PDA

View Full Version : The "Warped" Brake Disc and Other Myths of the Braking System



Brind
02-09-2003, 10:22 PM
By Carroll Smith
Copyright © 2001 all rights reserved StopTech LLC
Taken from: website (http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/warped_rotors_myth.htm)

Myth # 1 – BRAKE JUDDER AND VIBRATION IS CAUSED BY DISCS THAT HAVE BEEN WARPED FROM EXESSIVE HEAT.

The term "warped brake disc" has been in common use in motor racing for decades. When a driver reports a vibration under hard braking, inexperienced crews, after checking for (and not finding) cracks often attribute the vibration to "warped discs". They then measure the disc thickness in various places, find significant variation and the diagnosis is cast in stone.

When disc brakes for high performance cars arrived on the scene we began to hear of "warped brake discs" on road going cars, with the same analyses and diagnoses. Typically, the discs are resurfaced to cure the problem and, equally typically, after a relatively short time the roughness or vibration comes back. Brake roughness has caused a significant number of cars to be bought back by their manufacturers under the "lemon laws". This has been going on for decades now - and, like most things that we have cast in stone, the diagnoses are wrong.
With one qualifier, presuming that the hub and wheel flange are flat and in good condition and that the wheel bolts or hat mounting hardware is in good condition, installed correctly and tightened uniformly and in the correct order to the recommended torque specification, in more than 40 years of professional racing, including the Shelby/Ford GT 40s – one of the most intense brake development program in history
- I have never seen a warped brake disc. I have seen lots of cracked discs, (FIGURE 1) (http://www.stoptech.com/images/cracked_rotor.jpg) discs that had turned into shallow cones at operating temperature because they were mounted rigidly to their attachment bells or top hats, (FIGURE 2) (http://www.stoptech.com/images/disc_coning.jpg) a few where the friction surface had collapsed in the area between straight radial interior vanes, (FIGURE 3) (http://www.stoptech.com/images/straight%20vane%20w%20pad%20induced%20distortion(c olor).gif) and an untold number of discs with pad material unevenly deposited on the friction surfaces - sometimes visible and more often not. (FIGURE 4) (http://www.stoptech.com/images/pad_deposition.jpg)
In fact every case of "warped brake disc" that I have investigated, whether on a racing car or a street car, has turned out to be friction pad material transferred unevenly to the surface of the disc. This uneven deposition results in thickness variation (TV) or run-out due to hot spotting that occurred at elevated temperatures.
In order to understand what is happening here, we will briefly investigate the nature of the stopping power of the disc brake system.

THE NATURE OF BRAKING FRICTION
Friction is the mechanism that converts dynamic energy into heat. Just as there are two sorts of friction between the tire and the road surface (mechanical gripping of road surface irregularities by the elastic tire compound and transient molecular adhesion between the rubber and the road in which rubber is transferred to the road surface); so there are two very different sorts of braking friction - abrasive friction and adherent friction. Abrasive friction involves the breaking of the crystalline bonds of both the pad material and the cast iron of the disc. The breaking of these bonds generates the heat of friction. In abrasive friction, the bonds between crystals of the pad material (and, to a lesser extent, the disc material) are permanently broken. The harder material wears the softer away (hopefully the disc wears the pad). Pads that function primarily by abrasion have a high wear rate and tend to fade at high temperatures. When these pads reach their effective temperature limit, they will transfer pad material onto the disc face in a random and uneven pattern. It is this "pick up" on the disc face that both causes the thickness variation measured by the technicians and the roughness or vibration under the brakes reported by the drivers.

With adherent friction, some of the pad material diffuses across the interface between the pad and the disc and forms a very thin, uniform layer of pad material on the surface of the disc. As the friction surfaces of both disc and pad then comprise basically the same material, material can now cross the interface in both directions and the bonds break and reform. In fact, with adherent friction between pad and disc, the bonds between pad material and the deposits on the disc are transient in nature - they are continually being broken and some of them are continually reforming.

There is no such thing as pure abrasive or pure adherent friction in braking. With many contemporary pad formulas, the pad material must be abrasive enough to keep the disc surface smooth and clean. As the material can cross the interface, the layer on the disc is constantly renewed and kept uniform - again until the temperature limit of the pad has been exceeded or if the pad and the disc have not been bedded-in completely or properly. In the latter case, if a uniform layer of pad material transferred onto the disc face has not been established during bedding or break-in, spot or uncontrolled transfer of the material can occur when operating at high temperatures. The organic and semi-metallic pads of the past were more abrasive than adherent and were severely temperature limited. All of the current generation of "metallic carbon", racing pads utilize mainly adherent technology as do many of the high end street car pads and they are temperature stable over a much higher range. Unfortunately, there is no free lunch and the ultra high temperature racing pads are ineffective at the low temperatures typically experienced in street use.

