Also interested in finding this out, time to get some new rotors and pads on the 06.

 

Last week I purchased my rotors and pads from NAPA. I bought the best ceramic pads and their highest quality drums. My cost for everything was $124. I'm not sure everyone will get this price, as my guy gives me dealer pricing, but it's a starting point for you.

 

My 06 HHR still has the original brakes and rotors at 68,000 miles. I'm easy on brakes.

 

Okay, everybody keeps talking about the what, but not the why. So, here it is; Semi-metallic brake pads are made of a friction material(the metallic part), and a polyester resin binder(the non-metallic part).
Right out of the box, the polyester resin is not cured, it needs to be gently heat cycled to complete the curing process. If it's overheated before it's cured it will boil to the surface and form a glaze that's actually harder and slicker than the friction material. that's what caused squealing, excessive brake dust(the dust is rotor material!, not pad material), premature pad failure, pad chunking and hard pedal with poor braking performance. None of this applies to organic, kevlar, or ceramic pads.

Also check your owner's manual. Under "New Vehicle Break-In" it states:

"Avoid making hard stops for the first 200 miles(322 km) or so. During this time the new brake linings are not broken in. Hard stops with new linings can mean premature wear and earlier replacement. Follow this breaking-in guideline every time you get new brake linings."

 

I was figuring this was normal.....Ive tortured my 07 since it was new and the brakes have 63 k on them and look to be half left.

Seeing so many people have to replace brakes at 40k makes me think mine is special

 

Guys,

Our brake pads are wearing okay, but the tiny little rotors are getting lumpier by the month. I think that pads are going to be the least of our worries and I'm sure they will outlast the rotors by a large amount.

I'll save up for a set of cryrogenically treated Power-Slots after the Christmas bill are paid off.

QR

 

"the dust is rotor material!, not pad material" I'll bet you still believe in Santa,the Easter Bunny, ect. Where does the pad material go? Why can you turn the rotors several times when you replace pads? Anyway,there are places in the caliper/pad assembly for 2 different types of lube. One goes on the back of the pad (this stops squeeling) and the other goes on the "ears" of the pads (this keeps the pads from sticking to the slots on the calipers) most of the shuddering comes IMO from residue build up on the rotors. This is where the bedding/break-in process comes in. At city speeds, you won't have it. But get on the off ramp on the Interstate and you surely will. Again, IMO stock rotors AND good quality ceramic pads along with proper installation/break-in is the way to go.

 

Read the entire post. Specifically the sentence before that statement.

 

Dog, I still stand by my statement. I don't use semi-metalic anyway. IMHO ceramic work much better, and don't eat up the rotors.

 

Non SS HHR's come with ceramic pads, not semi metallic.