1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

brake fading

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 04-13-03, 12:20 AM
  #1  
i say what i want

Thread Starter
 
onepointone's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: richmond, va
Posts: 1,866
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
brake fading

well, theres a road around here called snake rd. and its basically a little race track that everyone goes to make runs on. its a really nice road with no cops to sit and its kinda hilly and tight so no one would ever go walking on it. anyways, i was on my 4th run and in a straight away i hit ~80, well when it came time to slow down for a ~40mph turn, there was nothing pulled the e-brake and threw that bitch into 3rd. the e-brake didnt to much but the gear drop did. SCARED the **** out of me.

anyways, what can i do to prevent this? im sure my pads are glazed and in need of some shaving down. is this why people by crossdrilled and slotted rotors? are there any pads that will cure this? or do i need to go with better rotors? i have a gsl rear end with 4 wheel disks.

any input???
Old 04-13-03, 12:33 AM
  #2  
Moderator

iTrader: (2)
 
rxtasy3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Spartanburg, SC
Posts: 9,318
Likes: 0
Received 256 Likes on 237 Posts
Yes, cross drilled and slotted rotors will help. The excess heat build up transfers thru the pads to the caliper piston causing the fluid to boil, introducing air into the brake system, that's why no matter how hard u push the pedal, the brakes just don't work. U may end up needing to bleed them.
Old 04-13-03, 12:36 AM
  #3  
paradox

 
RacerX7fb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,296
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Get better brake pads.. Hawks or Porterfields..even Axxis.
Old 04-13-03, 12:54 AM
  #4  
i say what i want

Thread Starter
 
onepointone's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: richmond, va
Posts: 1,866
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally posted by RacerX7fb
Get better brake pads.. Hawks or Porterfields..even Axxis.
are those going to eat my rotors though?

and bleeding my system? why would i need to do that? because it boiled and now theres air in it?
Old 04-13-03, 02:47 AM
  #5  
Got some screws loose!

 
TOUGHGUY's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Somewhere in Canada
Posts: 313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Flush your brake system. Brake fluid is hydroscopic so it absorbs water. Over time it can even absorb it through the flex hoses and the plastic reservoir. Because water has a much lower boiling point than brake fluid, any amount in the system will cause the braking power to degrade accordingly. I suspect your system hasn't been flushed in some time. All the slots in the world can't help you if you don't have good brake fluid.

Toughguy
Old 04-13-03, 08:12 AM
  #6  
i say what i want

Thread Starter
 
onepointone's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: richmond, va
Posts: 1,866
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally posted by TOUGHGUY
Flush your brake system. Brake fluid is hydroscopic so it absorbs water. Over time it can even absorb it through the flex hoses and the plastic reservoir. Because water has a much lower boiling point than brake fluid, any amount in the system will cause the braking power to degrade accordingly. I suspect your system hasn't been flushed in some time. All the slots in the world can't help you if you don't have good brake fluid.

Toughguy

actually i flushed out my whole system about 2 months ago. ill probably bleed them tomorrow though, sounds like a good idea. thanks for the help guys.
Old 04-13-03, 01:23 PM
  #7  
Off riding sportbikes!

 
851stgen12a's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Vancouver Wa
Posts: 1,154
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I will typically blead my brakes after every track day.

I had the same problem with brake fade, until I switched over to Blackhawk HP plus, and no more brake fade, and holy **** do they bite!!!
About them eating up the rotors, I believe they are a little worse than OEM, but not that bad at all.
They do dust quite a bit more thoiugh.
Old 04-13-03, 03:50 PM
  #8  
Rotary Enthusiast

 
specRX7_22's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 1,014
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally posted by onepointone
are those going to eat my rotors though?
hawks are very abrasive(sp?).... well the blues at least, so yes they might. if hawk makes ones for street then it should be fine but i wouldnt recomment hawk blues for street.
Old 04-13-03, 10:49 PM
  #9  
DSC
Newbie
 
DSC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chesapeake, VA
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I dono, it takes a LOT to make pads fade.
If your fluid boiled then your pads weren't being used at all after that point, so just change the fuild out and you should be set.
I've done a lot to a $10 set of pads, granted the sucked but they don't overheat before fluid in all but heavy track situations....this is just my experiances though, and on a different type of car, tho that shouldn't matter.

Maybe throw on some brake ducts and remove your dust shield...
Old 04-13-03, 11:22 PM
  #10  
---------------------

 
Keaponlaffen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Kamloops BC Canada
Posts: 2,029
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I was driving my hon-duh up and down a VERY steep road here called Rose Hill road, and it gets to be 14% grade for 2-3 kilometer long stretches in some places. I got to the bottom, after about the 3rd time down (shuttling for Mountain biking), and my font brakes were SMOKING.... probably not a good thing, but it could have had something to do with me doing 130km/h then having to slam the brakes on for some hard corners.... I'd hate to use this car for track use, it'd burn up...
Old 04-14-03, 06:50 AM
  #11  
Full Member

 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
ive had halk hp plus pads in mine for about 15k km's no signs of them eating the disks and you have to try very hard for a long time to get them to fade!
Old 04-14-03, 09:47 AM
  #12  
male stripper

iTrader: (1)
 
jeremy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: St Petersburg, FL
Posts: 3,131
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
i attacked a backroad in my camry (insanely to me now) with a 225lb passenger and two fully loaded toolboxes. it took about 15-20 minutes of thrashing to over heat the brakes and i barely made the turn into the boonies junkyard, smoke and all. mind you this is in a loaded down 91 camry. so if you are have these types of problems then i would look at the system as you must have some crappy fluid or something is really blocking airflow to the rotors. or kick the fat kid out. 3 ways to combat this. 1st is brake fluid with a high boiling point, 2nd is airflow across the system to bleed off heat, 3rd is surface area and mass to dissipate and bleed off heat.
Old 04-14-03, 09:57 AM
  #13  
Rotary Freak

iTrader: (8)
 
Rotary13B1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: 626/323/213
Posts: 1,897
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 5 Posts
go and get a set of these and see if they'll still fade..



Old 05-29-03, 09:56 PM
  #14  
Senior Member

 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 624
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Stainless Steel brake lines. They'll make a HUGE difference. Also, upgrade to a higher spec brake fluid. If you have DOT 3, got to DOT 4 (DO NOT use DOT 5) if you want the ultimate get Motul Synthetic 5.1. It has the highest boiling point of any brake fluid on the market. Lastly, cross-drilled rotors will make hardly any difference. Stay away from these, they're not good...
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Tem120
3rd Generation Specific (1993-2002)
4
09-07-15 09:53 AM
Frisky Arab
2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992)
5
09-04-15 06:17 PM



Quick Reply: brake fading



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:45 PM.