'Bedding in'

[ssmate]

hey just just started the procedure of 'bedding in' the new front rotors
was driving round the loacal streets accelerating to bout 50 then applying firm brakes down to about 5 kms

after bout 10 times of doing this i jumped out and noticed a heap of smoke coming from the brakes so let cool down for a lil then just cruised home, 5 min drive to my house

when i got home i notice a bit of brake fluid on the inner rim both side, just wondering if i have ****ed something in my unexperinced attemp!!
that shouldnt be there right?

[vlv8vic]

is it possible that you just let some fluid spill when you were doing the job? Check the area and see where it might be coming from, take the wheel off and get a friend to jump on the anchors and see if it leaks more obviously from somewhere.
If it were really bad you probably wouldn't have brake pressure, im assuming it seems the brake normally?

[ssmate]

yea well there was no real spil where i was workin as i would notice it was under carboard only thing i can remember as 'anything' was where the line connected to the calliper there was bout a finger head worth of oil, but only on the one side

yea there normally?

[VZTHUNDER]

im no expert but id check the rotors and hoses for the brake fluid
that definatly shouldnt be there

but like i said... im no expert so i could be wrong about the hoses etc
but if you can brake properly with pressure id saY they hoses are fine
just check it all again

[AttaBoy]

Just be real careful when driving and I suggest you just take it to a mechanic or brake specialist to check it out. You don't wanna wait till it fails and slam in to something and possibly getting killed. Any safety items such as brakes, steering etc... I leave it to the professionals.

[ssmate]

me n me old man had a look took tyres off n all that couldnt find a leak! took for another drive didnt leak so my old man was guessin that maybe the piston had some excess fluid in there or something and thats where it came from? but hes no expert

anyways im gonna book it in for a service next week so ill make sure to get the mechanice to go all over them, even get the system flushed! wont need to drive it till then so should all be good!

[J_D]

Smoke from the brakes is a normal part of the bedding in process and fluid you saw was probably residue from the oil they use to stop the rotors from rusting in storage. The oil sits inside the vents on the discs and flings out at the inner rim when the rotors start spinning. When I did my brakes I had the same thing happen after bedding in. I washed off the fluid and took it for another drive to make sure the system wasnt leaking.

[dmitch]

i didnt notice ne smoke when i did mine but i didnt look.. did u wipe the rotors with brake cleaner b4 u put them on and after if u got them dirty when putting on... only prob i had was i didnt do up one of the brake line tight enough but if u didnt take them off then that shouldnt b a prob..

[minux]

lol, smoke is normal, i always get looked at funny when bedding my babies in, takes a bit more speed with rotors almost twice your size. Makes twice as much smoke though

[Weissen]

"smoke is normal" LOL!

"Bedding in" sounds like a brilliant way to screw up your disc rotors by overheating them to me.

Standard rotors are made from cast iron and its full of internal stresses due to the nature of the material and the way it's manufactured.
When you heat it up the structure of iron weakens and the stresses get released by movent in the material.
What you are doing is stress relieving the iron, and your once beautifully flat braking surfaces end up warped and eventually you end up getting a shudder thru the steering when you use the brakes.
Only way to fix this is to get them machined flat again or to ditch them for new ones.

Normal road car brakes are designed for average road conditions, average braking with the very occassional heavy braking when needed now and again, they are not designed to run red hot with multiple heavy braking episodes, it WILL warp the rotors.

It might be a good method to use on the track to get the high spots of the pads off as quickly as possible for maximum braking effect and eveything is expendable, money no object, to get the quickest times but for normal driving bedding in the brake pads is a pull.

I mean, don't see any Holden Commodores rolling off the line in Elizabeth there in a cloud of smoke as the factory drivers "bed in the brakes", and I assume all the brake components on those cars are brand spanking new right?........

Why complicate things, just put the freaken pads in and drive normally for the first 50km and they will bed in anyway without stuffing up your rotors.

[minux]

"Smoke is normal"...LOL!
"Bedding in" sounds like a brilliant way to screw up your disc rotors by overheating them to me.

Standard rotors are made from cast iron and its full of internal stresses due to the nature of the material and the way it's manufactured.
When you heat it up the structure of iron weakens and the stresses get released by movent in the material.
What you are doing is stress relieving the iron, and your once beautifully flat braking surfaces end up warped and eventually you end up getting a shudder thru the steering when you use the brakes.
Only way to fix this is to get them machined flat again or to ditch them for new ones.

Normal road car brakes are designed for average road conditions, average braking with the very occassional heavy braking when needed now and again, they are not designed to run red hot with multiple heavy braking episodes, it WILL warp the rotors.

It might be a good method to use on the track to get the high spots of the pads off as quickly as possible for maximum braking effect and eveything is expendable, money no object, to get the quickest times but for normal driving bedding in the brake pads is a pull.

I mean, don't see any Holden Commodores rolling off the line in Elizabeth there in a cloud of smoke as the factory drivers "bed in the brakes", and I assume all the brake components on those cars are brand spanking new right?........

Why complicate things, just put the freaken pads in and drive normally for the first 50km and they will bed in anyway without stuffing up your rotors.

The smoke generally comes from the coating over the pads, it also comes from any fluid that has been over your hands and got onto the pads/rotors. bedding them in with a few hard accelerates and brake will do NO DAMAGE whatsoever to your rotors. I like to know that when i need to hit the brakes, they will be there.

