Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes Brake Bedding? (searched and confused)

I have just replaced my brakes and I'm curious on the proper way to bedd them in?

Sure I have read the FAQ's and searched resulting in just more confusion on what should really be done...

1) I've heard the 30-30-30 method by bendix itself using 30 stops, 30 feet each, 30 seconds each meaning not to slam them on(taken from G�¨t�£uck�¥151's post)
2) Also I've read about just using several 60-10mph near stop runs to bed them in(from sail114's post)
3) I've also heard what is posted in the FAQ, "The best I can tell you is to avoid emergency stops for about a five hundred miles. Also, I suggest you preform some smooth high speed to low speed agressive slow downs, using threshold breaking*."

Personal experience previously at a summer job at a small gas station/service station I was always told the moderate speed, threshold braking method... which was further confirmed by the FAQ
I was just wondering which is actually a good rule of thumb to use. I will be bedding in Bendix Titaniums on Brembo blanks, if that helps or is needed at all.



Also on a side note, I have found a few different torque specs for the wheels. I've heard a few places 65 ft/lbs rounded up, and I've also heard as high as 90 ft/lbs recommended by i believe an updated ford spec. Which is a good torque to minimize rotor "warping" etc (90 seems high?)

Bendix claims that Titaniums do not need to be bedded in. That is what the titanium coating is for. My experience has been that these pads are much less in need of any bedding or seating techniques.

All you are really trying to do is heat cycle the pad material enough times and let them bed in to the rotor before you do an emergency stop and overheat the material too much. Heat cycling is important because many materials are designed for higher temps and actually go through a structural change as they are heated. If they get too hot before the material undergoes the changes, then it can ruin the material.

I did 4-5 30mph-10mph stops (repeated very quick), then a few 60-15mph stops (again repeated very quick). This is what john (chknhawk) recommended to get them bedded.

cool info!

I knew a little about pad transfer but I never knew it was part of their design performance.

I actually saw the results of pad transfer on hot days in AZ. I started to take off from a stoplight and car wouldn't go anywhere. It was a 115F day and I'd been stop and go in the city all after noon. So I gave it some gas to get it to go and it let out a horrible clunk in the front end. I was next to a parking lot by the signal light so I pulled off and you could see the outline of the pad on the rotor where it had STUCK to it.! These were Original brakes and the car had about between 10-12K miles.
It did it one more time and I took it in. Can't remember but I think they did some stuff under warranty and I didn't have the issue again. I take pad bedding and break-in very seriously because of that and because of how many brake jobs can go bad if it isn't done right. When I did brake jobs I took it for about a 5 mile trip behind the dealership and did 25-5mph stops over and over again, at least 15-20 times, then took it on regular road and did some 45-0 stops. Took me about 30 extra minutes but at least there were no comebacks due to the brakes.

Exactly! I see that a lot with the rears after setting the emergency brake sometimes but I see A LOT of pad impressions on the fronts of other peoples cars now. I try to stay off the brakes a lot when I come to stops. If it's close to being a flat road I'll slow the car to almost a crawl then coast to a stop, leaving my foot completely off the brake if the car is not in motion.
Good bedding and proper braking has made the pads on my Cobra last two years now. And I've put about 20k miles a year on it.
(This of course does not include track events where I'll go through a set of Hawk Blacks in six days...)

I did some moderate speed to slower speed stops with moderate pressure then some ~60-0 stops.

Just the pads! lol I don't know anything about performance brakes as you well know.