Background information:

I installed Hawk HPS pads about a month ago. The pads didn’t seem to fit quit right and I needed to tap in 3 of the 4 pads as they wouldn’t slide easily into the caliper.
The stock rotors seemed to be in decent shape so I didn’t replace them at the time or have them resurfaced. I noticed that after a week or so the rotors developed a line in the center all the way around the disk so I ordered new rotors.

Yesterday I installed the new slotted Brembo rotors, cleaned up the calipers real good, and sanded the ends of the pads very lightly so they now easily slide into the caliper. I also sanded the face of the pad to remove any residue from the old rotor and cleaned it up with brake parts cleaner. I followed the Hawk bedding procedure and when finished my new rotors have the same line around the disk that the stock rotors had.

Here are the pictures.






It seems the pad is not making full contact with the rotor but what causes this? Should I be concerned about it?

I will bleed the brake system just to be sure I have covered that. I am just concerned and do not want to mess up the costly rotors.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can provide!

 

When ever you replace pads you should resurface the rotors [very fine cut {0.001-0.002"} to just clean the old friction transfer film off the rotor].

Anytime the rotor exceeds 0.0028" they should be trued. Must be measured and cannot be eyed.

Based on thousands of Infinit rotors this is after 6,000 - 12,000 miles. Waiting until you feel the warp usually means you have to remove double to triple the amount of rotor [0.005-0.01"]........individual sensitivity to warp varies greatly
1mm wear limit = -0.03937" or 0.04"...........8-10 fine refinish cuts depending on rotor pad hardness.
This is doubly important when ever you swap pad friction material brands.

 

Q45tech - Since I didn't have the old rotors turned did it wear the new pads uneven?

Will this go away since the new rotors have a flat surface?

 

Another factor is local over the face of pad - spot overheating.
If the pads are not parallel with rotor when engaged more of one part of pad comes in contact first.

Why you clean all the worn pad deposits off the calipers/pistons etc, old antisqueel/conductive grease mixed with heated worn off pad material. Then relube everything.

RESTORING: Perfect as brand new [after 500 miles of wear] braking is harder than most want to admit or take the time to achieve.

 

Q45 pay attention to peoples posts please.

They are new rotors. Just sand down the pads a bit better with some sand paper. That part of the pad is most likely not touching the rotor due to uneven wear.

 

It might help to see a picture of the face of the pad.

 

Unfortunately now you will need to resurface the rotors AND the pads. It has to be from the old rotors even though you sanded them. You will need to take off quite a bit of the pads to get the contamination out.

 

Are those the brembo slotted rotors? You won't need to get those resurfaced. The gold coating is supposed to strip off. I'd look into just replacing the pads. Probably less trouble than sanding them down. Hawk HPS pads suck with the brembo slotted rotors btw.

 

Yes, they are brand new Brembo slotted rotors. I am not concerned about the gold coating being worn where the pad contacts as I assume that would be normal since it is only a "coating".

I took them back down yesterday and inspected everything. Where the mark is it seems there is a small part of the pad that looks somewhat chipped away. It is a very small part of it but I guess large enough to create the mark.

I am not thoroughly impressed with the feel of the Hawks. I really liked the initial bite of the stock pads so I may go back to them. However I do like that these dust a great deal less than stock so I may see if it gets better.

Thanks.

 

Project MU NS pads will be your best friend! I would step up to BForce if you plan to autox a couple times a year. Low dust, no squeeking and great BITE!!