Had a great day at Mid-OH this week with the Allegheny Region club (1 out of 2 days anyway). Waiting for my third session, I checked out my pads for wear (the wheels were unusually dusty) my right front pad appeared to be down to just a few mm in thickness; the left looked about normal. I called another driver over and he confirmed visually--I didn't have a jack with me (or an extra set of pads)--that the pad looked nearly done so I decided to blow off the last session of the day, ordered a replacement set from a Porsche shop owner that was at the track, for next day delivery.

The pads showed up early the next day, we had them out in a few moments--the right pad was toast--and replaced the KFP 1935 pads (similar to the Hawk HPS) with the KFP gold-- a track pad. Spent a few minutes trying to bed them and they felt great, unfortunately, the day was a wash out. After our first session in fairly heavy rain my wife and I called it a day.

My question is the uneven wear out of this set at the track. I had about 2/3 thickness before the even on the front pads. It was a warm day and we were braking hard at the end of the straight, running back to back sessions with my wife. Having said that, the left pad look a bit worn but I would have been able to finish the second day easily, but the right pad was completely toast. Bad fitment, bad material? Would appreciate any ideas on this since it really came out of the blue and had not experienced this type of wear with the OEM pads at track events.

Next, one of the club members offered the use of his floor jack to change out the pads-- a Sears 4000 lb. unit that was small and very easy to use, with a large pad and release mechanism built into the handle that worked with a twist--very slick(link attached). I was ready to buy this unit except when I went to the Sears website and read the reviews,they were terrible. The vast majority of respondents said while the design was great, it last barely a year before the seals failed, it only carried a one year warranty and difficult to get fixed. Would appreciate any reviews of owners with this floor jack or suggestions on a similar type of floor jack with better reliability or longer warranty.

thanks for any help in advance.

Craftsman 4000 lb. Capacity Aluminum Jack - Model 50239 at Sears.com

I have a Sears jack and it died in 2 years. Doesnt lift. Fluid looks ok inside. Sometimes if I bleed it, it'll work for a while but is unrelaible and I suppose dangerous. Sears refused to fix it. Crappy one year warranty. Always respected the Craftsman label, but dont anymore.

It was miserable when it failed at the track.

In process of trying to find a suitable replacement (it wont be Sears)

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AFRIDI
Cayman S 2007

My Sears jack is going on 5 years of abuse with no issues. Probably because I'd replace it with something expensive/fancy if it broke....

I just ran to Costco and picked up the 3 ton version of this for $139.99
Floor Jack

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Dan

Mike
Re: uneven pad wear, ScottyFerrari experienced a similar issue, but no word yet about the cause.

Jacks: my workhorse is an Intercomp 35 lb racing jack. Very high quality (double seals, etc.), American made, but expensive. Not a single problem during many years of regular use. My "second" jack is this even lighter, smaller Sears jack (with a neat LED light) which has been trouble free, except for a blown LED replaced under warranty.

There are a number of lightweight (25-35 lb +/-) aluminum racing jacks available for $90-$150 (General, Harbor Freight, Sears, "no names" on eBay, etc.) which all look very similar to each other and to the much more expensive jacks used by pro race teams, but there are frequently reported problems with most of them so it's hit or miss. Many are prone to the edges of the saddle breaking off and others have seal failures. Using a hockey puck in the saddle prevents breakage. Search "floor jack" for many threads on point, such as this one.

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Dan

Everybody knows jacks; nobody knows pads?

I'm no brake pad expert either, but I've never had uneven pad wear from side to side in over 20 years of tracking, so I don't think it's normal. Maybe that one side is dragging against the rotor, even when the brakes aren't being applied. If so, a caliper setting adjustment should fix it.

I've also heard that occasionally a "bad" (weak) pad occurs, but never heard why. Did both pads in that caliper show the same excessive wear?

I bought a cheap (about $40) 2.25-ton Sears jack over 20 years ago, and it still works fine after many wheel/tire switches every season. I bought a second one about 10 years ago thinking the first one couldn't last much longer, but the "new" jack is still in the box.

Thanks for the replies.
Jim, the inside right pad was worn but not quite as worn out the outside pad--which was down to the grove cut in the center of the pad; completely toast.

I bought this low profile race jack two years ago and have been very happy with it. I gets used on the CS to jack up one side of the car at a time for detailing the wheels or changing brake pads or as I'll be doing next week, flushing the brake system.

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

I bought a used 944 aluminum jack on Ebay for $20 and it fits like it was made for the Cayman

I had uneven wear in the fronts where right side pads wore more than the left side. I have cooling ducts on the car and the right side had displaced enough that I suspect was not cooling the rotor enough and I think that was the cause for me. I have not yet corrected the issue and check the wear, but will next month, then I can report any improvements if any.

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FT