Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 12:36:17 -0800
Reply-To: Ed Mellinger <meed@MBARI.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ed Mellinger <meed@MBARI.ORG>
Subject: Re: storing van-brake discs
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
No real experience, but if I had this problem I'd try a lightweight
spray-on silicone coating/lubricant (brand names escape me at the
moment... the one I used was sold for lubing food processing eqt but
FLAPS sell similar stuff... basically you want the stuff that comes out
in a thin clear mist and then dries leaving a light, somewhat slippery
film behind.)
Reason I suggest this is I used to use it to reduce corrosion on the
alloy wheels of, um, a rear-ended german sports car I owned in my
carefree youth. It really slows the formation of those white "zits"
that aluminum gets when stored/used near the ocean (salt atmosphere).
At first I was quite paranoid about getting the supposed "lubricant" on
my brake discs (overspray going between the wheel spokes), but after
awhile I found out that the stuff is not really a heavy-duty
film-forming lubricant, at least not in the context of brake pads and
brake discs and fifty or a hundred kilowatts of input braking energy per
wheel... it always just seemed to vanish in the first half-second of
brake application after I used it. With brakes as good as that car had
(everyone owes it to themselves to at least experience P*rsch* brakes
once in their life... they are as good as it gets), I used the brakes
hard and often, and I was very sensitive to any impact on brake
performance and can confidently say that the silicone had NO effect on
either performance or pad life. Maybe the rotors lasted *longer*, it is
hard to say since I also had the now-lost luxury of garage parking for
my toy, and didn't have the after-rain corrosion issue that
outside-parked cars have.
DISCLAIMER: These are brakes we're talking about here, the most
important saftey system on your car. My suggestion is just a
suggestion. If you elect to try it, do so carefully and under
controlled, deserted-road conditions the first time... not when you have
a vanload of pre-schoolers aboard and a steep hill down to a busy
intersection in front of you!
regards,
Ed
> Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2001 10:07:37 -0600
> From: Lee Roesner <paradigm@ALLEGRAPRINTING.COM>
> Subject: storing van-brake discs
>
> Any ideas out there regarding keeping the brake discs in good shape on a
> sitting Vanagon (currently outside). It seems when I first take it out
> for a drive after sitting for a month or so I get that rough scratchy
> noise until the discs get polished again. I was going to grease them up
> - just kidding. But seriously folks, any tricks out there??
>
> Lee
>
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