I have also never seen any rotors warp on a standard setup before, usually the brakes fade well before this happens.

edit: I should mention ia m running 343mm rotors and using a slightly higher quality pad than your stock holden pad, however, most brake guys will say the same thing, a few speed up and slow downs are the best way to do things, it also reduces any chances of build up that causes squealing.

[Weissen]

Ok a bit of grease buring off etc is normal, but 10 hard stops from 50kmh to 0 kmh in succession is something standard brakes are not designed to do, not to mention the wear and tear on the suspension componentry.

I've driven uncountable Commodores with warped disc rotors just from normal driving let alone abuse like that.
Yes the immediate effect of hot brakes is that they will fade (may be several reasons for that to occur), but in the longer term the iron rotors will move and you will end up with wobbly brakes.
Like the ad says, "it won't happen overnight but......."
It's a well known issue with them. Why would you push it?
The brakess are just as effective when new, they just don't feel nice and bitey but I can live with that for 50-100km, ya drive it easy for a day or two, no biggie.

[burnz]

"smoke is normal" LOL!

"Bedding in" sounds like a brilliant way to screw up your disc rotors by overheating them to me.

Standard rotors are made from cast iron and its full of internal stresses due to the nature of the material and the way it's manufactured.
When you heat it up the structure of iron weakens and the stresses get released by movent in the material.
What you are doing is stress relieving the iron, and your once beautifully flat braking surfaces end up warped and eventually you end up getting a shudder thru the steering when you use the brakes.
Only way to fix this is to get them machined flat again or to ditch them for new ones.

Normal road car brakes are designed for average road conditions, average braking with the very occassional heavy braking when needed now and again, they are not designed to run red hot with multiple heavy braking episodes, it WILL warp the rotors.

It might be a good method to use on the track to get the high spots of the pads off as quickly as possible for maximum braking effect and eveything is expendable, money no object, to get the quickest times but for normal driving bedding in the brake pads is a pull.

I mean, don't see any Holden Commodores rolling off the line in Elizabeth there in a cloud of smoke as the factory drivers "bed in the brakes", and I assume all the brake components on those cars are brand spanking new right?........

Why complicate things, just put the freaken pads in and drive normally for the first 50km and they will bed in anyway without stuffing up your rotors.

bull**** must run in or worped disc.
pad will exesive wear.
the disc is cast iron but it is not temperd that is up to brake application
to cure the iron. it is only milled NOT TEMPERD!

[minux]

Ok a bit of grease buring off etc is normal, but 10 hard stops from 50kmh to 0 kmh in succession is something standard brakes are not designed to do, not to mention the wear and tear on the suspension componentry.

I've driven uncountable Commodores with warped disc rotors just from normal driving let alone abuse like that.
It's a well known issue with them. Why would you push it?
The brakess are just as effective when new, they just don't feel nice and bitey but I can live with that for 50-100km, ya drive it easy for a day or two, no biggie.

Erm, what will it do to suspension? Why cant standard brakes do it? It isnt abuse, it sets the pads up for their life.

Sorry, but if holdens brakes setups cannot handle this there is a big issue.

I can pull my car up at 200+ km/h no problems while at a track time after time. Even with the stock setup it was fine for a few applications. I'd hate to see you drive around the great ocean rd

[minux]

Can i just add this, i do not go straight out and anchor my brakes on hard.

I usually cycle up to 100 km/h.

Slower applications from 30, then 40 then 50, firm appications for 60,70.80, then one or 2 higher speed applications.

[Weissen]

"bull5h1t must run in or worped disc.
pad will exesive wear.
the disc is cast iron but it is not temperd that is up to brake application
to cure the iron. it is only milled NOT TEMPERD!"

Correct it's not tempered, its still full of stresses. Heat it up too much and too quicklyand it will warp.
Go look it up in any engineering materials book.
Rapid thermal cyclling in many materials will cause them to move ESPECIALLY if they haven't been cured or stress relieved prior to.

"Erm, what will it do to suspension?" Erm, you're just applying more (unecessary) fatigue cycles to the suspension setup. ie It will just wear out your tyres and suspension quicker, no biggie.....

" it sets the pads up for their life" ...How? What's the technical reasoning behind cooking your brakes off to make them last longer?
Just looks like you're wearin 'em out prematurely to me.
Up in smoke so to speak......

They don't do this procedure from the factory, it dosn't tell you to do it in the owners manual and I'm sure Holden don't recomend it.

I call BS.

[burnz]

i am allso a metalurogist in saying that (DUH)

[J_D]

Think this should answer most questions about bedding in brakes.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

[burnz]

Think this should answer most questions about bedding in brakes.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

actually i prefer a little bit of heat in them to tensile a bit
before doing what's on the link

[Matt_vp]

if u arn't sposed to bed brake pads in then why do they give u instrutions to bed the pads in when u buy new brake pads???

[ssmate]

if u arn't sposed to bed brake pads in then why do they give u instrutions to bed the pads in when u buy new brake pads???

damn right i follow the instructions giving to me by dba!
took it to my mechanic and he said i did a good job in doing so . . .
also that fluid i thought was brake fluid was just from the rotors as someone said above^^^

ne ways i fitted my brakes properly with lil experince
im feeling pretty good lol . . thanks guys

[Cheap6]

Perhaps this site also:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedintheory.shtml