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View Full Version : Getting the most out of brake pads..



bugjuice
28th April 2006, 15:08
k, this might be a bit of a 'cheap' question, and I am a logical person, but I've been thinking a bit about this..

The pads in my calipers are 4 individual pads per caliper.

Now, I've stuck some EBC HH pads in there a while ago, and upon inspection last weekend, the inner pads are more worn than the outter ones (or could be the other way round, can't quite remember exactly). Anyway, the more worn ones (equal on both pads and both calipers, so all's ok) are starting to approach the point of replacement, but the others still have a little more life in them yet.

So what would the merit be, in switching the sides?? In theory, I can't see any harm. But theory can be the mother of all fuck-ups, and I don't want to fuck up going into a corner and really needing new underwear..

any thoughts?

GR81
28th April 2006, 15:17
never mess with your brakes... not the kinda thing you want to fail cause you were trying to save a few pennies ;)

imdying
28th April 2006, 15:17
Probably more merit in cleaning the calipers so they work correctly on the next set of pads.

bugjuice
28th April 2006, 15:21
gr81 - the brakes are fine, it's just a bit of odd-sided pad wear which is pretty normal. They aren't going to fail, and it there was any risk in them failing if they were swapped, then I wouldn't do it. I can't see any risks, so I just wanted to see if anyone had tried and found it a waste of time..

And imdying, they are clean. they're always (well, nearly) clean, and the calipers work fine..

The Pastor
28th April 2006, 15:26
You guys USE brakes????

cowpoos
28th April 2006, 15:28
I can't see why it would make any difference if ya swaped em over....I'ld do the same thing if I had un even pad wear....

imdying
28th April 2006, 15:30
I didn't mean cleaning the outside, I meant the important bits. Uneven pad wear isn't 'normal', it's indicative of a problem.

bugjuice
28th April 2006, 15:31
the inside bits are clean enough. and we're talking mm's at most, not excessive pad wear

imdying
28th April 2006, 15:38
Millimetres is a bit in bike brake pad terms... There can't be much wrong though, they're pretty bloody simple. You could take the calipers off, take the pads out, stick a spacer where the pads would normally go, and scrub the pistons with hot soapy water and a tooth brush. If that doesn't help, then the square section orings inside that distort under braking, and retract the pistons when they reform might be getting tired.

justsomeguy
28th April 2006, 15:39
Don't know about your fancy modern bikes but I used to regularly "flip" my pads on a push bike back in the day.

Can't really see how it can be a problem - after all it's just a pad rubbing against a piece of metal - the mechanical bits are elsewhere. Also the whole pad is made of the same material so flipping it over should mean that the new surface wears out at the same rate as the old surface or not at a hugely different rate.

You phoned Kerry and asked him??

imdying
28th April 2006, 15:42
Flipping the pads won't cause any trouble. The braking force might be less while they're running back in, but you won't lose brakes or anything nasty.

Hoon
28th April 2006, 15:58
Yeah I do it. I can't bare to throw away pads that still have lots of meat on them so I save them up for spares. Sometimes at the track you can get caught out and a pad will run out so I slip in the spare to get me through the day until I get a new set.

The bike can't tell any difference. The pistons will just push out to take up the slack and suck up a little more fluid. If anything your max braking efficiency maybe *slightly* reduced while it beds in if the wear is angled.

The Stranger
28th April 2006, 16:03
Because of the linked brakes on the X11 and various other bikes the inside left pad wears worse.

I swap the left front set for the right front so as they wear even. Hasn't done me no harm yet.

Also save any unworn front pads for the rear, same caliper front and rear on the Blackbird and X11.

Damn I am a tight arse.

Two Smoker
28th April 2006, 16:31
Buy some new ones you cheap bastard...

Blackbird
28th April 2006, 16:49
There was a post on the UK Blackbird site a while back about how long pads last which was quite a revelation. Some guys were having to replace their pads every 12000 km or so whilst others went for over double that distance. Taking out the "nana factor", how smooth you are, assessing corner entry speeds, coming up behind other vehicles and so on has a pretty big bearing on pad life as you might expect.

wendigo
28th April 2006, 16:50
Depends on how scored youre disks are. If they're badly scored, what you don't want is the scoring from the inside of the disks to be replicated on the outside of the disks & visa versa via the pads.

Motu
28th April 2006, 17:10
I'm with imdying - uneven pad wear is an indication of a problem.You have just been supplied with a clue...you may not of had a clue before,but now use the one you have.

bugjuice
28th April 2006, 17:30
i agree that excessive wear is a problem, but (I exaggerated about the few mm's, it's probably not even a mil, but just a small difference) I can't see how 4 individual pots pushing 4 individual pads would wear exactly the same from left to right, front to back of the same caliper..

The Stranger
28th April 2006, 17:37
Buy some new ones you cheap bastard...

Yeah but the first time was born out of necessity (on a weekend). After that I just though hey why waste money?

T.W.R
28th April 2006, 17:45
The larger amount of wear should be at the rear of the caliper on the pads, its directly related to the rotation of the wheel. The leading edge(rear) of the pad recieves the greater amount of friction & heat compared to the trailing edge (front).

But hey it can't be any worse than this scenario:
many many moons ago i had a XS750 that at the time i thought was the bee's knees (hey i was only 18) but on the first ride i over cooked it heading into a bend hit the anchors hard, came sliding to a stop with the brakes locked up, next thing this bloody big black hunk of shit fires out the front of the bike & the brakes started making a shit of a noise.
so i stopped hopped off the bike & went to check this black thing, mmm a large hunk of clutch friction plate :gob: :yes: the cheap bastard had worn all the pads down to the backing plates and then glued chunks friction plate on to the brake pad backing plates !!!!:yes:
beat that for bloody stupid :gob:

Motu
28th April 2006, 17:53
And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, I’ll say it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.

I’ve lived a life that’s full.
I’ve traveled each and ev’ry highway;
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way

R6_kid
1st May 2006, 11:23
motu, you know far too many songs off by heart!

Hey buggy, you reckon it might be because the fluid is being delivered on the inside of the caliper and therefore pushes on the inside first, then the built up pressure squeezes through to the other side (equalises)and starts to push on the other pad resulting in more wear on the inside than the outside (vice versa for me on the rear caliper)

I had the same thing, but seeing that the ones on the front of mine had been soaking in fork oil for some time now i decided to replace them with EBC HH (fully sintered) pads the other week. Now that i have got the new fork seals in there is a noticeable improvement in braking performance - especially at higher speeds. They are going to eat through my discs faster but meh, they are going to be getting replaced sometime later in the year anyway.

imdying
1st May 2006, 12:21
If yours are dragging after having fork oil over the brakes, it might be that the fork oil has made the seals swell slightly, causing the pistons to drag.

There is no 'equalization of pressure' to speak of inside calipers, that isn't the cause of uneven wear.