Therefore - there is no such thing as an ideal "all around" brake pad. The friction material that is quiet and functions well at relatively low temperatures around town will not stop the car that is driven hard. If you attempt to drive many cars hard with the OEM pads, you will experience pad fade, friction material transfer and fluid boiling - end of discussion. The true racing pad, used under normal conditions will be noisy and will not work well at low temperatures around town.

Ideally, in order to avoid either putting up with squealing brakes that will not stop the car well around town or with pad fade on the track or coming down the mountain at speed, we should change pads before indulging in vigorous automotive exercise. No one does. The question remains, what pads should be used in high performance street cars - relatively low temperature street pads or high temperature race pads? Strangely enough, in my opinion, the answer is a high performance street pad with good low temperature characteristics. The reason is simple: If we are driving really hard and begin to run into trouble, either with pad fade or boiling fluid (or both); the condition(s) comes on gradually enough to allow us to simply modify our driving style to compensate. On the other hand, should an emergency occur when the brakes are
cold, the high temperature pad is simply not going to stop the car. As an example, during the mid 1960s, those of us at Shelby American did not drive GT 350 or GT 500 Mustangs as company cars simply because they were equipped with Raybestos M-19 racing pads and none of our wives could push on the brake pedal hard enough to stop the car in normal driving.

Regardless of pad composition, if both disc and pad are not properly broken in, material transfer between the two materials can take place in a random fashion - resulting is uneven deposits and vibration under braking. Similarly, even if the brakes are properly broken, if, when they are very hot or following a single long stop from high speed, the brakes are kept applied after the vehicle comes to a complete stop it is possible to leave a telltale deposit behind that looks like the outline of a pad. This kind of deposit is called pad imprinting and looks like the pad was inked for printing like a stamp and then set on the disc face. It is possible to see the perfect outline of the pad on the disc. (FIGURE 5) (http://www.stoptech.com/images/pad_imprint.jpg)

It gets worse. Cast iron is an alloy of iron and silicon in solution interspersed with particles of carbon. At elevated temperatures, inclusions of carbides begin to form in the matrix. In the case of the brake disk, any uneven deposits - standing proud of the disc surface - become hotter than the surrounding metal. Every time that the leading edge of one of the deposits rotates into contact with the pad, the local temperature increases. When this local temperature reaches around 1200 or 1300 degrees F. the cast iron under the deposit begins to transform into cementite (an iron carbide in which three atoms of iron combine with one atom of carbon). Cementite is very hard, very abrasive and is a poor heat sink. If severe use continues the system will enter a self-defeating spiral - the amount and depth of the cementite increases with increasing temperature and so does the brake roughness. Drat!

PREVENTION
There is only one way to prevent this sort of thing - following proper break in procedures for both pad and disc and use the correct pad for your driving style and conditions. All high performance after market discs and pads should come with both installation and break in instructions. The procedures are very similar between manufacturers. With respect to the pads, the bonding resins must be burned off relatively slowly to avoid both fade and uneven deposits. The procedure is several stops of increasing severity with a brief cooling period between them. After the last stop, the system should be allowed to cool to ambient temperature. Typically, a series of ten increasingly hard stops from 60mph to 5 mph with normal acceleration in between should get the job done for a high performance street pad. During pad or disc break-in, do not come to a complete stop, so plan where and when you do this procedure with care and concern for yourself and the safety of others. If you come to a complete stop before the break-in process is completed there is the chance for non-uniform pad material transfer or pad imprinting to take place and the results will be what the whole process is trying to avoid. Game over.

In terms of stop severity, an ABS active stop would typically be around 0.9 G’s and above, depending on the vehicle. What you want to do is stop at a rate around 0.7 to 0.9 G's. That is a deceleration rate near but below lock up or ABS intervention. You should begin to smell pads at the 5th to 7th stop and the smell should diminish before the last stop. A powdery gray area will become visible on the edge of the pad (actually the edge of the friction material in contact with the disc - not the backing plate) where the paint and resins of the pad are burning off. When the gray area on the edges of the pads are about 1/8" deep, the pad is bedded.

