I had to have my brakes re-surfaced after about 15k miles as my Brembo rotors were warped. Could not take the wobble and steering shaking when braking any more, the car is a little Saturn. Instead of reading theories, anyone here have short yet to the point break in procedures that you have used many times over with great success? The car is currently not being used today, and I would like to take it out on the back roads this weekend to get the brakes seated properly.
Brakes resurfaced – any good “break in” procedures
- Thread starter kgb007stb
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Drive normally and then do gradual stops by slowly applying the brakes firmly till you stop. Do that 3 or 4 times then drive to allow cooling. For street pads DONT hammer the brakes or you'll potentially glaze them.
A big part of the success is the pads you use and finish of the rotors.
A big part of the success is the pads you use and finish of the rotors.
There are several very good technical articles on brakes here. The bedding techniques work.
http://zeckhausen.com/technical.htm
http://zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm
http://zeckhausen.com/technical.htm
http://zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm
What pads?
Different pads require different bed-in procedures.
Different pads require different bed-in procedures.
Honestly, normal driving beds in most street pads just fine. Most people never bed-in their pads with a specific procedure (either when the car is new or after a brake job) and they don't experience any issues.
Street pads usually don't require much heat as they are already post-cured. Good pads will transfer a film to the rotors rather quickly.
If you decide to use some method, choose one that doesn't heat up the pads that much.
Wagner and GM advocate doing 20 complete stops (with moderate pedal pressure) from 30 mph with a 30-second cool down in between each stop.
Wagner says that doing twenty 50-20 mph slow downs with a 30 second cool down in between each stop is also an acceptable substitute.
Bendix recommends doing 30 stops from 30 mph, with a 30 second cool down in between each stop.
As you can tell, the three different bed-in procedures are fairly similar.
Street pads usually don't require much heat as they are already post-cured. Good pads will transfer a film to the rotors rather quickly.
If you decide to use some method, choose one that doesn't heat up the pads that much.
Wagner and GM advocate doing 20 complete stops (with moderate pedal pressure) from 30 mph with a 30-second cool down in between each stop.
Wagner says that doing twenty 50-20 mph slow downs with a 30 second cool down in between each stop is also an acceptable substitute.
Bendix recommends doing 30 stops from 30 mph, with a 30 second cool down in between each stop.
As you can tell, the three different bed-in procedures are fairly similar.
Below is Akebono's response to my question on their Euro Ceramic pads which I just had installed on my Saturn LW300;
Akebono pads go through a burnish step at the factory. No special break-in is needed. If your mechanic wants to do his own break-in procedure please let him. All manufactures ask that for the first 500 miles you don't drive as if you are on your last lap running to the checkered flag.
Thanks for choosing Akebono.
Akebono pads go through a burnish step at the factory. No special break-in is needed. If your mechanic wants to do his own break-in procedure please let him. All manufactures ask that for the first 500 miles you don't drive as if you are on your last lap running to the checkered flag.
Thanks for choosing Akebono.
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Originally Posted By: kgb007stb
I had to have my brakes re-surfaced after about 15k miles as my Brembo rotors were warped.
Brembo is a good brand. I suspect sloppy installation. You always ought to check runout of hub, rotor and hub/rotor assembly when installing new rotors.
I had to have my brakes re-surfaced after about 15k miles as my Brembo rotors were warped.
Brembo is a good brand. I suspect sloppy installation. You always ought to check runout of hub, rotor and hub/rotor assembly when installing new rotors.
Originally Posted By: BGK
Below is Akebono's response to my question on their Euro Ceramic pads which I just had installed on my Saturn LW300;
Akebono pads go through a burnish step at the factory. No special break-in is needed. If your mechanic wants to do his own break-in procedure please let him. All manufactures ask that for the first 500 miles you don't drive as if you are on your last lap running to the checkered flag.
Thanks for choosing Akebono.
I e-mailed Akebono's tech department and received a very different response. They stated that the pads do not require any bed-in procedure and performing one will cause damage to the pads. I posted the reply on this forum about a month ago.
However, I personally believe that even though the pads may be cured, the pads need to be mated to the rotors. There needs to be an even film of the friction material on the rotor in order for the pad to perform best.
Below is Akebono's response to my question on their Euro Ceramic pads which I just had installed on my Saturn LW300;
Akebono pads go through a burnish step at the factory. No special break-in is needed. If your mechanic wants to do his own break-in procedure please let him. All manufactures ask that for the first 500 miles you don't drive as if you are on your last lap running to the checkered flag.
