Kelsey Hayes disc pads

[Brutus]

Does anyone have a recomendation for brake pads for a Kelsey Hayes disc setup, just did the conversion on my 68 Dart the car is street legal but gets little street use. Do the organics stop good or is that all that is available?

 

[wjajr]

I used Raybestos PDG 11 professional grade pads from Rock Auto on my K H rebuild last spring. They work good with no squeal on a summer driver ‘67 Dart.

 

[CUDA69]

Talk to Dick at Firm Feel. His pads and shoes are really good.

 

[slantsixdan]

Pad composition has a large effect on pedal effort. I don't run a booster, so I prefer a softer organic brown pad rather than a harder semi-metallic black compound. These have grown harder to find but can still be turned up if you dig. Last set I installed in my '62 w/KH brakes was New Old Stock Mopar, which made the pedal effort a great deal more appropriate (it was ridiculously stiff with the previous Raybestos ones).

You might check with Old Car Parts Northwest and see what they have on the shelf; ask for pads for a '71 Dart.

Once you have your pads in hand, cook 'em in an old toaster oven to make bed-in much faster and safer once they're installed. A couple hours at 350°F does fine. The other trick I've used to improve disc brake performance on this system is to slot the pads anglewise, dividing the brake pad surface in three with two diagonal slots (aft inboard to fore outboard — pay attention to inboard vs. outboard and left vs. right pads) cut with a hacksaw after putting masking tape on the pad surface. WEAR A DUST MASK and otherwise do asbestos you can to keep dust down (get it? Asbestos you can? Haw haw haw)

 

[74Dusted]

If you can get them, Ceramic Pads are great. I put ceramics on the front of my '74 and noticed a huge improvement in braking quality.

Had them on my '84 D50 too, after I had a set of regular pads catch on fire coming down off the side of a ridge. And that was considering I downshifted to 2nd gear and used the brakes in bursts to keep them from heating up too much. Switched to ceramic pads and never had that problem again (even on the same ridge/road).

Also run them on our rollback, dumptruck and a few other vehicles. The only vehicle I can't find them for, is my '92 Dakota. Which sucks because that truck suffers from brake fade in stop & go traffic. (like my D50 used to, before it was switched to ceramic pads)

 

[needsaresto]

I have to agree with the hard pedal that comes with Raybestos product's. Im using raybestos on my Caravan and hate em. I know EBC makes pads for KH brakes. Was thinking of trying thier yelow stuff pads on my Dart.

 

[wjajr]

I have non assisted KH brakes using Raybestos pads, and I don’t find that peddle is overly hard, or excessive pressure is needed to operate the brakes. These KH calipers were remanufactured last spring, application of brakes are easily modulated, and when desired, are capable of locking up the front wheels.

Before I installed rebuilt calipers, peddle was extremely hard due to several stuck pistons in each caliper. If you are experiencing a hard peddle inspect your calipers for stuck pistons, and uneven pad wear patterns.

 

[66fs]

I run Hawk racing pads, maybe through summit? Manual disc. They seem fine to me.

 

[grimreaper]

BD-11s CQ ceramic work great for me!

 

[cudamark]

Pad composition has a large effect on pedal effort. I don't run a booster, so I prefer a softer organic brown pad rather than a harder semi-metallic black compound. These have grown harder to find but can still be turned up if you dig. Last set I installed in my '62 w/KH brakes was New Old Stock Mopar, which made the pedal effort a great deal more appropriate (it was ridiculously stiff with the previous Raybestos ones).

You might check with Old Car Parts Northwest and see what they have on the shelf; ask for pads for a '71 Dart.

Once you have your pads in hand, cook 'em in an old toaster oven to make bed-in much faster and safer once they're installed. A couple hours at 350°F does fine. The other trick I've used to improve disc brake performance on this system is to slot the pads anglewise, dividing the brake pad surface in three with two diagonal slots (aft inboard to fore outboard — pay attention to inboard vs. outboard and left vs. right pads) cut with a hacksaw after putting masking tape on the pad surface. WEAR A DUST MASK and otherwise do asbestos you can to keep dust down (get it? Asbestos you can? Haw haw haw)

Just goes to show you that you can learn something every day.......I didn't know Dan has a sense of humor..... ....just kidding! I know it used to be that I'd use the softest pads I could find for those KH brakes because the rotors were so hard to find. Now, with the cheap replacement rotors, I may try some of the semi-metallics or ceramics to see how they work/feel.