Brake Pad Friction Ratings

[SALEEN961]

The friction rating of brakes pads is expressed as a two-letter code where the first letter designates the normal low-temperature (200 to 400° F) friction, and the second letter designates the high-temperature (300-to-650° F) friction.

SAE J866 Friction Designators
C: Up to 0.15
D: Over 0.15 up to 0.25
E: Over 0.25 up to 0.35
F: Over 0.35 up to 0.45
G: Over 0.45 up to 0.55
H: Over 0.55

A brake pad with a GG rating offers consistent friction from 200-650° F, a brake pad with a GC rating would start out with good friction that significantly fades as temperature increase, and a brake pad with a FH rating would start off with moderate friction that increases as temperatures rise.

I decided to buy all 3 versions of the 2021 F150 front brake pads that are currently sold by Ford to see how they compare to each other and a few popular aftermarket options that I was able to find data for. I was surprised to see that the standard brake pads have a higher friction rating than the police pads. I'm not really sure what benefits the police pads offer, but they might work better under extreme temperatures that are outside of the J866 testing temperatures.

I find it interesting that the Motorcraft pads have a lower friction rating and that Ford doesn't believe they are suitable for warranty repairs. This isn't always the case with Motorcraft pads, but I often see them listed as either "OE design" or "service design". It looks like the "service design" pads are a lower tier product that is often worth avoiding. I was also very happy to see that my new Ford ML3Z-2200-E rear brakes pads have a GG friction rating.

FRONT:
Ford ML3Z-2001-B (Standard Stock Pads)
Friction Rating: FH
Federal-Mogul FER 9213 FH

Ford ML3Z-2001-C (Police Package Pads) (Carbon Metallic)
Friction Rating: FF
Performance Friction PFC 64FF

Motorcraft BR2382 (PU2Z2V001H)
Friction Rating: FF
Federal-Mogul MPV 2032 FF
"Ford Retail Spec, Not For Warranty Repairs"

Raybestos EHT2382H Element3
Friction Rating: GH
BPI EHT7 GH

Raybestos SP2382TRH Specialty Truck
Friction Rating: HH
BPI SP2 HH

Bosch BC2382 QuietCast Ceramic
Friction Rating: GG
Bosch BNAQ CF14 GG


REAR:
Ford ML3Z-2200-E
Friction Rating: GG
ITT GA9105-1 GG

Raybestos EHT2383H Element3
Friction Rating: GH
BPI EHT7 GH

Raybestos SP2383TRH Specialty Truck
Friction Rating: HH
BPI SP2 HH

Bosch BC2383 QuietCast Ceramic
Friction Rating: FF
Bosch BNAQ CF620 FF

Ford ML3Z-2200-C (Police Package Pads)
NO DATA

Ford ML3Z-2200-F
NO DATA

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[v8440]

I wonder what the fh's are made of. It seems like substances with a positive coefficient of friction (increasing with temperature) are uncommon. Though it's now worn out, the sintered iron dual disk clutch in my dually has that feature. It grabs harder as it heats up. For reference, I think sintered iron is what the friction material in top fueler clutches is made of.

 

[HammaMan]

Not fond of the lack of data from other brands simply for comparison's sake. Interesting ford's take on OEM pads vs their motorcraft they sell and the warranty info

 

[SALEEN961]

Not fond of the lack of data from other brands simply for comparison's sake. Interesting ford's take on OEM pads vs their motorcraft they sell and the warranty info

I can add more aftermarket pads for comparison, but lots of brands use generic stock photos or don't show their pads from angles that let me easily read the edge codes. For many popular brands, like Akebono and Powerstop, I would need to buy the pads to read the edge codes.

 

[SALEEN961]

Additional aftermarket brake pads:

FRONT:

Duralast Gold Ceramic DG2382
Friction Rating: FG
MAT Holdings Inc DB9285FG

Duralast Ceramic D2382
Friction Rating: FF
Dongying Baofeng Auto/Friction Tech Auto 33 7310 FF

Bosch BE2382H Bosch Blue Ceramic
Friction Rating: FF
Bosch BNAB CF20 FF

Bendix SBC2382 Ceramic
Friction Rating: GG
MAT Holdings Inc BXC-9341-GG

Bendix CFC2382 Priority One Ceramic
Friction Rating: FG
MAT Holdings Inc BXC-9131-FG

Bendix MKD2382FM Fleet Metlok Semi-Metallic
Friction Rating: FF
MAT Holdings Inc BXM-929-FF