For a race pad, typically four 80mph to 5 and two 100mph to 5, depending on the pad, will also be necessary to raise the system temperatures during break-in to the range that the pad material was designed to operate at. Hence, the higher temperature material can establish its layer completely and uniformly on the disc surface.

Fortunately the procedure is also good for the discs and will relieve any residual thermal stresses left over from the casting process (all discs should be thermally stress relieved as one of the last manufacturing processes) and will transfer the smooth layer of pad material onto the disc. If possible, new discs should be bedded with used pads of the same compound that will be used going forward. Again, heat should be put into the system gradually - increasingly hard stops with cool off time in between. Part of the idea is to avoid prolonged contact between pad and disc. With abrasive pads (which should not be used on high performance cars) the disc can be considered bedded when the friction surfaces have attained an even blue color. With the carbon metallic type pads, bedding is complete when the friction surfaces of the disc are a consistent gray or black. In any case, the discoloration of a completely broken in disc will be complete and uniform.

Depending upon the friction compound, easy use of the brakes for an extended period may lead to the removal of the transfer layer on the discs by the abrasive action of the pads. When we are going to exercise a car that has seen easy brake use for a while, a partial re-bedding process will prevent uneven pick up.

The driver can feel a 0.0004" deposit or TV on the disc. 0.001" is annoying. More than that becomes a real pain. When deposit are present, by having isolated regions that are proud of the surface and running much hotter than their neighbors, cementite inevitably forms and the local wear characteristics change which results in ever increasing TV and roughness.

Other than proper break in, as mentioned above, never leave your foot on the brake pedal after you have used the brakes hard. This is not usually a problem on public roads simply because, under normal conditions, the brakes have time to cool before you bring the car to a stop (unless, like me, you live at the bottom of a long steep hill). In any kind of racing, including autocross and "driving days" it is crucial. Regardless of friction material, clamping the pads to a hot stationary disc will result in material transfer and discernible "brake roughness". What is worse, the pad will leave the telltale imprint or outline on the disc and your sin will be visible to all and sundry.

The obvious question now is "is there a "cure" for discs with uneven friction material deposits?" The answer is a conditional yes. If the vibration has just started, the chances are that the temperature has never reached the point where cementite begins to form. In this case, simply fitting a set of good "semi-metallic" pads and using them hard (after bedding) may well remove the deposits and restore the system to normal operation but with upgraded pads. If only a small amount of material has been transferred i.e. if the vibration is just starting, vigorous scrubbing with garnet paper may remove the deposit. As many deposits are not visible, scrub the entire friction surfaces thoroughly. Do not use regular sand paper or emery cloth as the aluminum oxide abrasive material will permeate the cast iron surface and make the condition worse. Do not bead blast or sand blast the discs for the same reason.
The only fix for extensive uneven deposits involves dismounting the discs and having them Blanchard ground - not expensive, but inconvenient at best. A newly ground disc will require the same sort of bedding in process as a new disc. The trouble with this procedure is that if the grinding does not remove all of the cementite inclusions, as the disc wears the hard cementite will stand proud of the relatively soft disc and the thermal spiral starts over again. Unfortunately, the cementite is invisible to the naked eye.

Taking time to properly bed your braking system pays big dividends but, as with most sins, a repeat of the behavior that caused the trouble will bring it right back.

MYTH # 2 - RACING BRAKE DISCS ARE MADE FROM STEEL
To digress for a moment "steel discs" are a misnomer frequently used by people who should know better. This group includes TV commentators and drivers being interviewed. Except for some motorcycles and karts, all ferrous discs are made from cast iron - an excellent material for the job.
While steel has a higher tensile strength, cast iron is many times stronger than disc brake requirements. Its thermal transfer characteristics are significantly better than those of steel so that the heat generated at the interface between pad and disc is efficiently carried through the friction faces to the interior surface of the disc and into the vanes from where the heat is dissipated into the air stream. Cast iron is more dimensionally stable at elevated temperature than steel and is a better heat sink - so let us hear no more talk of "steel" brake discs.

MYTH # 3 - A SOFT BRAKE PEDAL IS THE RESULT OF PAD FADE
The all too familiar mushy brake pedal is caused by overheated brake fluid, not overheated pads. Repeated heavy use of the brakes may lead to "brake fade".
There are two distinct varieties of brake fade
A) When the temperature at the interface between the pad and the rotor exceeds the thermal capacity of the pad, the pad loses friction capability due largely to out gassing of the binding agents in the pad compound. The brake pedal remains firm and solid but the car will not stop. The first indication is a distinctive and unpleasant smell which should serve as a warning to back off,
B) When the fluid boils in the calipers air bubbles are formed. Since air is compressible, the brake pedal becomes soft and "mushy" and pedal travel increases. You can probably still stop the car by pumping the pedal but efficient modulation is gone. This is a gradual process with lots of warning.

