How to Properly Bed your Brakes (Brakemotive)

[axefire]

I just installed brakemotive (powerstop) drilled-slotted rotors and their pads. So far after about 300 miles I'm VERY happy!

I've seen a few posts on how to bed your new brakes. Some are different. So I figured I'd post this pic of the sheet that Brakemotive sent me on "how to bed your brakes":

[Wangtang408]

Got mine installed on Sunday, luckily my mechanic broke them in for me, very happy a** well.

[cruzad3r]

you mean your mechanic drove the crap out of your car; that's nice

[myother45isalesbaer]

I just installed brakemotive (powerstop) drilled-slotted rotors and their pads. So far after about 300 miles I'm VERY happy!

I've seen a few posts on how to bed your new brakes. Some are different. So I figured I'd post this pic of the sheet that Brakemotive sent me on "how to bed your brakes":

Wow! The break in process sounds about right. The drilled or slotted rotors are nice. But they really don't do much except reduce weight. It's the total swept area that counts most. Drilled or slotted looks good but does not add much to overall braking. They don't even effect the cooling down process by much more than a tad. Oh well, to each his own.

But I have to add to my fellow poster, you let your mechanic break them in? That is very odd. I would never let a mechanic run my car for that many miles just to break in some new pads. What's up with that? Just don't get those rotors hot and hit a puddle, they will warp and all your efforts to improve braking will be lost and you will be replacing rotors. In my OP.

[axefire]

I bought them mainly for the price! $185 shipped to my house - no brainer. They are very good rotors and pads too. I do notice a considerable difference in braking I must say (over my old normal OEM rotors and pads).

I drive a lot of highway miles lately, and do a lot of panic stops (because the people in NJ/PA on Rt 78 are just freaggin chuckleheads) so my old fromt rotors warped and I was tired of hard stops and having the sterring wheel jumping out of my hands! I'm hoping these rotors stay cooler and don't warp as easy...

I agree with you guys bout having the mechanic bed the brakes. in fact I'll bet the mechanic really didn't go thru the bedding process, just test drove...

Yo wangtang, here's a quick test you can do to see if your brakes are truly bedded - get up to 45 and do a hard stop down to 5 or 10 mph... do you hear any noise or slight fast vibrations? If so, brakes aint beded. after 3rd stop on the bedding process all noise and vibration went away (and I'm not talking about rotor warp and the wheel shimmying, a vibration when you hard stop).

[merlinq2]

Drilled and slotted rotors are not designed to dissipate heat, they are designed to dissipate gases and reduce gas pressure between the rotor an the pad. Heat is what stops the car. The holes provide places for the gases to escape which allows for better pedal feel and less brake fade. Unless you are racing the car and need to brake late to make a turn etc, the average driver will never get the full benefit the drilled and/or slotted rotor. The drilled rotor must do something, other than reduce weight. If drilling the rotor provided no benefit then no one would set up tooling and dyes to drill the rotor. The GTR has drilled rotors- they must provide some advantage?

I also had a set of drilled and slotted rotors, I bedded them in properly and frequently, they did out last the OEM iron that was on the car.

I currently have the Brembo rotors all the way around. They weigh more than OEM, they are thicker and made of higher quality steel - 15,000 KM's and they look new, no grooving etc.

The brake motive kits are great value and will give the serviceability that you need. I went to Brembo because I got a deal on them from a co worker, if I did not get the deal I would have placed another order- will buy the brake motive kit when I am ready to replace these.

[axefire]

Drilled and slotted rotors are not designed to dissipate heat, they are designed to dissipate gases and reduce gas pressure between the rotor an the pad. Heat is what stops the car. The holes provide places for the gases to escape which allows for better pedal feel and less brake fade. Unless you are racing the car and need to brake late to make a turn etc, the average driver will never get the full benefit the drilled and/or slotted rotor. The drilled rotor must do something, other than reduce weight. If drilling the rotor provided no benefit then no one would set up tooling and dyes to drill the rotor. The GTR has drilled rotors- they must provide some advantage?

I also had a set of drilled and slotted rotors, I bedded them in properly and frequently, they did out last the OEM iron that was on the car.

I currently have the Brembo rotors all the way around. They weigh more than OEM, they are thicker and made of higher quality steel - 15,000 KM's and they look new, no grooving etc.

