Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 16:01:40 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Organization: Cosmic Reminders
Subject: Re: Go Westy Big Brake kit
In-Reply-To: <1B344DDE-88F3-4279-B53B-AA27C65F86F4@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Have not heard of 'greenfade'.
I'll google and be right back.
wikipedia is pretty good.
they even mention ....ta da .....
Controlling fade through driving technique"
*The whole*wikipedia thing is here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fade
on 'brake fade' in general..good reading for any car or vanagon person.
work it ..how cute.
ok ...from some near 50 years of mosty full time car repair experience..
brake pads can benefit from being broken in properly.
backto breaking in brake pads ...
a quick search gets
http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=85
there are the usual cautions about decent disc rotors, free from
corrosion etc...and then ...for several bad compnaies .their
recommendations.
typical ..for Hawk brand brake pads ..
"after installing new pads make 6 to 10 stops from approximately 35 mph
with moderate pressure. Make an additional two to three hard stops from
approximately 40 to 45 mph. Do not allow the vehicle to come to a
complete stop.When completed with this process, park the vehicle and
allow the brakes to cool completely before driving on them again. Do not
engage the parking brake until after this cooling process is compete.
NOTE: Hawk racing pads (Blue, Black, HT-10, HT-12) may require a
different bed-in procedure. Contact your sales specialists at the Tire
Rack for racing application information."
and here's what I tell people about disc brakes....or all cars
..generally speaking ..
1. excessive very light braking contributes to brake squeal.
2. that can often be prevented by using the brakes, intentionally, to
about 60 to 70 % of their ability ...like slow down pretty hard from say
60 to 20 ..fairly hard on the brakes, to 'exercise' them. Do that a few
times a month.
ideally ..never park a car with extra hot brakes - that contributes to
waring.
same for the parking brake as noted above ....don't park a car with
excessively hot brakes and put on the parking brake.
not to rag ..
but I do notice many people are not very cluefull about parking brake use..
Parking brakes must be used sometimes now and then - - . Never, ever
applying a parking brake is not a good practice.
Also .....don't leave a parking brake on long term ..like 6 months of
winter storage.
Don't put it on gorilla tight ever single time either.
there are LOTS and LOTS of techniques and tricks that can help a vanagon
or any car work much much better than 'just driving it'.
Don't get me started..
the difference between how 'some people' drive cars and how nicely and
sweetly , and intelligently they could be operated is vast.
Some people are so clumsy ..it's awful.
The push the clutch pedal in every time they start the engine - which is
bad practice,. it's rough on things.
they jerk the steering,
they are off and on the gas a lot,
the jerk shifts rather than 'feel one gear into the next one'
they hold the clutch pedal in for minutes at a time. Should never be
more than 20 seconds or so max.
never check tire pressures....or their spare tire pressure.
never treat any rust or corrosion..
never lube any mechanism ..
seldom track what is going on behind them ( this one especially ! )
and about 25 more thing like that.
so yeah...use brakes intelligently and they'll often work much better
much longer.
If you jig up new discs to check run out ..you may find some not that true.
There has been controversy in the brake repair industry about turning
discs..
I have talked to one pro that turns every single disc, even new out of
the box.
I have talked to another one that says 'I never turn discs. I put pads
on good discs and new discs.'
it can be a black art for sure. And break 'em in nicely ..with some
intention medium hard use ..
don't get 'em super hot ..let 'em cool, etc.
What pad you use matters too.
I have used a million sets of Repco Deluxe and I like their semi-metallic ..
and I'm trying some Cermic ones too.
On my own vans ....I barely use my brakes anyway ..they just last
forever. And I drive fast sometimes too.
Use 'em right ...develop a feel for it ..
there..that's what I think many people miss ..'a feel for it'.
It's not just pushing on the middle pedal and watching the view out the
front window change..
there is way, way more to it than that.
you should be able to feel, or think you feel ..what each brake is doing ..
what each tire patch is doing. It's a whole art.
This is easily learned racing cars and motorcycles. You have to develop
these sensitivities, , to do well at those.
what fun !
On 9/12/2013 3:33 PM, Ben wrote:
> It would be better if you included and explanation 'why' new pads have to be broken in. Can you spell 'green fade'? Come on, work it. Work it. Use that search button.
>
>
> BenT
> sent from my electronic leash
>
> On Sep 12, 2013, at 3:12 PM, Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM> wrote:
>
>> I was also going to ask about break-in procedure on the pads, if any was
>> use.
>>
>> generally ..I advise......don't baby or over-use the brakes the first
>> 500 miles or so ..
>> but do use them medium hard now and then .intentionally.
>>
>> some brake pads even come with break-in instructions.
>> it's a fairly significant factor.
>>
>> scott
