What is the difference between brake pads and brake shoes?
Josh asked:
I need to have my back brakes replaced. My friend asked me to buy the parts and he can do the labor for me. But the guy at Auto Zone asked if I needed brake pads or shoes for my 2004 pontiac sunfire. I didn’t know what to tell him. So what is the difference?
I need to have my back brakes replaced. My friend asked me to buy the parts and he can do the labor for me. But the guy at Auto Zone asked if I needed brake pads or shoes for my 2004 pontiac sunfire. I didn’t know what to tell him. So what is the difference?
If you have rear disc brakes, you need pads. If you have rear drum brakes, you need shoes. Look behind your rear wheel. If you see a round shiny disk, get pads. If not get shoes.
Usually “pads” are for disc brakes and “shoes” are for drum brakes.
Ok, here’s what you need to look at. You probably have shoes in the back, if it’s not an upgraded car
If you look through your front rim, you’ll see a shiny metallic disc, that looks like it has grooves like a vinyl record. Now if you need pads, it will look exactly the same in the back. If you need shoes, you will see what’s called a drum, which is usually rusted or black. It will not be shiny.
If you take your wheels off it will be even easier to tell, because the front is literally a disc, and the back is either obviously a disc or obviously a literal drum.
The shoes go on the inside of the drum, and the pads are visible by looking at your brake caliper on your disc. They are what squeeze the disc. You cannot see shoes without taking your drum apart.
So you will see one or the other and know the difference. A dis gets pads, a drum gets shoes.
Ok pads are for disc brakes and shoes are for drum brakes.
Brake pads are for vehicles equipped with disk brakes, brake shoes are for vehicles equipped with drum brakes. Give the Auto Zone folks the Year, make, model and engine size of the vehicle and they should be able to enter this info. into their system and tell you which one you need, then you decide whether you want metallic,semi metallic or even ceramic if it’s applicable.
FIRST OFF TAKE NO OFFENSE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ON YOUR CAR IS THE BRAKES SO DON’T MESS WITH YOUR AND MY LIFE HAVE A PRO DO IT, DISC TAKE DISC PADS AND DRUMS HAVE SHOES U COULD HAVE A 4 WHEEL DISC AND OR DISC DRUMS DISC ON FRONT DRUMS ON THE REAR