[cobalt327]

I have a question about an online order I made recently w/AutoZone.

The brake pads that they sent me (1980 Malibu wagon) are p/n EMKD 154 pads that are called "Semi-Metallic; OE Replacement Brake Pads - Rear", in their onsite info. I wasn't even aware the '80 Malibu was available w/rear disc brakes.

I do know of a 'rare M80' Malibu option that was supposed to appeal to NASCAR fans, but I do not know what all was involved mechanically, only that the option also included appearance "upgrades".

These "economy" pads are the same dimensionally as the front pads. Which leads me to think the rear calipers would have to be the same as the fronts. Now, there are F-body rear discs like on the T/A late 70's- and they use a similar pad, but that wouldn't seem to have jack to do w/my Malibu.

Does anyone here have any insight on this?

[LATECH]

I dont recall ever seeing a malibu with rear discs.If it did , it would not not make sense that the pads would be the same as the front, as the front does roughly 60-70 percent of the braking compared to the rear. Rear pads are allways smaller( at least from my recollection). I have changed a lot of brake pads in my day.I do suppose that the car could have an F body rear in it .Did you check the part number for that? I see a lot of guys that like the 80 ish malibu wagon for building, for street / strip. It is a good design.Lots of stuff swaps out if you can find an el camino to put it on.I think it is well liked for the weight and weight transfer (traction).Lots of cool ones out there anyhow.

[LATECH]

I just looked at 84 T/A pads and the number is emkd-154 . At the initial pages which shows the 11 choices it says rear pads. When you click on your prospective choice it then says " pads-front". Just under that in big print it says "pads rear". How confusing is that

GM part number for front pads on a 84 Firebird is 18026296
GM part number for rear pads on a 84 Firebird is 18028779
Maybe someone down there knows how to use a CROSS REFERENCE

I hope this helps

[LATECH]

BTW I went to 82 malibu (as far back as I could go) and the front pad number was the same as the 84 firebird with 2 wheel disc or 4 wheel disc . I saw no GM reference to a rear disc pad for the malibu

[SSedan64]

RockAuto has the same thing, some listed as Front w/4-wheel disc but, has no rear pad listed anywhere. Probably just an error in the Master parts catalogs that has never been corrected.

I've found a few things like this before.
My son has a 86 Dodge PowerRam 50 4X4, I tried to find a seal for the transfercase extension housing / Driveshaft yoke. Went to 5 different Parts houses, all had wrong seal. Finally found the problem when I bought the seal for the Driveshaft yoke to Front diff. They have the Front & Rear seals listed backwards. It's like that on all internet parts lookups also.

[joe_padavano]

Sadly, this problem is more common than you would think, and even when you find one and bring it to their attention, it is impossible to correct the all-knowing computer. Bottom line is that you need to be smarter than the computer when searching for parts.

[LATECH]

Originally Posted by joe_padavano

Sadly, this problem is more common than you would think, and even when you find one and bring it to their attention, it is impossible to correct the all-knowing computer. Bottom line is that you need to be smarter than the computer when searching for parts.

Hee Hee you gotta be smarter than the computer to program it too.

[cobalt327]

Guys, I want to thank you all for looking at this with/for me- sometimes I think I must exist in some weird alternate universe where failure is almost assured unless you jump through all the hoops just right!

I do appreciate that I'm not alone in this, though. I have decided to run them- w/the wear indicators attached. If they are a different (softer) compound like I suspect, no harm, no foul.

In the past, I always used organic pads anyway, the thought being that I'd rather chew up pads than rotors. On my Malibu the discs are integral w/the hubs, not just a slide the old discs off and slide the new ones back on- and because I don't run old, used bearings on new races, this means a new set of front inner/outer bearing$ and grease seals every time the rotors are replaced. And these rotors are only good for one or two turnings before they're too thin. And if they're warped, you can't even get that out of them- they will warp almost immediately even after turning them if they were warped before.

Thanks again.