POS VETT Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 My wife complained that the right rear brake on the Z has been squealing since a couple or so days ago and judging from the appearance of the outboard pads, they seemed to be a bit low. So, today I decided to inspect the rear brakes. I jacked up the car, took off rear wheels, and disassembled the rear calipers to get the pads out. Here is a picture of them; the pair location correspond to their respective locations when mounted in the car. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/2003BlackZ06/Mobile%20Uploads/20140817_181507_zps8fa0a4ab.jpg The pad thicknesses varied between 2 and 4 mm. There is only one pad (inboard right side) that has a wear indicator which explained the squealing only on the right side. It struck me as odd when there was only one pad with indicator, but it's probably not important. Since there were still some friction material left, I decided to reuse the pads. However, I first rubbed the pads on my driveway concrete since I've heard this was a tried-and-true CR way to extend the life of brake pads. I made sure the pads were rubbed at the right angle relative to the rotor swept direction. Here is what I came with. Hopefully the rub marks are visible enough for you to see. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk247/2003BlackZ06/Mobile%20Uploads/20140817_181612_zps3de8210c.jpg I hope I did it correctly although I have a couple questions. Should I have rubbed it on the swept direction also to achieve a cross-hatch pattern? I'm expecting to get roughly 5k more miles on them, but what can I do to get more life out of them? Thanks for the help y'all, I'm a complete noob about this brake thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-O Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 Ya you did it right but now void any warranty it had. Make sure to also you some lock tight in the slide pins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 I've read conflicting reports on the the cross hatching vs the way you did it. It seems to be the consensus on the vw forums to NOT do the cross hatching. Lots of people drive their cars hard, but very few competitively autocross or HPDE it. From my talks with recent SCCA members, and veteran auto crossers, they subscribe to the cross hatch pattern. They claim it gives the pad a more "virgin" surface to start with, yielding in a better initial bite. Your wife probably falls into the first category, so I think you'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdk 4219 Posted August 17, 2014 Report Share Posted August 17, 2014 You reused pads with 2 to 4mm of material left, and took the audible wear indicator off? Might as well order some rotors, and pads for when she comes back in a couple months complaining about a grinding noise. Those pads are done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEVE-O Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 (edited) If you put brake grease on the linings the noise will go away and reduce the friction between lad and rotor extending the life Edited August 18, 2014 by STEVE-O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHIEF Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 I wipe my own ass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffro Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 obvious troll is obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justinwebb Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 However, I first rubbed the pads on my driveway concrete since I've heard this was a tried-and-true CR way to extend the life of brake pads. http://i.imgur.com/QQTnr16.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyM3rC Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 It's hard to tell what kind of concrete you have in the picture there. Depending on the surface's chemistry I can't say that you achieve enough positive transfer to prolong the life of the pads more than maybe 5k miles? If you want to come by my lab we can throw them under the microscope and verify their structure has been sufficiently altered, I can even heat treat them for you and measure their hardness. Let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93 RX-7 Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 Damn man! I hadn't realized money was so tight at your house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 I thought we weren't aloud to have fun on here anymore? :gabe: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 Damn man! I hadn't realized money was so tight at your house. You know, it's not just about money, he's saving the environment, too. Each year in this country 3.3million car owners throw away brake pads just like these with lots of life left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitgeist57 Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 You know, it's not just about money, he's saving the environment, too. Each year in this country 3.3million car owners throw away brake pads just like these with lots of life left. IN THE ARRMMMMS OF AN ANGELLLLLLL... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 No no no, the newest resolution is to buy 6 tubes of JB Weld, after performing the proper cross hatch pattern you mix up the tubes of JB and form about a 9mm brake pad surface. After proper cure time you can then perform the proper cross hatch pattern again taking off about 1 mm so they will be perfect t and good as new. the quality is clearly in the OEM backing plates of the pads anyway, so anything that gets to within 90% of the proper hardness spec will work properly for years to come. Good luck, and if you need any help feel free to check back with us here at CR because we care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsm_sleeper Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 If you can reduce the friction you can get the pads to last longer. I think this might be a good application for some synthetic oil. Pro Tip: If you plan to race competitively as in autocross you will want to use a 20w-50 synthetic type-Racing oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImUrOBGYN Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 Dammit! I just did the RAV brakes this weekend! I had some pad left, too. I wish I would've seen this. I left my wear indicators on since I thought those were used in emergency stops to really dig in, so to speak. That's probably good since I forgot to cross hatch scratch my pads before reinstalling them. So, I'm good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted August 18, 2014 Report Share Posted August 18, 2014 Have you recently acquired a large life insurance policy on the wife? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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