MYTH # 4 - BOILED BRAKE FLUID WILL BE SERVICABLE AFTER IT COOLS.
Once the brake fluid inside the caliper has boiled, it has lost a significant percentage of its original boiling point and should be replaced. It is not necessary to remove all of the fluid in the system, just bleed until clear fluid appears.

MYTH # 5 - BECAUSE THEY ARE NON-HYGROSCOPIC SILICON BASED BRAKE FLUIDS ARE SUITABLE FOR USE IN HIGH PERFORMANCE CARS

DOT 3 AND DOT 4 brake fluids are ether based and are hygroscopic in nature - i.e. they absorb water vapor. As the braking system in not quite airtight, a significant amount of water can be absorbed from the atmosphere in the course of a year. A 3% water content in brake fluid drops the boiling point as much as 170 degrees F. Brake fluid should be completely replaced annually.
DOT 5 fluids are silicon based and are non-hygroscopic, which is good. They are also subject to frothing from high frequency vibration, which gives a soft pedal. Soft brake pedals may be OK in non-high performance cars (in fact, most drivers accept mushy brake pedals as normal) but they are not acceptable in any situation where the driver intends to modulate braking at high force values.

MYTH # 6 - The brake fluid reservoir should be topped up during routine service.

In most modern passenger cars, the brake fluid reservoir is designed with a specific volume and is equipped with an internal float. The volume corresponds to the amount of fluid that will be displaced when the pads have worn to the point of replacement plus a generous reserve. When the replacement point is reached, the descending float completes an electrical circuit and a light appears on the dash warning the driver that the pads should be replaced.
If the brake fluid is topped up the first warning of warn out pads will be the screech of steel backing plate against iron disc. This will be both annoying and expensive.

Kieran
02-09-2003, 11:04 PM
That's an interesting read, especially seeing as how the Galant seems to have an appetite for discs! Hmmm!

Brind
02-09-2003, 11:20 PM
Yeah..
I posted it before but just gave the link to the info, surprisingly it only had 44 views but nothing was said.. :confused:
It's something that is very important to EVO and VR-4 owners as it happens frequently with normal discs and ****e aftermarket discs.

jtfleming
02-09-2003, 11:44 PM
I had the back discs skimmed on my car, the vibration was unbearable. Now perfect, the guy told me it is a very common Mitsi problem.:Ponder: and mines not a turbo......:Cry1:

Kevin Jones
14-09-2003, 05:44 PM
I had terrible brake judder with mine when I first bought it, I was surprised it past the SVA and MOT? Anyway I had the back discs skimmed, but the Mitsy dealer reckoned the front offside was warped by 4 mm. He couldn't understand how, but obviously couldn't skim it. It sounds like what Carroll was saying about the cementite might be the answer. I'm going to have to get new front discs for mine. But how can you bed them in the way Carroll described? up to 60 and down to 5 x 10? can you brake normally until you find a road empty enough to do the bedding in process?Comments appreciated

Spirit
14-09-2003, 08:22 PM
Kevin

Usual advice is just to take it real easy for the first 100 miles or so - no heavy braking etc and you will be fine.

What discs are you going to get ? Avoid the EBC ones ! Tarox do some and I can get 8 grove National Racing ones quite cheap INSERT INTO post VALUES (approx a third of the price of the Mitsy ones and better quality aswell)

Regards

Pete

Kevin Jones
15-09-2003, 07:27 PM
Pete,
Thanks for the advice re:- bedding in discs.Unfortunately, regarding the discs, I've got a lovely shiny new pair of EBC rotors sitting in the garage at home.

zedy1
15-09-2003, 11:35 PM
let me know how u get on with em and what pads your using

Spirit
17-09-2003, 09:33 AM
Originally posted by Kevin Jones
Pete,
Thanks for the advice re:- bedding in discs.Unfortunately, regarding the discs, I've got a lovely shiny new pair of EBC rotors sitting in the garage at home.

Kevin

I personally have had no experience of the EBC stuff but just going by other threads on here and MLR - think the pads are the main problem, they just don't last - maybe the disks will be okay ?

