Bedding-In New Discs and Pads

[Okete]

Good Evening Peeps,

Had the front discs and pads on my V70 T5 upgraded today - 302mm Black Diamond Discs, Black Diamond Predator Pads, S/S Braided Goodridge Pipes and DOT5.1 Fluid.
Was expecting an instant mindblowing improvement but am a bit disappointed at the moment (might be something to do with the excelent brakes on the Golf GTI the mechanic lent me for the day!!). The brakes on my T5 are no better than they were before they were changed!
The mechanic has told me to be patient and not to judge them until they have had time to bed-in properly. He also advised me to be relatively gentle on them for the first couple of hundred miles.
How long does it take for brakes to bed-in properly and is there anything I should be doing to assist the process in the meantime?

Look forward to any advice!

Cheers,
John.

[thunderace]

John, try a search - there are a couple of good threads about this. It takes a while, a few hundred miles and you should really do it carefully to get the max out of them. :)

[Okete]

Should've done that first really!!

Thanks Thunderace - I have now done a search and you are right, there is a good thread describing just my worry!!
A problem shared!!
I just need to be patient and try out some of the bedding-in techniques described. Scared to give them too much too soon but will do my best to be careful. Now got to find a quiet, good bit of road for some controlled decelleration!!
Cheers.

[thunderace]

happy braking lol

[dreadly]

I have the black diamond predator pads and they took a couple of thousand miles to really start to work properly :(

[Okete]

Hi Dreadly,

A couple of thousand miles!! Blimey, that is a lot !!
I have done all the 'gentle' bedding-in excecises mentioned in the thread I read elsewhere on this forum and I have to admit the brakes are improving slowly. Either that or I am getting used to them! No, I'm sure they are getting sharper, but a long way off my expectations.
The trouble is, I have had all sorts of conflicting advice and I am cautiously finding a middle path that makes sense to me.
Sounds as though I will just have to be patient - good therapy for a T5 driver!!
I shall keep you peeps posted - I just hope I haven't wasted my money, but it's early days yet.
Cheers,
John.

[Vikingxl]

I've no idea where Bassingbourn is but there may be members near yopu that can give you an idea of how there brakes feel in comparison

[T5SLAVE]

Hi m8,

Give ur new brakes at least 300 miles b4 any HAAAARD braking...use only progressive brakin 4 the first 400-500 miles if u really wanna bed 'em in properly. During these first few hundred miles u must also carry out a little left foot (well, kinda?!) brakin, again with some considerable finesse, in order 2 get heat in2 them slowly, any sudden, prolonged or extreme heat at this stage could fubar the set-up considerably!

Im sure someone on here 'll b able 2 explain it better, mine work bl**dy brilliantly tho so I must've done summit right LOL!

Best o luck wi' it all

Mark.:)

[Okete]

Morning All,

Viking - Bassingbourn is on the Cambridgeshire/Hertfordshire border, fairly close to the A1M.
I shall persevere for the moment and am not yet in despair! It will be useful to try out other peoples brakes once mine have had a chance to reach full efficiency.
How is the Albino Porpoise running?!!

T5Slave - Thanks for the useful suggestions. Basically what you have said is what I have already been trying to do. The left foot braking idea is interesting - does that mean really gentle braking whilst maintaining speed? That makes sense to me, it would heat up the brakes quite gradually wouldn't it?

Thanks for your suggestions - it is all very useful input.

Cheers,
John.

[dreadly]

Hi Dreadly,
I shall keep you peeps posted - I just hope I haven't wasted my money, but it's early days yet.
Cheers,
John.

TBH - They are actually starting to work fairly well now, I won't be getting them again though.
I have just bought a full set of OEM VOLVO disks from Marshall volvo and will be using Ferrodo DS2500 pads when I fit them.
I have a fair bit of life left in these old disks and pads yet though.
The way I ended up bedding in my new pads was to take the car up to 120+ then brake down to about 30+ MPH - then repeat about 2-4 times.
They got very very hot though. - Used a Private road of course :)
BTW :- Just got the court summons through for speeding :cussing:

[Okete]

Hi Dreadly,

Thanks for the reassurance - my new brake set-up continues to improve and I am feeling more confident that they will be good eventually. Shall have to wait and see. The trouble is, there are so many different opinions on the best set-up and given my financial constraints I had to plump for something I could afford.
I will stick with it (got to really haven't I!) and hopefully find that they will 'do for me', until the next time to change!
Funny you should mention the OEM disc/DS2500 combination - I very, very nearly went down that route but read something somewhere about 'brake squeal' problems. However, brake squeal can have so many causes!
It will be interesting to hear how you get on with the OEM/DS2500 option - keep us informed!
Cheers,
John.

[T5SLAVE]

Stick with it m8, I'm sure it'll come good in the end:wink: Sometimes these changes we make r a bit trial n error?!

Incidentally, if anyone is interested (seen as how we're talkin brakes n'all) I think Powercraft r currently sellin set-ups like my Ate Heico's at very reasonable money...erm if they aint all gone?!?

