm creating this post.

The part numbers and prices are,

AP 702 R-4S $99 FOR BOTH SETS OF FRONT PADS
AP 711 R-4S $79 FOR BOTH SETS OF REAR PADS

Shipping $10.45

It took about 10 full days to receive the pads; the fronts are about 40% larger than the rears.

I had to shop around in DFW to find a place that would do the installation for $100, I know don't say it!

I saw the old ones and I would estimate that they where pretty much shot at 14,000 miles, they where starting to squeak pretty consistently.

Once the pads were installed I pumped the breaks for about 1 minute and took it easy for about 10 miles.

I found an empty road and did a few medium brake tests and one hard one, pretty much sucked, weak feel, almost wish I had put stock ones back on. I tool around for about 2 hours, getting the truck cleaned and placed an order for the Kenwood KVT-910, **** this Alpine MD player.

At this point I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but the brakes got real grabby. I found an empty parking lot and tried a few more brake checks and I'm very pleased to announce that these pads are GREAT A+++. They just take a few miles to break in.

This is the best bang for the buck minus a chip.

I read this from another user so he should get all the credit, other than the rear pad number, OK throw me a bone.

BTW I also got DSL today and I can download things up to 1.3 Meg per second, mind boggling.

 

They sound great. How is the brake dust?
Do they emit more or less than the stock units?

Thanks

 

After 34k my front brakes are shot. Definatley a must for me. Thanks for the info!

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1999 Lightning
12.88 @ 104.5
JDM Chip(untested)
PSP Filter Kit
JL RamAir
3.73 Gears

 

After 20 miles, with one car wash in between I can state that the brake dust is to a minimum.

 

thanks for the info lg,

I'm about due for some new pads...

Broadband kicks A$$.

 

Just curious how you got those p/n's? Can't find anything Lightning specific on their web site. http://www.porterfield-brakes.com
Haven't looked at my brakes, but after 12k I expect I am due for a set. How long do you think these pads will last in normal driving, assuming that there is such a thing in an L? Longer or shorter than the oem's?

------------------
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

'84 Alan Record Carbonio, Aerospoke wheels, Campy brakes.

'00 SVT Lightning, silver, built 2/9/00, #133 of 4966, G-tech Pro, JBA headers, 4.10 gears, Swanson chip, Pro-M, NGK plugs, carbon drive shaft, Roadmaster suspension kit, TransGo shift kit,
13.39 @ 102.5

2001 Kevlacat 2400, twin 115 Evinrude FICHT, Raytheon VHF, radar, autopilot and GPS chartplotter/fishfinder.
http://www.zing.com/album/?id=429389...4647875&idx=15

gmvye@pacbell.net

 

Sounds Great! Let us know about brake dust after about a week with no wash job. Can you go that long?
noelvm

 

lgogether...don't know how different the R4S is from the R4 but here is there bedding in procedure. http://www.porterfield-brakes.com/pads.htm

 

Someone else posted using the AP 702's for the front and one of the Ford guys thought that the Expedition pads could be used for the rear. When I called Porterfield I told then that I know that the AP 702 work up front and that I think that the Expedition work in back. They looked up the Expedition and said that the AP 702 also work in the front for that model and that I should try the Expedition rears just like the ford mechanic said.

It was kind of the roll of the dice so to say, that's why I posted this, if I was wrong then I was only out $79, but at least we would all know what fits or doesn’t back there.

During real hard braking with the windows down I can smell the pads working, is this because they are new or is it because they are super soft? I can't say, nor do I really care with-in reason. If I have to change them out every 10,000 miles I don't care, do I have to wash my wheels every other day I don't care, they're that good compared to stock.

I edited this because I wanted to qualify my last sentence ‘they’re that good’. Maybe my OEM brakes and or pads just suck compared to others.

From the start I was never impressed with my brakes until today. Before I had a really hard time judging braking distances with my truck; I kind of timed the distance and got lucky a lot. I could always stop faster that I thought I could, but that was always in a panic situation and never by design.