As Mo said, keep us updated on here how you get on - will be useful for future reference

colVR4
13-08-2004, 10:36 AM
BUMP

Thought this would be an interesting read for those people about to change disks and/or pads...like me :)

zentac
13-08-2004, 11:44 AM
Avoid drilled disks as every set I have ever seen have started to crack from the holes. Stick to grooved disks.

colVR4
13-08-2004, 11:54 AM
Is the cracking down to poor quality or do they all do it? The reason that I ask is because I have friend with a Porsche 911 (fire engine red M plate) that comes with drilled brake disks as standard.

asharrad
29-09-2004, 12:08 PM
Can anyone please tell me who in the UK supply Tarox disks for the Galant?

I have a Sport (not a VR4) with 17" wheels and I understand the disks are the same?

Thanks.

I-S
29-09-2004, 12:31 PM
In order to minimise disc "warping", you can do the following things.

You can even the discs out a little by doing a few hard hard stops, much as described for the bedding in process.

Also, don't sit at the lights with your foot on the brake. Clamping hot pads (you've just stopped) to the disc is a sure-fire way to get uneven deposition. Use the handbrake.

bernmc
18-02-2005, 08:42 PM
AP racing recommend the following for bedding new disks & pads - a bit less vicious than above:

Disc Bedding
All cast iron brake discs need to be bedded-in to ensure heat stabilisation and improve resistance to cracking. Cracks or even disc failure can occur during the first few heavy stops if careful bedding is not carried out. AP Racing recommend the following procedure:-

ROAD CAR DISC BRAKE BEDDING IN PROCEDURE
Bedding the disc from new or stress relieving the cast iron disc after it has been clamped to the mounting bell is of paramount importance if premature warping is to be avoided after the brakes are used to their full potential.
AP Racing discs are produced from the same castings as our normal race discs, but when used in the controlled area of motor sport it is easy to instruct a driver to gradually bring the disc up to working temperature with some moderate braking over a small amount of measured laps, progressively increasing his braking effort until an Engineer assess the disc visually or by temperature readings.

For road car installations the process needs to be as follows:-
For the first 10 miles, light braking from 50/60 mph down to 30 mph if possible in blocks of 5. Do not attempt any high-speed stops down to zero at this point, as only the faces will heat up with the mass remaining cool along with the mounting area. For the next 100 miles increase the braking pressures similar to stopping in traffic, again avoiding if possible full stops from above 70 mph. By now the area around the mounting bolts should be a light blue temper colour. This is a good indication that the correct heat soak has been achieved. For the next 100 miles gradually increase the braking effort after this full power stops can be used. The disc should now be an even dark to light blue temper colour, depending on the pad type and the braking effort being used during the process. This process must be completed before any race circuit use.
If used at a Track day the following points must be adhered to so as not to warp the disc.

At the start of a session use a minimum of one warming up lap for the brakes i.e. gradually increase the effort at each corner and do not drag the brakes under power as in left foot braking.

Use at least one cooling down lap at the end of the session and if possible stay off the brakes.

Do not leave your foot on the brake when parked in the paddock after a track session. If you do, the hot spot created by the pad can distort the disc in that localized area causing a high spot, resulting in vibration under braking.

On the majority of car installations, race circuit use can be more exacting on the brake system than a fully prepared race car due to the following:-
None or minimal cooling, increased chassis weight, longer braking distances due to driving technique or tyre grip.
Therefore it is very important to check your brake system thoroughly after such use. Bear in mind race cars on average cover less than 50 laps of a circuit before being serviced.

Big Toe
20-05-2008, 10:11 PM
I used Black Diamond discs on my old 2L Galant which were drilled and had no problems with them. Could be a different story on my VR4 though. Does anyone have any experience with Black Diamond discs as i need to change the discs on the VR4.

justjon
09-01-2009, 10:32 PM
This is a very interesting thread having just spent £200 on EBC Grooved and dimpled front discs and yellow stuff pads, and now i get round to reading that i have bought the wrong ones according to Spirit! lol
Will, keep you all posted and see how i get on.

brettney19
31-01-2009, 10:12 AM
This is a very interesting thread having just spent £200 on EBC Grooved and dimpled front discs and yellow stuff pads, and now i get round to reading that i have bought the wrong ones according to Spirit! lol
Will, keep you all posted and see how i get on.



How have you got on with this setup? I was just about to get the exact same and thought i would check here first :)

eyeballprawn
14-05-2009, 11:29 PM
I've been suffering some juddering when braking lately and just had a read through this.

So it seems that there is no such thing as warped discs, and there's no solution for this juddering apart from replacing both the discs and pads and doing a bedding in procedure? Then hoping that you've done it correctly or it may manifest itself with your new setup too?

