good morning

 

Brake help needed

Today on my way to work I noticed that when pressing firmly on the brakes I could feel a sort of pulsating in the pedal (not the ABS). Then while in the parking lot at work I noticed a metal sound and when I got out I could smell a odor coming from my front driver's side brake. I suspect my brake pads need to be changed. But I have a few questions:

1. How difficult is it to change the brake pads?
2. Should I change all four, even if only one needs to be changed?
3. Is it worth it just to take it in to a shop, and about how much can I expect to pay for the pads and labor?
4. If I decide to change them myself, anyone wanna help out (free food and drinks included )?

 

^^ oh man.. you need a new car looks like

good morning peoples

 

so we went rocking chair shopping last weekend for Jen when the baby comes.. the price of the stupid glider rockers was a bit crazy.. hey I got an idea.. lets go by La-Z-Boy and see what they have .. oh look.. they have a huge sale going on ..

wow.. we can almost get 2 chairs for the price of a nice glider rocking chair.. hmm.. these rock and are rather nice ...



yeah.. so chair for Jen.. chair for me

 

pads only are an easy swap (but normally not suggested) normally you'll want to change the rotors (or at least turn them) also.

you'll want to change all the pads on that axle (front or rear) at the same time.

i'll be doing my brakes hopefully this friday. i'm on metal right now up front and the drums are on the squeekers. I have 10.7" dual piston calipers & rotors on their way (along with rear disc conversion). hoping to see everything by thursday so i can do it friday.


anyone know where to get speedbleeders locally?

 

I agree, I better upgrade to an STI.

(if only I wasn't saving for a down payment on a house and budgeting and practicing making mortgage payments right now)

 

Your rotors are "warped" which really means that you have uneven pad deposits on them. See Stoptech White Papers for more info about that.
As far as what to do about it, first, a slight pad upgrade would be in order. Hawk HPS and Porterfield R4S get great reviews as street pads. Answers to your 4 points:

1. Easy. Pull the wheel off, undo one slider bolt on the caliper, flip it open, and change the pad.
2. You probably only need to change the fronts. Refresh my memory- wht year/model is your car?
3. No, do it yourself unless you simply have no tools, or have more money than time.
4. I'd be happy too, but you could almost take it to a shop for the gas I'd burn to get there. There will be plenty of volunteers to help you there though.

Also, you might be able to get rid of the 'warpage' by re-bedding your pads. Go to your favorite road dyno, and do 4-5 hard stops from ~60 mph to ~10 mph. Do NOT come to a complete stop while you are bedding your brakes- if you do, the pads will bond to the rotors and make the problem worse. In fact, this is what probably caused the problem in the first place. You may have come off the freeway on a short ramp, or down a hill with a stop at the bottom and sat still with your foot on the pedal and hot brakes. whenever possible, try to make "limo stops" when you've come down from higher speeds and take your foot off of the pedal once you've come to a stop. (roll a little if you have to, it's better than letting your hot brakes bond)

 

When the pads are down to metal, you're also supposed to replace the rotor??? How much does it cost for just 4 pads? How about 4 pads and rotors?

 

Heh, a friend of mine up here recently traded in his '04 STi for an '06, because the depreciation hit was only a little more than the cost of his routine maintenance, rotors, pads, and tires all of which needed replacing.

 

If your rotors aren't scored, you can keep them. If you can see grooves though, you should probably toss them. Pads vary in price. My current favorite is the Axxis Deluxe Plus for non-aggressive driving. Very cheap, zero dust or noise, and a decent fade resistance. If you do need new rotors, I've got a set of OE ones I'd give you for $50.

 

Thanks for the tips man!

I have an '04 WRX with 40K miles.

Just to clarify, I should re-bed the pads after I get the new ones on?

Also, I do typically let off the brakes once at a stop, but I do a lot of stop and go driving on Sunrise, so I'm sure this probably caused some warping.

Paul, do you have any good pads in stock?

 

I personally disagree. Re-bedding after a pad change should be sufficient to properly reseat them. Also, many of us swap compounds for street vs. track/autocross and we have no issues. Turning your rotor basically just shortens their lifespan and reduces their effectiveness as a heatsink. I would only do it if I had very fresh rotors that were badly scored or had seriously bad deposits that I couldn't scrub off with my race pads.

Indeed, I should have mentioned this too.

Sweet!

Maybe tognotti's, but if you order from Oakos.com, yo should get them by friday or saturday.

 

Giggidy

 

Yes, re-bed pads everytime you change them. With mild street pads it takes very little to get them bedded. Maybe 3 or 4 50->10 stops. Just make sure you drive enough to cool them afterwards, that's the key. Properly bedding them will make them more resistant to warping in the future. Stop and go driving shouldn't cause any problems, since you're not really heating the brakes much

 

Chair is so comfy

I can finaly sit in the front room and not hurt, this means I get to use my laptop again. Hello Mrs. Xevious account!!