DIY: IS350 front brakes (w/o removing caliper)
05-11-07, 07:04 AM
#63
You will find that if you change the pads sooner (approx 2/3 to ¾ worn), there will be less need to resurface the rotors. Get a couple sets of pads and change them sooner. For me it will be approx 15K miles. Pads are much cheaper then pads and rotors. I have been able to get great life out of rotors in the past this way. Also if you lay into the brakes hard (Get them really hot), try not to hold the bakes if you have to stop. I will stop away from the light and let the car idle forward so the extremely hot pads/calipers are not sitting in one spot on the rotors for any period of time. You can also bump the vehicle into neutral and release the brakes while waiting for the light. This is only needed when you have been driving at high speeds and had to lay into the brakes hard or had to use the brakes allot (maybe downhill). Also remember to torque the lugs, it is very important.
Koz
Koz
05-11-07, 08:55 PM
#67
Originally Posted by StopTech
Bedding-in Street-Performance Pads
For a typical performance brake system using street-performance pads, a series of ten partial braking events, from 60mph down to 10mph, will typically raise the temperature of the brake components sufficiently to be considered one bed-in set. Each of the ten partial braking events should achieve moderate-to-high deceleration (about 80 to 90% of the deceleration required to lock up the brakes and/or to engage the ABS), and they should be made one after the other, without allowing the brakes to cool in between.
Depending on the make-up of the pad material, the brake friction will seem to gain slightly in performance, and will then lose or fade somewhat by around the fifth stop (also about the time that a friction smell will be detectable in the passenger compartment). This does not indicate that the brakes are bedded-in. This phenomenon is known as a green fade, as it is characteristic of immature or ‘green' pads, in which the resins still need to be driven out of the pad material, at the point where the pads meet the rotors. In this circumstance, the upper temperature limit of the friction material will not yet have been reached.
As when bedding-in any set of brakes, care should be taken regarding the longer stopping distance necessary with incompletely bedded pads. This first set of stops in the bed-in process is only complete when all ten stops have been performed - not before. The system should then be allowed to cool, by driving the vehicle at the highest safe speed for the circumstances, without bringing it to a complete stop with the brakes still applied. After cooling the vehicle, a second set of ten partial braking events should be performed, followed by another cooling exercise. In some situations, a third set is beneficial, but two are normally sufficient.
For a typical performance brake system using street-performance pads, a series of ten partial braking events, from 60mph down to 10mph, will typically raise the temperature of the brake components sufficiently to be considered one bed-in set. Each of the ten partial braking events should achieve moderate-to-high deceleration (about 80 to 90% of the deceleration required to lock up the brakes and/or to engage the ABS), and they should be made one after the other, without allowing the brakes to cool in between.
Depending on the make-up of the pad material, the brake friction will seem to gain slightly in performance, and will then lose or fade somewhat by around the fifth stop (also about the time that a friction smell will be detectable in the passenger compartment). This does not indicate that the brakes are bedded-in. This phenomenon is known as a green fade, as it is characteristic of immature or ‘green' pads, in which the resins still need to be driven out of the pad material, at the point where the pads meet the rotors. In this circumstance, the upper temperature limit of the friction material will not yet have been reached.
As when bedding-in any set of brakes, care should be taken regarding the longer stopping distance necessary with incompletely bedded pads. This first set of stops in the bed-in process is only complete when all ten stops have been performed - not before. The system should then be allowed to cool, by driving the vehicle at the highest safe speed for the circumstances, without bringing it to a complete stop with the brakes still applied. After cooling the vehicle, a second set of ten partial braking events should be performed, followed by another cooling exercise. In some situations, a third set is beneficial, but two are normally sufficient.
Javier
05-11-07, 09:16 PM
#68
Every brake pad manufacturer has slightly different bedding procedures they recommend. The one I use differs from StopTech's in that I like to do several light / cold braking events to clean the rotors before heating them or the pads up. Doing that adds a lot of planning, mileage, and time to the process since you have to allow lots of cool down time between each minor braking event, and can't really do any surface street driving at all after installing the pads.
Dealer brake jobs usually run upwards of $350.
05-11-07, 09:30 PM
#70
Once they're flat and you can't see the division in the middle of the pad, that means your brake pads look like this, and need to be changed ASAP:
Javier
05-17-07, 01:40 AM
#72
Tech Info Resource
iTrader: (2)
Hold the light like this.
See the split in the middle of this front pad? That tells you there is a lot of pad left. If the split is gone, you're getting close to time to replace. Minimum thickness is 1mm.
Here's a view of the rear pad. They don't wear nearly as quickly as the fronts, because the fronts are doing the bulk of the work.
FWIW, I had over 20k on my brakes when I took these pics. I wear out brakes very slowly, as I believe they are for the timid and those who fail to successfully plan ahead while driving.
05-17-07, 06:10 AM
#73
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No. Use a digital camera, or just look at the pad on the disc as shown in these pictures:
Hold the light like this.
See the split in the middle of this front pad? That tells you there is a lot of pad left. If the split is gone, you're getting close to time to replace. Minimum thickness is 1mm.
Here's a view of the rear pad. They don't wear nearly as quickly as the fronts, because the fronts are doing the bulk of the work.
FWIW, I had over 20k on my brakes when I took these pics. I wear out brakes very slowly, as I believe they are for the timid and those who fail to successfully plan ahead while driving.
Hold the light like this.
See the split in the middle of this front pad? That tells you there is a lot of pad left. If the split is gone, you're getting close to time to replace. Minimum thickness is 1mm.
Here's a view of the rear pad. They don't wear nearly as quickly as the fronts, because the fronts are doing the bulk of the work.
FWIW, I had over 20k on my brakes when I took these pics. I wear out brakes very slowly, as I believe they are for the timid and those who fail to successfully plan ahead while driving.
NICE PIc...
05-17-07, 11:31 AM
#75
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Last edited by socalJD; 05-17-07 at 11:49 AM. Reason: smilie