Thanks for choosing Akebono.
I e-mailed Akebono's tech department and received a very different response. They stated that the pads do not require any bed-in procedure and performing one will cause damage to the pads. I posted the reply on this forum about a month ago.
However, I personally believe that even though the pads may be cured, the pads need to be mated to the rotors. There needs to be an even film of the friction material on the rotor in order for the pad to perform best.
The pads are Akebonos, I went with the brembo/akebono set up thinking that they would last for a long time. This time I took them to a different mechanic thinking that the installation was sloppy. This mechanic told me that the previous work was rock solid, I am dumb founded how a small car like that could overheat the rotors to the point of warping. No idea, but this mechanic told me that the warping was not what he is use to seeing, so he had to apply a different cut method to get all the valleys and peaks evened out. He told me that the previous job was well done and he saw nothing wrong with the installation. I don’t drive like a dumb [censored], gas/break, but I guess the brakes must have somehow overheated in the summer. Oh well, we’ll see how this time will go around.
All pads need to seat into the rotors. That is a physical fact.
Akebono's statements that say they are pre bedded, and that bedding in is bad for them is nonsense.
It's nonsense because they HAVE to bed in even if you drive normally, with no thought or care.
Maybe they are concerned with someone hammering the brakes to bed them in. But that should be addressed differently than saying you shouldn't bed them in, so they are plain wrong.
A bunch of stops from 30-40 to zero, with plenty of cooling time in between, will work with any type of brake.
Normal driving can work, if it is slow and light for a couple of hundred miles or so.
Akebono's statements that say they are pre bedded, and that bedding in is bad for them is nonsense.
It's nonsense because they HAVE to bed in even if you drive normally, with no thought or care.
Maybe they are concerned with someone hammering the brakes to bed them in. But that should be addressed differently than saying you shouldn't bed them in, so they are plain wrong.
A bunch of stops from 30-40 to zero, with plenty of cooling time in between, will work with any type of brake.
Normal driving can work, if it is slow and light for a couple of hundred miles or so.
In a nutshell, it seems that most agree that everyday street pads require a gentle break in acquired through "normal" driving for a couple hundred miles or a "gentle" procedure as describe above. Some high performance pads require an aggressive break in as given in instructions by the manufacturer.
I do have one question for you all. Some suggest that it is not good to come to a complete stop (vs. slow down) during a break in procedure. Any merit to this idea?
I certainly don't want to break my brakes during the initial brake break-in procedure, which would leave my pocket book broken, causing me to shout "give me a break!", regarding my broken brakes.
I do have one question for you all. Some suggest that it is not good to come to a complete stop (vs. slow down) during a break in procedure. Any merit to this idea?
I certainly don't want to break my brakes during the initial brake break-in procedure, which would leave my pocket book broken, causing me to shout "give me a break!", regarding my broken brakes.
Short and to the point...
Drive normally.
Drive normally.
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
I certainly don't want to break my brakes during the initial brake break-in procedure, which would leave my pocket book broken, causing me to shout "give me a break!", regarding my broken brakes.
The theory is that when you come to a complete stop, you will imprint some brake pad material onto the rotor unevenly and thus possibly cause a pedal pulsation due to DTV.
I was told by a consultant at StopTech yesterday that there's really no harm to doing the aggressive bed-in that Zeckhausen and StopTech recommend as long as it's done exactly as described. Most of the newer pads are post-cured/scorched, so any "gasses" that are released during the initial bed-in cycle should be minimal or none at all.
I certainly don't want to break my brakes during the initial brake break-in procedure, which would leave my pocket book broken, causing me to shout "give me a break!", regarding my broken brakes.
The theory is that when you come to a complete stop, you will imprint some brake pad material onto the rotor unevenly and thus possibly cause a pedal pulsation due to DTV.
I was told by a consultant at StopTech yesterday that there's really no harm to doing the aggressive bed-in that Zeckhausen and StopTech recommend as long as it's done exactly as described. Most of the newer pads are post-cured/scorched, so any "gasses" that are released during the initial bed-in cycle should be minimal or none at all.
My wife's Toyota gets over 50k on a set of pads with her normal break in of 3-4 25 mile daily freeway trips with no hard stops in the first 500-1000 miles. I have never had the rotors re-surfaced between brake jobs and the factory front rotors now have 127k on them and are still within spec. The rear rotors rusted out before they wore down. No squeal, no judder. So, I'm going to let her drive all my vehicles for 2 weeks after a brake reline.
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