Braking Tip to Save Rotors

Handling, suspension, and brake tuning discussions
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Hutchvibe
Posts: 22
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2009 1:25 am

Braking Tip to Save Rotors

Post by Hutchvibe »

I'm about to do front brakes for the second time at 130K. Quality EBC rotors and greenstuff pads. While reading about brakes I noted that a lot of people report "warped rotors". Now I know that there are some cheap rotors out there with bad metallurgy but there is a driving habit that can contribute to damaging rotors and causing a pulsing in the pedal. I used to get off the interstate at a short ramp after passing everyone at high speed right up to the last moment, then blazing up the ramp and stopping quickly. When this is done on a daily commute, a problem arises from the hot pads being held on the disc while waiting for a break in traffic to release them and pull out. A "hot spot" is formed where the pads are held against the disc and the disc can warp from this uneven heating or the metal of the disc can actually be physically altered at that spot resulting in uneven friction and the resulting pulse that is often perceived as "warping". The solution is fairly simple...stop a few feet further back and creep ever so slowly while waiting to pull out...this in turn will allow the heat to dissipate more evenly thru the disc and avoid that damaging "hot spot".
cq358
Posts: 348
Joined: Sat Nov 22, 2008 5:19 am

Re: Braking Tip to Save Rotors

Post by cq358 »

from my experience, if you punch your brake pedal very hard and only stop till the last split second , then chances creating flat spot is very high, My fd took my car to do a time trial down slope at a winding road from a ski hill. When we reached bottom of the hill, smell came out from front brakes,steering wheel vibrate when hitting the brakes, inspected the rotor showing purple colour under light (overheated the rotor).

The harmony of our Vibe/most toyota in general are encourage you to drive as smooth as possible.
2 years ago I changed my driving habit to a old granny pursuit of smoothness. I have to admit our brakes are not grabby at all as compared to other makes ( We felt our brake are strongest only on an up hill incline). Anyways, I brake the most earliest as possible, I now prefer to drag the brake as earliest moment than have quick and hard pedal stroke. just like the previous owner state, release the brake as much as possible when the light almost turn green. End results : 9 years old car with 63k miles, front pads 47 mm left and rear pad 65 mm left. No detectable pulsation on both sets of brakes, all with original pad and rotors .
I do my own brake service 1-2 times a year,sand the rotor surface with 80 grit sand paper. I pull the rotor out and wire bush both side of the hat, flushing my brakes every other yrs. I typically replace pads at around 35-40mm as per Toyota tech's guidelines to prevent over extending caliper pistons causing caliper to sized. Oh yeah, remember to re torque ur wheel nuts 2 times after each service
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