PM me or click my sig if u wanna no more:B_thumb:

[dreadly]

Hi Dreadly,
Funny you should mention the OEM disc/DS2500 combination - I very, very nearly went down that route but read something somewhere about 'brake squeal' problems. However, brake squeal can have so many causes!
It will be interesting to hear how you get on with the OEM/DS2500 option - keep us informed!
Cheers,
John.

funny enough, the biggest problem with the BD pads is the squeal!!!

[SAMXPJ]

Have the same set-up but use the ferrodo performance pads [were ds2000] and find with next to no bedding in they are spot-on and I'ved tried others and been disappointed.

[s60gjb]

Have got the Brembo discs and Ferodo DS2500 pads, all fitted by VT and have to say the results are superb. Did some gentle bedding in over about 500 miles, and they really haul the car in from some warp speeds. Going to get the same set up on my V70.

P.S. Have not experienced any brake squeal at all.

[Okete]

Mornin' Folks,

T5Slave - Plenty of 'trial' at the moment but hopefully less of the 'error' ! Thanks for the encouragement and will check out Powercraft later on today.

Dreadly - If these start squealing I shall try to doctor them (there is a brilliant thread somewhere about curing brake squeal) but if that don't work - the pads will be coming off pronto! Can't stand squealing brakes!
What you have said serves to illustrate the diversity of opinion regarding brakes though!

SAMXPJ - If these Predator pads start squealing and i cant cure it, I think I might go for Ferrodo. Are your pads called ds2000 still?

Cheers,
John.

[Okete]

Morning s60gjp,

You must've been typing at the same time as I was!!
Glad your set-up has proved a good one - hopefully mine will sort itself out in time!
Did you source the components yourself? If so, how much did the pads cost you?
Cheers,
John.

[Adge]

I can't help wondering where all these private roads are in this country.
They wouldn't be labelled M1, M27, M6 plus others by any chance, would they?

[Okete]

Hi Adge43,

I'm guessing that these must be the same 'private roads' that the police pursuit drivers train on!!

Cheers,
John.

[Okete]

Just an update - Have now done about 150 miles with my new brake set-up (not much I know, I live less than a mile from the hospital I work at!) and I have to say they are starting to get really good!
I think the best 'new' bit of advice was the gentle 'left foot' braking technique - it makes sense and I'm sure it is the softly, softly solution! I'd never tried it before and it certainly feels weird to begin with. Just don't get the power up too much before releasing the brakes !!
No dreaded squeals at all so far, touch wood!

Cheers,
John

[gazjacko]

Stick with it! they seem to get better and better over the first couple of weeks. I then started playing 'chicken' with myself ( I have been accused of this before!) on my favorite slip road, braking at later and later marker posts from the same speed. (70 of course!). eventually I got to the point where I was frightening drivers on the roundabout who could see me approach with no sign of stopping!
I ceased this stupid practise because my eyeballs were leaving marks on the inside of the windscreen and everything not bolted down in the car ended up in the front!

[Okete]

Thanks gazjacko,

Don't think I am quite ready for playing chicken just yet! However, they are improving by the day - wont be out to play this weekend though because I now have a problem with the top engine mount - my fault entirely (see my other thread in this section!). This also means I will have to withdraw from the East Anglia Meet tomorrow, which is a bit of a bummer!
I think the BD brake set-up will turn out fine - just taking longer than I anticipated and of course being a low mileage driver (during the week!) doesn't exactly speed up the process!
Heigh Ho - going to be a weekend of beer & telly by the looks of things!!

Cheers,
John.

[BLD]

My V70 has done 48,000 miles and is on the same brake pads since the car was bought in 2004. The brakes are very spongy and have been since new but I am expecting the dealership to check that out today and come up with a solution.

I know it's not really a performance thing but it could be a life-saver. can anyone offer advice on how long a set of pads should last?
Thanks.

[Terminator]

My V70 has done 48,000 miles and is on the same brake pads since the car was bought in 2004. The brakes are very spongy and have been since new but I am expecting the dealership to check that out today and come up with a solution.

I know it's not really a performance thing but it could be a life-saver. can anyone offer advice on how long a set of pads should last?
Thanks.

Pad life will depend on the compound of the pad and how often/hard you break. 48k sounds about the limit on OE pads but the Volvo OE ones are extremely good quality and worth the extra imo.

The spongyness will be caused either by air in the system or water in your brake fluid (its hydroscopic so absorbs water).

When was the last time you had your brake fluid changed?

[dooby]

EDIT: Beaten to it :-)

Hiya,

I think pad usage is completely dependent on how hard you use the brakes. My pads don't last long but I use the brakes hard (especially on track days).

I'm not sure sponginess would be pads, anyway - sounds like it might be old brake fluid to me. Worth checking when that was last changed. When I got my car I replaced the brake fluid and the stuff coming out was the colour of Coke - yech! The new stuff was a nice clear yellow colour. I think brake fluid is recommended to be changed every 2 years or so as it absorbs water and can give the spongy feel you describe.

If your pads were badly worn you would probably know it, as when the pad material has all gone the backing plate would scrape on the brake disc. This makes a terrible racket, ruins the brake disc and offers very little braking (no sponginess, just no stopping power).

You should be able to see the pad thickness if you look carefully through the wheel spokes. The backing plate is usually about 3mm thick, and I think a good rule of thumb is to think about replacing them when the pad material gets to or below the same thickness.

HTH, Pete