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Brake Pad Break In

844 views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  JerryP 
#1 ·
I will be installing a set of Hawk HPS pads this weekend, front and rear. Should I follow their break in instructions or another way? I read somewhere their way might not be the best. I don't know.Thanks.
 
#3 ·
There are two different schools of thought on this one. Some folks use the break-in procedure that Hawk recommends and love it. Other people prefer to go with a simpler version and just drive their Mustangs regularly for about 150 miles and avoid hard braking. Personally, I think it depends on how much patience you have and what kind of driver you are. The really important thing is to heat-cycle the pads so they mate up with the rotors properly.
 
#5 ·
I've had good experiences using that procedure, which I believe I first saw on the Roush site.
 
#7 ·
Every time I switch over to high performance pads be it on a motorcycle which I have gone through at least a 1000 sets of pads or a car I remove all of the OEM anti rattle parts. The only function they serve is to prevent the pads from being able to move around in the caliper and make noise. Most designs also have the negative effect of “holding” the pad up against the rotor more than you want it too also because they don’t allow the pads to retract in between use. Of course I am not talking about them retracting to the point where you will feel it in the pedal (or lever on a motorcycle), they just need to retract to the point where they are not putting any pressure on the disc.

The downside is that the pads can make a crapload of noise while coasting at slow speeds. And on top of that high performance pads make a ton of noise anyway. I ran Hawk HP’s on my 03’ Cobra with no anti rattle hardware and when you were coasting up to a stop it sounded like something was going to fall off the wheels. I got plenty of strange looks from people in parking lots, etc. The pads worked great though. Part of the trade off like most mods.

Someone mentioned that they didn’t notice an improvement over their OEM pads. I’m guessing that they were not bedded in as well as they could have been. I have bedded in more pads than I care to remember (3-4 sets a race weekend and a set every track day) and when done correctly the results are outstanding. If done incorrectly they turn to wood and there is no saving them.

I turned my first set of Hawk street pads to wood following the bedding procedure given by I think it was Hawk. I got another set the next day and bedded them in like I bed all of my bike pads in and they worked great. My procedure is as follows:

I first start by cleaning the rotor surfaces with Scotch Brite and brake cleaner to make sure there is no pad material on the rotors.

Then I assemble the brakes.

Next is to get out on the street/pits and do 25-30 stops from 25mph using no more than 25% brake pressure. Cruising around the neighborhood is a good way of doing this. About 15 stops in you will begin to feel the pads start to bite. Once the “bit” has leveled off which is usually between 25-30 stops you have bedded them in. After that is done the car/bike needs to be parked until the pads/rotors are completely cooled off, preferably at least an hour. After the pads/rotors are cooled off I go back out and do 2-3 stops from 25mph using 25% brake pressure or until I feel them warm up and bite real good. Then a few stops from 50-60mph using 50% brake pressure and as long as they are biting good and hard a few stops from 75-80mph using…..you guessed it, 75% brake pressure. By now your eyeballs should be falling out of your head. On the bikes I don’t do the braking from 25-50-75mph “drill” after the first cooldown but the first few laps on cold tires/green track allows me to bring them up to temp slowly. If possible I let the pads/rotors cool down all the way again before I start “using” them but it is rare I get a chance to so just do it if you can.

Using the above method I have had great success getting the maximum performance I can out of a set of pads.

Hope this helps.
 
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