The brake motive kits are great value and will give the serviceability that you need. I went to Brembo because I got a deal on them from a co worker, if I did not get the deal I would have placed another order- will buy the brake motive kit when I am ready to replace these.

Ahh right! Got it - Gasses - I hate when I'm gassy... Either way I'm hoping they don't warp like the OEMs do... (I do remember reading that somewhere now that you mention it). But they do stop better than the OEMs did for sure!

[Wangtang408]

I just installed brakemotive (powerstop) drilled-slotted rotors and their pads. So far after about 300 miles I'm VERY happy!

I've seen a few posts on how to bed your new brakes. Some are different. So I figured I'd post this pic of the sheet that Brakemotive sent me on "how to bed your brakes":

Wow! The break in process sounds about right. The drilled or slotted rotors are nice. But they really don't do much except reduce weight. It's the total swept area that counts most. Drilled or slotted looks good but does not add much to overall braking. They don't even effect the cooling down process by much more than a tad. Oh well, to each his own.

But I have to add to my fellow poster, you let your mechanic break them in? That is very odd. I would never let a mechanic run my car for that many miles just to break in some new pads. What's up with that? Just don't get those rotors hot and hit a puddle, they will warp and all your efforts to improve braking will be lost and you will be replacing rotors. In my OP.

Yes my mechanic broke them in and no he did not drive the sh*t out of my car nor did he drive 200-500 miles, he did just the first steps.
By the way my mechanic is a good friend who happens to run a very good performance shop here in San Jose.

[merlinq2]

Good luck and I am sure they will work out great for you. I would run the bedding in procedure at the turn of every season, that seemed to work well in cleaning the rotor and depositing a fresh material from the pad to the rotor.

[axefire]

Every season Merlin? really - I know the process coats the ceramic from the pads onto the disc so they perform better and reduce warping (like the page says) but didn't realize it should be repeated?

[merlinq2]

Yep, my dad taught me that and I have done it ever since I own cars, it takes like 10 min and from my experience has managed to reduce the amount of wrapped rotors that I have had to deal with. In Canada there are two seasons, winter and summer, twice a year is best for me.

The rotors do not warp that much what happens is that the pads deposit material on to the rotors and cause high spots. These high spots give you the juttering feel in the pedal. So the surface is no longer flat. This gives you the sensation of warping. If you every watch some one resurface(turn a rotor) you will see that they machineing process takes off very little material. It is really just cleaning the surface.

Alot of direct heat is needed to warp heavy steel, low quality pads and lots of panic stopping will result in material build up - warping.

I am not an expert but I have had many years of driving and servicing my own cars. In the old days my dad would pull the rotors and take a disc sander and clean off the rotors down to high polish - and that would extend the rotor and pad life.

So for me, the re-bedding is like polishing the rotor and cleaning the crap off.

I am not an expert.............this just works for me

[axefire]

Yep, my dad taught me that and I have done it ever since I own cars, it takes like 10 min and from my experience has managed to reduce the amount of wrapped rotors that I have had to deal with. In Canada there are two seasons, winter and summer, twice a year is best for me.

The rotors do not warp that much what happens is that the pads deposit material on to the rotors and cause high spots. These high spots give you the juttering feel in the pedal. So the surface is no longer flat. This gives you the sensation of warping. If you every watch some one resurface(turn a rotor) you will see that they machineing process takes off very little material. It is really just cleaning the surface.

Alot of direct heat is needed to warp heavy steel, low quality pads and lots of panic stopping will result in material build up - warping.

I am not an expert but I have had many years of driving and servicing my own cars. In the old days my dad would pull the rotors and take a disc sander and clean off the rotors down to high polish - and that would extend the rotor and pad life.

So for me, the re-bedding is like polishing the rotor and cleaning the crap off.

I am not an expert.............this just works for me

Very cool. Thanks for the info...

[myother45isalesbaer]

axefire,

We have talked before. I know where you live. I grew up in NJ and had some good friends in Long Valley I visited often. Worked at AMBEST for about 5 years. Built a house in Kingwood. I agree with much you say. Route 78 can be one nasty drive during rush hour. You can be doing high speeds and then have to slam on your brakes for some reason unknown because of traffic ahead.

I don't think the original poster did a bad thing with the way he did his rotors and pads. He actually did a good thing. What your Dad said is more than likely true. Today they build the rotors so cheaply there is not enough material left in the rotors to have them turned. They just become junk. As for drilled and slotted rotors releasing gases, that's bunk!

