After I get my car back today from the alignment I am going to "Bed" my pads and rotors. Both being new it has been advised to me to do this to prolong the life and improve the performance of both pads and rotors. I read an article from StopTech about how to do this but has anyone actually done it this way? If so what was your impressions?
Stoptech brake Bed-in
TIA
Silver BLT
[quote name='Silver BLT' date='Jun 27 2005, 09:10 AM']has anyone actually done it this way? If so what was your impressions?
Stoptech brake Bed-in
TIA
Silver BLT
[right][post="6396"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]
I bed the brakes every time I change the parts on any vehicle......I don't recall not following the procedure so I don't have anything to compare it too.
Maybe I should have asked in the Racing forum..... Thanks Bart.
Silver BLT
that's how i do it - works well, but like he says, it's hard to find the right temps - you really have to know the materials
[quote name='Silver BLT' date='Jun 27 2005, 07:10 AM']
Stoptech brake Bed-in
TIA
Silver BLT
[right][post="6396"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right][/quote]
Yep - that's the way to do it.
I had the opportunity and time to bed in the pads and rotors a couple of days ago.
WOW! after I smoked 'em a few times I drove like grandma home and let it sit overnight. The next day I took it out and stomped on the brakes and almost gave myself whiplash! What A Difference! I now have baked pads and blue rotors. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Big difference. If anyone has recently changed rotors and pads and not done this yet. Find a safe place and follow the instructions on the link above. You'll love it! BTW I only had about 30 miles on my new setup prior to "bedding" the brakes.
Happy Man.
Silver BLT
Can this be done at any time, or if you failed to do it when you first put on new pads, are you out of luck and will just have less than perfect braking for the rest of the pad life?
According to the articles I have read and the people I have spoken with this can be done anytime and multiple times after the first. BE CAREFUL your brakes will be at best weak until the rotors and pads cool down again. Also DO NOT come to a full stop while beding the pads/rotors. It will allow a large deposit of friction material to be deposited onto one spot on the rotors and cause brake "shimmy" when you hit the pedal, some people mistakenly think this is a warped rotor.
The reason the brakes work so well after 'beding them in" is because there is a fine coating of brake material deposited on the rotor, the pads then contact this material instead of the steel. Read all the links and articles here:
stoptech brake bed-in
I thought the brakes worked well before, I was shocked at the difference afterwards. I romped on the brakes at 80MPH and stopped so quick I had a permanent smile for 10 minutes and looked like bug eyed Marty Feldman. (Igor, from Young Frankenstien) "What hump?".
If you want to do this read first then read again, DON'T stop completely or 1/2 way through the process when your brakes stink and start smokin'. Yes, this will eat up some pad material and leave brake dust on your wheels. Let'em cool overnight before you wash the dust off.
Do this at your own risk to your car, yourself and your pad life. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />
Silver BLT
as long as you haven't glazed the rotors or pads, this can be done later - i've screwed up a couple of times bedding them, and gotten away with rebedding - this is not to say that it will work every time
i've had to go as far as to scuff the rotors and pads and then rebed them when i really messed up - unfortuanely this means taking them back out of the car to do it, and at that point, you are really better off turning the rotors, putting in new pads, and starting over, because if it doesn't work, you get to do that anyway
give it a shot though - might work
I haven't done anything to my 968 since reading that brake bedding procedure, but I did do a brake job (new discs and pads, el-cheapo parts) on my in-laws Ford Explorer over the weekend, and since I had it to experiment with, I did take it out to bed the brakes.
I got a good blue sheen to the brake rotors, and man did the new pads stink up a storm when you lean on them that hard. I don't know what it'll do to the long term performance, but it proved the the truck brakes straight and hard, and that the whole system could heat up without blowing up. It was braking so nicely I started taking corners too fast, my father-in-law in the passenger seat turned a little pale after that.