Possibly an ignorant question, but are there any unfavorable consequences if to use oem brake pads on the rear and aftermarket (greenstuff) on the front? I just brought my 04x with 15k miles to dealer- as the squealing from the fronts is driving me crazy. They cleaned brakes (noise returned the next day, although not quite as bad) and indicated I'm only 33% through the fronts and 50% through the rears. I realize I can probably have them replaced by dealer when I approach 36k miles, but I'm considering swapping out the front pads myself now (hoping to continue with original rotors) to minimize the irritating noise.
Assuming the aftermarkets on the front will have more "grab" than oem pads on the rear, would this affect the handling?
Thanks, in advance, for responses/advice.
dave

 

You could replace only the front pads because most of the brake bias is towards the front of the car. This means that your front pads will wear down much faster than your rears. 50% is still a good amount of pad left on the rear but I would replace all four and be done with it. The main problem I'm seeing from running different pads is that depending on the makeup of the pad, your OEM pads will wear at a different rate from the aftermarket ones. I don't think it would adversely affect your handling by running different pads but I'm not entirely sure and I'd hate to give you the wrong advice. Anyone with more knowledge care to chime in?

 

brake pads have differing coefficients of friction. This can cause changes in brake biases to a small degree. Personally, I match the pads all around. Your ABS will keep you from prematurely locking up wheels, but under some hard barking situations, you may get ABS activation unexpectedly. Not dangerous, but perhaps a bit disconcerting.

 

Thanks for the advice (keep it coming). One question I must add... if there is a bias towards the front brakes, then why would the rears have more wear?

 

Swept area of pads and rotors are smaller in rear as is the line pressure.

Traction control applies rear brakes only so they get more wear. [primary reason].