brake fade
 

hi guys i need to know what to due to get my car to stop better.... i have tried boush ceramix pads, new brembo vented rotors, change the fluid every two yr. have had the brakes bleed to many times to mention, but the pedal still has terrible fade. i bought the car new and have been complaning since but the dealer says no fault found that is just the way it is.. come on thats now wht i wnt to here..... any suggestions... car is on this site for viewing.

Re: brake fad
 

I got brembo blanks and axxis pads and no more brake fade, just stopping power.

Re: brake fade
 

are those pads made for street use? if they are designated for track use that is probably the problem. track brake pads usually dont get hot enough to really work with everyday street use.

Re: brake fade
 

^hey Baron,

so its best to get brembo blanks and ...what kind of pads??

for everyday use?

Re: brake fade
 

i dont like brembo blanks, very noisy and they rust up super fast. makes it hard to get good stopping power back cause you gotta resurface the rotor everytime you drive by doing hard stops. oem was much better. and yes im still using new oem pads. so the rotor is the problem here.

Re: brake fade
 

honestly i couldnt tell you, i dont have that much experience with upgrading brakes, i'm still using good ole oem. i just know you cant use racing brake pads on the street or you get brake fade. i know there are a lot of threads about this sort of stuff though, or maybe someone who knows brakes can give some better advice. also check out the wheels tires and brakes faq.. it has some pretty useful info that might help you decide for yourself.

Re: brake fade
 

technically brake fade occurs when the brakes get so hot that they lose their effectiveness. with heavy track brakes, they will never get hot enough on the street to work properly. may i ask what kind of driving you do to fade the oem brakes? i was driving through the twisties for miles at a time and hard braking every 5-10 secs and they were still going strong. i stopped a few times to let them cool, but not because of fade.

Re: brake fade
 

me? i've never had it happen... i've never a had a problem with the oem brakes, even running down 129 in NC.

Re: brake fade
 

i dont quite understand... how do you get brake fade? and where? streets? or what is your definition of brake fade... when i hear that phrase i assume stomping your brakes so much that they begin to over heat... meaning it feels like your brakes are no longer stopping the car as well as it did before.

1. are you changing the fluids yourself and do you know how to properly?? personally, i do not trust my brake bleeding skills so i take it to pep boys and they charge $45. cuz if you have bubbles, that will cause brake fade or a squish to the pedal.

2.if that doesnt work, try using other brands of pad like hawk hps, i used to have them and they held so-so on the tracks, but for DD, pretty quiet, last long time, low amount of dust, and definately no fading.

3. perhaps upgrading your brake lines to stainless steel. i recommend russel over goodridge and i wish i had gone russell. russells are cheaper and also it comes "teflon coated".

it should be effected by the rear (you have drums still i assume) but if you have money to spare, try changing out your shoes.

honestly, if you're daily driving, i cannot understand how you are getting brake fade, unless you're constantly driving fast and braking hard at the very last minute of every stop.

good luck!

Re: brake fad
 

bembo blanks suck more than a hooker on a corner....(no offense to you lordET)

dont get them. listen to gearbox and stick to oem rotors...(i have brembo blanks n dont like em)

if you want really good pads, id suggest you go with hawks hp PLUS

they are made with ferro-carbon with excellent resistant to fade and an extremely high friction output...

if you use these, you never go back to pbr/axxis crap again...trust me. even ask dezod.

Re: brake fade
 

the stock pads arent ceramic right?

Re: brake fade
 

stocks are ceramic

Re: brake fade
 

hmm reason i ask is, im getting a ton of brake dust. like all over the sides of the car after just one 15 mins driving trip. and since i have oem pads, the only other thing it could be is the rotor. so is it rotor dust, or are the rotors just causing more pad wear? cause they are very noisy and tons of brake dust. maybe its because i have to brake alot harder cause the new brake setup feels like crap?

Re: brake fade
 

^r u using oem rotors or brembo crap.ness?

hows the dust doing with ur newly painted rotors?

Re: brake fade
 

i have brembo blanks, i cant believe all the problems these are causing. they feel worse than cheap autozone rotors lol.

Re: brake fade
 

I have been using Brembo Blanks/Hawk HPS pads since december 2006 with zero problems. I just recently switched out the pads for new Hawk HPS's and the rotors were in great shape. I drive about 35-40k a year. I ended up putting on new Brembo Blanks with the new Hawk pads. I am keeping the old ones and getting them turned.