I have factory discs and the same pads the car came with a couple of months back that look to be almost new. No idea what brand they are though or whether they were bedded in properly.

Davezj
09-05-2010, 03:42 PM
here is a link to the original web site where the info cam from so you can see the pictures.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

Davezj
09-05-2010, 04:01 PM
since changing over to my brembo's i have been having some problems.

i am having this issue of vibration at the moment, i will wait till later tonight and go out when the roads a clear and do the rebeding process.
60 to 5 , 10 times with a little cooling time in between.

i have bought some new disk anyway so if it does not work for me than i will have to fit the new disks and get the old ones skimmed for next time i need them.

i have checked the current disks surface with a dial gauge and only seem to be able to find a 0.2 mm difference in surface. which i would not have thought would make a massive impact on braking, but i get a really violent judder depending how hot the disks are, and what speed i have been doing.

for instance if i travel at speed X with out braking i get no vibration, then i brake and all feels good.
but if a travel at speed X +20mph i get vibration without breaking as if the pads are dragging on the surface of the disk causing friction heat build up. then when i brake the vibration if really bad.

i have checked the piston movement in the calipers and all 4 pistons operate as expected they slide in an out freely, the larger ones moving before the smaller ones due to the surface pressure difference behind the pistons.

oh well something else sent to test me.

bradc
09-05-2010, 08:13 PM
0.2mm is actually quite a difference. I would guess that would be the problem. The only other thing I could think of would be if the surface of the hub was slightly rusty or uneven and in turn caused the disc to sit unevenly.

Beastlee
09-05-2010, 08:15 PM
having spent £1500+ on my KAD setup I too have horrible vibrations under braking. If I brake at anything up to 40mph there is no evidence of problems, 40-50mph and vibration is present through pedal and wheel, above 50mph and it's less noticable. At no time is the vibration present without braking and it certainly doesn't reduce the capability as far as I see. I'm not going to pay out another £500+ for discs i that is the issue, I'll live with it thanks.

sampsulo
14-08-2010, 08:11 PM
ok. Having read this and understood some things and some things not. This is my problem. When i'm breaking there's a noise in the rear brakes which i'm assuming is vibration but i can't feel in the peddle. I was thinking pads are done or something because if i brake hard the abs fails.
Ps my first car. Glad its a vr4. Love it.

bradc
14-08-2010, 09:35 PM
Could be a few things really but the best thing to start with is physically checking the abs ring and all of the braking components.

sampsulo
14-08-2010, 09:41 PM
ok. But i'm new at this. Abs ring? Would an uneven disc cause this problem? So thereby skimming solve the problem

Nick Mann
14-08-2010, 09:45 PM
I'm never sure it's worth skimming. I'd personally put new discs on. I'd also be checking the bearings.

Noise and vibration are not necessarily the same thing. If you have grooved discs you will have a noise even when everything is perfect. Check the car over, or get someone else to if you aren't confident. It might be you have no problem at all, or it might be you need to get something done quick!

sampsulo
14-08-2010, 10:12 PM
thanks. Will have it checked.

Seems Unlikely
09-04-2011, 12:40 PM
Having read this I can see I'm going to have to try to make changes to my driving habits!! I'm in the process of refurbing a set of calipers then fitting good used discs with yellowstuff pads to get rid of the fade i get with the cheap 'suck it and see' pads i currently have fitted. However, as below, this article shows it may not be the brakes fault that they judder and are frankly crap..

Driving an auto has made me lazy and when i come to a stop i keep the brakes pressed on unless it's at red lights, even then i may keep them on. Reading this article has really stressed how important it is to use the handbrake and let off the brakes! Better adjust the handbrake then...

Oblivion
06-06-2012, 09:50 AM
Ive read that first post several times, its a lot of text to take in! Now my eyes hurt :P Lets see if I understand correctly:
Disc vibration is caused by uneven build up of brake pad material, which is caused by exceeding the pads temperature range?
Once the pads temperature range have been exceeded, skimming the discs will even out the vibration but the pads will still continue to deposit unevenly resulting in the vibration coming back?

Nick Mann
06-06-2012, 11:32 AM
That's a part of my understanding. My thoughts are that the VR4, especially the auto VR4 suffers more because of the pad and disc size, combined with the fact that the brake pedal is often held down after the car has stopped. An Auto VR4 will obviously start moving again if left in drive and no braking is applied.

So I believe that the overheated pad in constant contact with the hot stationary disc is the biggest creator of "warped discs" in the VR4.