Bedding-in New Brake Rotors
#1
08-18-2009 | 01:42 PM
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From: Wisconsin
Bedding-in New Brake Rotors
Here's a procedure for bedding-in new brake pads & rotors. This should be done whenever the rotors are replaced or resurfaced.
What's commonly called "warped" rotors are usually not actually warped. What happens is that brake pad material gets transferred & embedded into the surface of the rotor. If this happens unevenly, you get brakes that pulsate as the rotor turns from a more-slippery part to a less-slippery part of the disk.
Doing this procedure when they are new will transfer the brake pad material uniformly around the entire disk. For some reason I don't completely understand, they will tolerate abuse better after this is done. This might sometimes work to improve brakes that have begun to pulsate, but it doesn't always fix that.
First, you have to find someplace where you can do this whole thing without being stupid in traffic.
1 - Brake hard from about 40mph to 10mph. DO NOT STOP COMPLETELY.
2 - Drive around for a couple minutes to let them cool.
3 - Repeat a few times.
4 - Brake real REAL hard from about 50mph to 15mph. DON'T COMPLETELY STOP.
5 - Drive around for 10 minutes or more to cool down.
6 - Repeat several more times.
What's commonly called "warped" rotors are usually not actually warped. What happens is that brake pad material gets transferred & embedded into the surface of the rotor. If this happens unevenly, you get brakes that pulsate as the rotor turns from a more-slippery part to a less-slippery part of the disk.
Doing this procedure when they are new will transfer the brake pad material uniformly around the entire disk. For some reason I don't completely understand, they will tolerate abuse better after this is done. This might sometimes work to improve brakes that have begun to pulsate, but it doesn't always fix that.
First, you have to find someplace where you can do this whole thing without being stupid in traffic.
1 - Brake hard from about 40mph to 10mph. DO NOT STOP COMPLETELY.
2 - Drive around for a couple minutes to let them cool.
3 - Repeat a few times.
4 - Brake real REAL hard from about 50mph to 15mph. DON'T COMPLETELY STOP.
5 - Drive around for 10 minutes or more to cool down.
6 - Repeat several more times.
#5
09-04-2009 | 08:27 AM
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,398
From: Wisconsin
Yeah, I'd been doing that for years before I saw it printed on the boxes.
The procedure started out being kinda controversial. "OH MY GAWD, YOU SHOULDN'T ABUSE YOUR NEW BRAKES LIKE THAT...". But I started doing that 10 or 15 years ago and it's always worked well for me.
The procedure started out being kinda controversial. "OH MY GAWD, YOU SHOULDN'T ABUSE YOUR NEW BRAKES LIKE THAT...". But I started doing that 10 or 15 years ago and it's always worked well for me.
#6
12-09-2011 | 01:18 PM
** And So Did I **
Yeah, I'd been doing that for years before I saw it printed on the boxes.
The procedure started out being kinda controversial. "OH MY GAWD, YOU SHOULDN'T ABUSE YOUR NEW BRAKES LIKE THAT...". But I started doing that 10 or 15 years ago and it's always worked well for me.
The procedure started out being kinda controversial. "OH MY GAWD, YOU SHOULDN'T ABUSE YOUR NEW BRAKES LIKE THAT...". But I started doing that 10 or 15 years ago and it's always worked well for me.
This is what we taught all our shop Jockeys when they were replacing brake systems and it's always worked well.WheelBrokerAng
#7
02-01-2018 | 06:49 PM
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Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 22
I discovered my problem, the brake pads were replaced and not the rotors. Rotors were old and had some surface rust and were pitted badly causing the pulsating and rough braking. I'm going to replace the rotors and brake pads. By the way I just bought the car and seems like the car had been sitting for awhile. It should be fine after I swap out the rotors and pads. Thanks for your input
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