Bedding In Brake Rotors
Anytime you install new brake rotors, brake pads, or both, it's advantageous to bed in your new brakes. Bedding in your brakes is just an industry term to explain breaking in your new brakes. Bedding in your brakes helps transfer an even layer of brake pad material onto the brake rotor which assists in smoother brake operation and improved braking power.
Having a uniform layer of pad material on the brake rotor is essential to minimizing brake squeal and vibration. For this procedure, you will need a good stretch of road and no traffic.
Use common sense and take precaution as BrakePerformance does not take responsibility for erratic driving, accidents, or damages done.
Note: When using Brake Performance Zinc-Coated rotors, as soon as you start braking, the friction from the pads will strip the zinc from the pad surface, turning it Silver and leaving the holes, slots, and the rest of the rotor zinc coated in the color you selected.
- Perform 3-4 medium stops from 45mph. Slightly more aggressive than normal braking. You don't need to come to a complete stop for each pass. This brings the brake rotors up to temperature so they are not exposed to sudden thermal shock.
- Make 8-10 aggressive stops from 60mph down to 15mph. For this set of semi-stops, you want to be firm and aggressive, but not to the point where ABS activates and the wheels lock up. It's important to note that you don't come to a complete stop but rather a semi-stop (~15mph). Accelerate back up to 60mph as soon as you slowed down to your semi-stop.
- The brake pads and brake rotors are extremely hot at this point and sitting on one point will imprint the pad material onto the surface unevenly. This can cause vibration and uneven braking.
- You may notice that your brakes will start fading, and sometimes smoke, after the 6th or 7th pass. This fade will stabilize and will gradually recess once your brakes have cooled down to normal operating temperatures. Drive carefully as your brakes may feel softer for the next few minutes.
- Try not to come to a complete stop and find a stretch of road where you can coast for 5-10 minutes, preferably without using your brakes.
After the break-in procedure, there may be a light blue tint on your brake rotors as well as a gray film deposit. The blue tint shows that your rotor has reached the appropriate temperature during the bedding process, and the gray film is some of the pad transfer material.
Some cars and trucks require two cycles of the bedding in procedure. This may be the case if you are using old brake rotors with new brake pads, or new brake rotors with old pads. This may also be the case if you don't think you fully heated up the brakes in the initial bedding procedure. In any case, it's required that you wait at least 10-15 minutes between each cycle as you don't want them to overlap.
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