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#1638936 08/31/06 03:10 PM
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Went to Gingerman raceway last night (road racing track) to do some open lapping. By the end of the night after 20-30 minutes of real hard driving/braking, my brakes were destroyed. My rotors were scorched, pads were shredded, and my fluid was boiling.

Now the interesting thing is I just replaced my master cylinder the night before, bled the brakes twice using Motul 600, I had the Bendex Titanium pads from Stazi, and some stock rotors from pepboys. The rotors/pads only had 10k miles on them or so.

My friend's SVT just had regular pepboys pads/rotors that were over a year old, maybe 2 years, and his were fine. They were hot and the pedal was maybe a little spongy, but they still worked and nothing was warped. How could this be????

My car is a 98.5 CSVT and his is a '99.

#1638937 08/31/06 03:13 PM
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Ever see that scene on "Days of Thunder", where Cole races HIS way 50 laps, then the coaches way 50 laps?


I'd say, at least off hand, that you were racing "your" way, and your friend was racing the coaches way.



'99 CSVT - Silver #222/276 In a constant state of blow-off euphoria.
Originally posted by Kremitthefrog:
I like to wear dresses and use binoculars to watch grandmas across the street.


#1638938 08/31/06 03:32 PM
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Sounds like maybe one of your caliper slide pins was gummed up & your brakes were dragging a bit? Maybe?? Overfilled resevoir?

I couldn't see it happening on both sides from a slide pin. The brakes were obviously dragging.



Must be that jumbly-wumbly thing happening again.
#1638939 08/31/06 03:51 PM
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I'll test the brakes tonight to see if they're dragging. Black marker on the rotors and coast down the street.

Would it be worth it to just go with pepboys pads/rotors using my commercial account and just replacing them everytime I race as opposed to buying expensive Bendex pads?

#1638940 09/01/06 01:25 AM
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The best way to check for a binding brake caliper is to raise the wheel, pump the brake pedal a few times and check to see if the wheel spins freely. If it does not spin freely open the bleeder, if you get a quick squirt of fluid from the bleeder and the wheel then turns free, you may have a brake hose that is not allowing pressure to release from the caliper.

#1638941 09/01/06 05:00 AM
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Originally posted by Ray:
Ever see that scene on "Days of Thunder", where Cole races HIS way 50 laps, then the coaches way 50 laps?


I'd say, at least off hand, that you were racing "your" way, and your friend was racing the coaches way.






+1


Jim Johnson 98 SVT 03 Escape Limited
#1638942 09/01/06 11:50 AM
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A reason behind why I said this is that if it were anything as extreme as is being suggested (sticking pins, etc)

you'd have had boiling fluid and smoking rotors on the way TO the track..


'99 CSVT - Silver #222/276 In a constant state of blow-off euphoria.
Originally posted by Kremitthefrog:
I like to wear dresses and use binoculars to watch grandmas across the street.


#1638943 09/01/06 12:52 PM
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Brakes are the opposite of tires. Tires you baby, brakes you give as much time to cool as possible - which means using them hard.

Did you brake hard and short? If you're ever braking and not using them 100%, that's going to overheat them in a hurry. Find your marker, get on them HARD, and hold them at the threshold (or on the floor, with ABS) and then roll off quickly but smoothly before turn-in.

Here's a question: do you have ABS? Did it come on? If you do, and it didn't come on in every corner, you were not braking hard enough.

Also, Bendix pads are not good for high-temp work. How many laps did you do? Did you let off the throttle or hold it all the way to the braking zone? You've got to baby your brakes on track. My Miata is probably the cheapest car available that comes with brakes deemed worthy for track useage - they're the same size as those on my overweight, front-heavy pig of a Contour. Without at least pads, and probably rotor upgrades, Contours need to run short sessions and be watched carefully. Your car may stop with the Bendix pads being piles of molten goop on the backing plates, but it's going to eat through them ina hurry.


-Philip Maynard '95 Contour [71 STS | Track Whore] '97 Miata [71 ES | Boulevard Pimp] 2006 autocross results
#1638944 09/01/06 05:20 PM
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Most of the time I wasn't using 100% of the brakes. I'm not sure if my ABS is working as it should... There's a "clicking" sound, but I don't really seem to feel anything in the brake pedal. I think my car was skidding to a stop, meaning that my ABS was not working properly...

I'm a little confused by your post though, first you say that the brakes should not be babied, then you said they should? It was my second time at the track so I don't really have much experience, but should I be babying the brakes or should I be doing 100% on every turn? I figure either way whether I get really good pads/rotors or some cheap no-name pepboys brands they're going to end up [censored] after a day of racing, so why spend the money?

#1638945 09/01/06 05:36 PM
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I think by baby, he means let off the throttle some before braking, use engine braking. Only brake as long as you need to. Staying on the brakes longer than you need to is going to heat them up.

Definitely get your abs checked out. You should really feel it and not be skidding.

The only real trackable brakes you're gonna get for a contour are bigger rotors, maybe different calipers, good pads, and good fluid.

Basic pads are gonna get killed under real track use.

I hope with warmongers brake upgrade (300mm front, 280mm rear), carbotech pads, and good fluid that I have something that will last decent for 2-3 laps on a track if I ever get to one.


98.5 SVT 91 Escort GT (almost sold) 96 ATX Zetec (i brake to watch you swerve) FS: SVT rear sway bar WTB: Very cheap beater CEG Dragon Run - October 13-15
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