When I road raced motorcycles I could sort of see things in ½ bike segments and modulated the brake handle to slide up and down this segment confidently. After this brake pad change I can already see segments in 1 truck lengths pretty confidently. I guess the words I’m looking for are implementation and feedback. Before if I wanted to slow, stop, stop really fast, I’m using Jesus as a braking marker, or ah well it’s been a good life; it was like smashing my foot on an immovable object and hoping for the best. Now I can play between these granular inputs.

I’m long-winded, sorry.




[This message has been edited by lgogether (edited 04-13-2001).]

 

lgotether...I can really identify with your analogy. I think what you're trying to say is the L has poor modulation. It seems theres a final step missing in the braking sequence. It should be slow down, slow down fast, STOP NOW, and Oh *****. Instead the L has slow down, slow down fast, and Oh *****. I'm missing that last bit of modulation in the brake pedal, and I feel the antilock working much earlier than what I think it should be. Once the antilock is engaged, there's nothing else to do, you're pretty much along for the ride...steer and pucker up!

 

Test 2

I played around some more today; here are my thoughts.

When the brakes are cold they're just a tad less effective than stock. Afer one medium stop a they are every bit as good as stock.

After 3-4 stops even a monkey(me) can tell a major improvement.

I when out and trashed around for 42 miles really hard. The more you abuse the pads the more they like it and the more reward you'll receive. I wasn't ably to ever acheive brake fade, but I don't think you can on small flat Texas roads.

Now the bad news, a couple of times when I was diving in hard it smelled like cluch plates where being fried, it's the pads. Also after 42 miles I swished a peice of white paper across the front rims and noticed that I can write my name on them now.

I have before and after pictures, but I can't upload the pics again, thanks to AT&T.

If you like your truck to smell like fried cluch plates 1 hour after you parked it, then these pads are for you.

[This message has been edited by lgogether (edited 04-13-2001).]

 

Are these brakes like the EBC brakes that are out there. I saw an add in a magazine for these and they claim a 20% increase in stopping power and a 80% decrease in brake dust. even if there not any more powerful, I would like the 80% decrease on the dust. I'm going to find out as soon as mine are shot, which should be soon.



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Built 5/4/99
# 917 of 4000
P.S. I DON'T CARE!!!!!!!

 

RTKILLA

I would say that if you give one iota about brake dust these pads are not for you, stay away. Hell the smell alone is a bigger issue than the brake dust; I coasted up to a few stoplights only to be greeted by this uninvited look from others.

I’m not sure if I can suggest these pads for any lackadaisical driver, even a bicyclist until fully warmed up.

If you enjoyed the acceleration from your chip and would like to experience the same enthusiasm from stopping then give these pads a try.

BTW EBC makes fairly good brake pads for bike applications, I don’t know about autos, but hell a pad is a pad pretty much. I just can't see a pad working significantly better than another and not producing more dust without a totally different technology.

 

Thats what I think to about the EBC's but I guess I just need to try them out. What do the pads smell like anyway. I do brake allot during my driving, so these might be good for me. I wish I had the magazine with me so I could remember the web site.

 

I did read your posts... every single word... I especially liked how you start with a "Great A+++" rating and then 1 day later pretty much trashed them - too much brake dust... horrible smell... people gawking - think you could have waited a day and given us a complete review?

Anyway, I never said you had fade... i said after the smell, then they would have started to fade... point being you're overheating them if they smell.

And Mr. big bad x-superbikeracer, I'm just a humble farm boy, I wasn't giving you any advice... I was giving readers another data point... my Porterfield pads dont smell until overheated and they dust about same as stock (lots with both w/hard braking).

Finally I questioned if you had done hard brake testing (play at the edge of ABS, whatever) with the stock brakes... I have, and mine smell nasty and dust a TON.

BTW, for most people "trashed around for 42 miles really hard" does not equate to "just playing around on the edge of the anti-lock system"... may wanna work on that word choice.

-Dreamin
'00L - R9, Airaid, Pirelli P-Zero / BFG g-force R1, Brembo's.


[This message has been edited by DreaminAboutL (edited 04-14-2001).]