Wagner ZD2382 QuickStop Ceramic
Friction Rating: FF
QS717FF

ACDelco 17D2382CH Gold Professional Ceramic
Friction Rating: HH
BPI DEL-422-HH


REAR:

Duralast Ceramic D2383
Friction Rating: FF
Dongying Baofeng Auto/Friction Tech Auto 33 7101 FF

Bosch BE2383H Bosch Blue Ceramic
Friction Rating: FF
Bosch BNAB CF20 FF

Bendix SBC2383 Ceramic
Friction Rating: GG
MAT Holdings Inc BXC-9342-GG

Bendix CFC2383 Priority One Ceramic
Friction Rating: FG
MAT Holdings Inc BXC-9132-FG

Bendix MKD2383FM Fleet Metlok Semi-Metallic
Friction Rating: FF
MAT Holdings Inc BXM-930-FF

Wagner ZD2383 QuickStop Ceramic
Friction Rating: FF
QS717FF

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

Very cool……thanks for posting

 

[Superstock 3740]

Standard brake pads that I'm aware of fade at high temps. They either don't work as well, (just wont stop, very little grip) or they shudder when repeatedly pushed. The police pads are better at this, while sacrificing cold aggressive stops. Like trying to get a grocery getter stopped in a "panic stop" moments after pulling out of your driveway. We went through this on our F-450 31 foot Motorhome pulling a 10 thousand pound 26 foot trailer. For the first 10 minutes...the first few miles.. we had basically no brakes. But as soon as the unit got a little heat in them, they were fine. I don't know of a pad that is GREAT on both ends. I like a softer pad that wears out sooner even if they make less dust. But that's just me. Every time I've tried an aggressive pad, they eat the rotors up long before the pad is wore out/causing pulsating pedal/making a ton of dust and usually are noisy.

 

[Eighthtry]

So would slots help the rotor in this circumstance?

 

[SALEEN961]

So would slots help the rotor in this circumstance?

This link has a some good information on how different types of rotors impact braking performance and what their drawbacks are.

https://www.brembo.com/en/company/news/brembo-brake-discs-type-performance

...For the first 10 minutes...the first few miles.. we had basically no brakes. But as soon as the unit got a little heat in them, they were fine. I don't know of a pad that is GREAT on both ends...

If you find a pad that is great both hot and cold, it's probably noisy, very dusty, or it wears out quickly. This is exactly why I was happy to see a GG rating for the factory rear pads, that's a really good rating for a pad that has no obvious drawbacks.

The friction charts that Hawk publishes for their brakes pads are pretty interesting.

 

[powerboatr]

thank you for the post
that is some really good information
i never really paid attention to the numbers, now i WILL
my only heat thing is my 40 foot class A has air brakes, with GIANT pads
it to is what you would call sloppy right out the door, but after a few miles it has a death grip on the drums,,,,yes drums

 

[SALEEN961]

I just received a set of EBC ExtraDuty front pads in the mail. They are marketed as being much more fade resistant than standard replacement pads and having a wider operating temperature range than standard pads.

Front:
EBC ED93141
Friction Rating: GG
European Friction Industries AF903/09GG

 

[Je1279]

I definitely prefer ceramic pads as thier noise is outside of the range of human hearing. However, they perform best when they are warm. Because of this, I've always been interested in the performance of the Raybestos Element3's.

 

[Calson]

Higher friction will result in greater wear on the rotors. Replacing the pads is cheap compared to dealing with the rotors, either resurfacing or replacing them.

With disc brakes at all four wheels I have no problems with stopping my trucks regardless of the payload. My 1998 Chevy had drum brakes at the rear and it took forever to bring it to a full stop from 55 mph.

 

[Wakevictim]

I just received a set of EBC ExtraDuty front pads in the mail. They are marketed as being much more fade resistant than standard replacement pads and having a wider operating temperature range than standard pads.

Front:
EBC ED93141
Friction Rating: GG
European Friction Industries AF903/09GG

Would you recommend these for pulling a 6.5k trailer?

 

[SALEEN961]

Would you recommend these for pulling a 6.5k trailer?

I've never used EBC brake pads before, but I'll be installing a set of EBC ExtraDuty front pads along with their USR "silent" slotted rotors later this month to see how they compare to the factory pads and rotors.

I would imagine that they would work great when towing, but I don't have any first hand experince with them yet.

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