Gearbox, I dont know why you are having such problems with them. I agree, they are noisy at low speeds, but other than that, zero problems for me.

Re: brake fade
 

Your best bet is to ditch the ceramic pads, they are notorious for brake fade. They destroy rotors, glaze easy, and tend to be noisy (contrary to poular belief) a semi-met will bite harder and experiance a lot less fade, trade off is a little more dust, but who cares about that. performance is more important.

Re: brake fade
 

a little more? try having the entire side of the car covered in black dust after a short drive around town. i care about dust when i just waxed my car all morning and have to wipe the sides off every time i go for a drive. see i always hear just the opposite. people who used both say they will never buy a semi-metallic pad again. there is a ton more dust and alot more noise compared to ceramics. and any pad destroys rotors, thats how brakes work.

you may want to check other things on the car that will also affect braking performance. having worn or blown shocks and torn compliance bushings will both affect brake performance noticably. but the brembo rotors are trash, they are so loud even when turning corners without using the brakes. and they make lots of noises coming to a stop as well.

Re: brake fade
 

Hmmmmm.....I think the poster is just not happy with his brake pedal feel. I think he is confusing the term brake fade.....in addition I have had the brembo blanks & hawk pads through 4 brake jobs.......I noticed the brembo blanks are more resistant to heat/warping...but besides that they are identical to the stock rotors......I have never really seen an properly resurfaced rotor...autozone, stock, or brembo alike....have any issues with noise. Noisy rotors = alot of rust or is in need of a face job. I do notice my hawk pads have more break dust but work awesome......I tried to buy dezods pads last week but they are on back order for 2 months.....Paul told me they are identical to the hawks but with more intial bite & less brake dust. Really wish I could try those out. Maybe next time!

I see probably about 3-4 cars a day with brake noise. Mostly every single time it's brake dust, rust, or glazed pad/rotor.

Re: brake fade
 

yeah i noticed on our cars, you really have to push the pedal down more than in other cars. but when you do it stops pretty good, assuming everything else on the car is working properly. and there is more resistance in the pedal. alot of older cars ive driven is much easier to push the pedal down so it feels like it works better, but really it takes the car longer to stop.

Re: brake fade
 

im going to do the dezod ferro carbon with oem blanks next time....

i needa go to a track and kill my rotors/pads quickly and efficiently =]

Re: brake fade
 

haha lemme know how that works out.

Re: brake fade
 

good luck on those dezod pads 2-3months backordered :)

Re: brake fade
 

word what he said

Re: brake fade
 

I agree. You have to drive the hell out of most cars to experience brake fade. My Civic, however, just didn't have much "bite" to its brakes. That might need an entire system upgrade (not just rotors/pads) because of where the weak link is. In my current car, the weak point was actually the pads/rotors so I upgraded those and was happy with the results.

Before we diagnose a problem, we need to really understand the symptoms.

Re: brake fade
 

Before we diagnose a problem, we need to really understand the symptoms.

BINGO^ golden rule when fixing a vehicle

Duplicate complaint
Diagnosis complaint
Correct complaint

Re: brake fade
 

does anyone remember the aem big brake kits that a couple member installed a looog time ago? that would prolly make the most difference cause youre increasing the size of the braking surface.

Re: brake fade
 

rotors dont really matter. its the pads and how hard the caliper bites down. sure you could get a HUGE BBK but if your master brake cylinder can only apply as much pressure as it can with the OE brakes, then its of no use. your basically tugging useless weight around. there are ALOT of people autocrossing and road racing on autozone rotors because theyre just as efficient as expensive, name brand rotors.

also, all this about the pads glazing... thats bs. that use to happen in the past but pads in todays time dont really glaze when doing street driving.

i say just buy some cheap autozone rotors, get some nice HP+ pads, get some SS brake lines, and if you want, do a rear disc brake swap.

Another thing no one seemed to mention is what type of tire your running. you could have the biggest and most expensive brakes in the world but if you have crappy tires, it wont mean a dam because the rubber cant stop you fast enough.

Re: brake fade
 

yeah thats true, tires stop the car.

Re: brake fade
 

So, is the problem the pads fading or the pedal not feeling right?

If it's pads, maybe you need to switch to composite or back to OEM (OEMs are not ceramic btw)

If it's the pedal, I couldn't really say unless I saw the car upfront