How to properly bed your new brake pads
From Taurus Car Club Maintenance and Modification Wiki
The text of this article is taken from Baer Brakes' website.
Contents |
The Purpose of Bedding Brake Pads
Bedding brake pads has a couple of important effects. The friction material in semimetallic pads is held together by an organic binder, usually a type of phenolic material. As the pads get hot, the binder boils, and burns, from the top surface of the pad. Once this burning or “Bedding” takes place the friction material makes proper contact with the rotor.
Some race/performance pads, like the Performance Friction’s line of pads, are designated as “pre-burnished” from the manufacturer. In our experience these pads still benefit from “bedding”. “Bedding” pads establishes a wear pattern between the pads and rotor. Some pads, like the Performance Friction pads, deposit a layer of carbon in the surface of the rotor. They need that layer of carbon to perform at peak efficiency.
A word of caution
Note: Never “Bed” pads on rotors, which have not first been “Seasoned.” Always allow a substantial coast down zone when bedding pads that will allow you to safely drive the car to a stop in the event of fade.
How to do it
Perform four-repeated light to medium stops, from 65 to 10 mph, to bring the rotors to temperature.
Perform two heavy stops, back to back, at a point just pending wheel lock, from 65 mph to about 5 mph. Drive for five to ten minutes to create cooling airflow, without using the brakes if at all possible.
Perform three light stops in succession. Perform eight heavy stops, back to back, at a point just pending wheel lock, from 65 mph to about 5 mph.
Drive for ten minutes to create cooling airflow, without using the brakes if at all possible.
Other considerations
Metallic brake pads need high temperatures to keep the pad “Bedded”. If you drive the car for a period of time without using the brakes extensively, you may need to “Bed” the pads again. This is not a problem. Simply repeat the procedure.
When switching from Performance Friction Carbon Metallic pads to semi-metallic brake pads (something we do not recommend), you will need to wear through the layer of carbon that the PFC pads have deposited in the rotor surface. The new pads won’t grip well at all, until this layer of carbon is removed.
Racers should “Bed” a few sets of pads at a time. In the event you need to change brake pads during a race, you MUST use a set of “Bedded” pads. Racing on “non-bedded” pads leads to a type of “fade” caused by the binding agents coming out of the pad too quickly. This is called “green fade”. These binders may create a liquid (actually a gas) layer between your pads and rotors. Liquids have a very poor coefficient of friction. This condition is the reason for reverse slotting or cross-drilling rotors, as it allows a pathway for the gasses to escape.