I am getting sick and tired of trying to have my rotors turned and still staying within State spec's. The next time I warp one, I would like to know a high quality rotor to replace it with instead of buying OEM rotors. Every SEASON? Does the other poster know we have 4 seasons? That's bunk too. I have working on cars since I was 13YO. Disk brakes did not even exist. I think the original poster did a good job in my OP. Bottom line, bedding brakes takes about 100 miles driving normally as you do. There is no special trick to the process.

Best of luck to you.

[merlinq2]

Nothing like an expert in all things related to cars to de-bunk an opinion! Wasted enough time responding.

[myother45isalesbaer]

Nothing like an expert in all things related to cars to de-bunk an opinion! Wasted enough time responding.

I am not an expert on many things. But I did not intend to slam anyone's OP. My OP is what I posted. If you want to disagree with them, then we can have a nice discussion. If I offended you I apologize. Just give me a good reason why I am wrong. I have worked on cars for over 40 years. Maybe I am wrong, but tell me why!

[axefire]

axefire,

We have talked before. I know where you live. I grew up in NJ and had some good friends in Long Valley I visited often. Worked at AMBEST for about 5 years. Built a house in Kingwood. I agree with much you say. Route 78 can be one nasty drive during rush hour. You can be doing high speeds and then have to slam on your brakes for some reason unknown because of traffic ahead.

I don't think the original poster did a bad thing with the way he did his rotors and pads. He actually did a good thing. What your Dad said is more than likely true. Today they build the rotors so cheaply there is not enough material left in the rotors to have them turned. They just become junk. As for drilled and slotted rotors releasing gases, that's bunk!

I am getting sick and tired of trying to have my rotors turned and still staying within State spec's. The next time I warp one, I would like to know a high quality rotor to replace it with instead of buying OEM rotors. Every SEASON? Does the other poster know we have 4 seasons? That's bunk too. I have working on cars since I was 13YO. Disk brakes did not even exist. I think the original poster did a good job in my OP. Bottom line, bedding brakes takes about 100 miles driving normally as you do. There is no special trick to the process.

Best of luck to you.

Hey Myother - yes I remember you buddy - Honestly with these drilled/slotted rotors (at least) bedding is required. when I first put them on and drove, when applying the brakes they were a bit "sticky" in the sense that if I was going slow down my driveway they would grab tight and if I inched along they would grab and not provide a smooth stop (kinda like when you have new brakes and they're wet they get a bit funky, hard to discribe but very apparent) - On the first and second hard stop of the bedding process I could feel a slight very fast vibration of the pads grabbing and the holes and slots (I beleive that's what it was anyways). After 3rd hard stop it all went away and after I completed the entire process everything is smooth as silk and stops much better than OEMs. I now have about 300 miles on them so based on the paper pic I posted above, I'm still kinda braking them in i guess...

And I totally agree - having someone cut/turn your rotors is a waste of time and money! For $185 I replaced ALL 4... did it myself, and cleaned up and painted the calipers red. Some people complain they squeel - mine are silent so far.. Can't beat it IMHO.... Get the brakemotives from ebay!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FITS-MANY-MODEL ... 1007045564

[wingFeather]

I can't say that I've ever "bedded" brake pads. What am I missing?

Good deal on the upgrade package, though! At that price, this has to be one of the best modification values for our M's. Thanks for sharing.

[axefire]

I can't say that I've ever "bedded" brake pads. What am I missing?

Good deal on the upgrade package, though! At that price, this has to be one of the best modification values for our M's. Thanks for sharing.

Have a read at my last post - Bedding these drilled/slotted rotors is a must - also read the pic/paper I posted...

Def the best deal (so far anyways, I know I'm real happy)

[myother45isalesbaer]

axefire,

If they are working well for you in NJ then they have to work well in CT. We have almost the exact same climate and issues as you do in NJ. Thanks for the link to Ebay. I will definitely look into them as a solution to my warping rotors issue!

I have to second wingfeather's comment too.

[szh]

One very important difference in the bedding process that I have posted before.

When braking hard for those repeated aggressive brake applications, do NOT come to a complete stop - only brake hard to a slow rolling speed.

Actually stopping completely would cause hot pads to rest on the rotors at one location (even momentarily is not good) and potentially clump there - causing vibration and poor braking later, rather than an even pad material coating.

Z