flatlander937
Member
- :
- '11 Mazda2 Sport
It's funny how I am an auto technician for a living, but the dealer I work at does not allow me to work on my own car, so I have to do my work at home. When I do this, everything that CAN go wrong... does go wrong.
There are numerous brake install write-ups if you need a how-to... this is just a few hints and details for the anal-retentive who want to take their time and do their brakes the correct way... the way that less than 1% of "professionals" would do it for you.
My rotors were HELLA rusted on. I sprayed copious amounts of PB Blaster and Deep Creep with no real luck. My wife and I just moved into this house and half of my tools are at a friend's shop and I could only find my 20oz hammer. Usually that size is sufficient at work when I can get a full swing on the rotors with the car 6ft in the air... not so much 2ft off the garage floor.
Solution?
8lb sledge hammer. Makes it EASY.
I used it to hammer the friction surface free from the rotor hat... I made my own 2pc rotor.
Not pictured, but the hat was still seized to the hub. I also bought a 4lb hammer(more normal hammer sized in overall length). I struck the rotor hat diagonally on the "corner" until it cracked between the wheel studs. Do this in a couple places and it comes right off.
Now when it comes to the new rotors... to prep them you need to clean them with hot water and soap:
You can use brake-clean first if you like... but most leave a thin oily residue(you won't feel it) that will contaminate the pads. Will it make a huge difference? No. Are the rotors really clean then? No.
How do you know they're clean? You scrub them with the soapy hot water, rinse them, then let them dry. If they rust... you're good to go. If your rotors don't rust after you spray them with brake clean and they dry... then clearly there is -something- on them.
Close up of them as they're drying:
And drying a bit more...
I forgot to take pics of this part but...
Now remember how big of a pain the old rotors were to get off? To take care of it, use a small wire brush to get all the scaly rust off the wheel hub and bases of the wheel studs, then spray down with parts cleaner until it runs clear.
Once that happens cover the whole rotor mounting surface(on the hub) with anti-seize. Thin coat works, do not glob it on.
Slip the rotor on... and then do this as well:
And a hint for the caliper bracket... scrub the pad sliding surfaces with your wire brush so there is nothing for the pad to hang up. While your pads and the bracket are dry(no grease), test fit them in your hand, if they are too tight, then you may need to use a file or grinder/etc to take a small amount of material from the pads so they fit correctly. If you take too much, you might get a "clunk" when braking one time each time you stop for the first time going forward, then first time going backwards and using the brakes. Not a big deal, just annoying.
Then use DISC BRAKE CALIPER GREASE... NOT anti-seize for the pad sliding surfaces:
This is the exact stuff I use... it works great:
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...ap?ck=Search_N0448_-1_2017&pt=N0448&ppt=C0069
The reason for NOT using anti-seize is because many types of anti-seize while advertised as working to 1500+ degrees... will actually goop up and become a thick glue-like substance. I end up having to fix this s*** every few days at work... I know of some people who do use it successfully(on track/auto-x cars nonetheless)... but I know for a fact that CarQuest anti-seize WILL do this. No sense in using the wrong stuff for the application.
Then you follow your brake bedding procedure. In the case for my Hawk HPS, I made about 8 kinda quick stops from 35mph... then 3 hard as hell stops from 55-60mph. They're still not fully bedded in, and won't be for a few hundred miles. Generally you can tell because the rotors will become much shinier and harder on the surface from being work-hardened by the brake pads and heat cycling. I'm not entirely sure if this will apply to these since they are a "ferro-carbon" pad and are supposed to work by transferring pad material to the rotors.
For now my impressions are that they modulate easier at low pedal pressures(not quite as instantly-grabby as stock pads), and seem to stop as hard or harder than stock at higher speeds. I expect them to get a bit better.. but nothing magical. I have the "I" model 2.0L with the 10.9" rotors... Depending on which auto-x class I ultimately decide on running, I may upgrade to the 2.3L or MazdaSpeed front rotors.... which will have more of an impact than pads ever will.
Just figured I'd share some of that.
edit: And do not... I repeat do NOT use the kitchen sponge... you will get yelled at by your wife. Go buy a dedicated scrubbing pad or sponge or whatever.
There are numerous brake install write-ups if you need a how-to... this is just a few hints and details for the anal-retentive who want to take their time and do their brakes the correct way... the way that less than 1% of "professionals" would do it for you.
My rotors were HELLA rusted on. I sprayed copious amounts of PB Blaster and Deep Creep with no real luck. My wife and I just moved into this house and half of my tools are at a friend's shop and I could only find my 20oz hammer. Usually that size is sufficient at work when I can get a full swing on the rotors with the car 6ft in the air... not so much 2ft off the garage floor.
Solution?
8lb sledge hammer. Makes it EASY.
I used it to hammer the friction surface free from the rotor hat... I made my own 2pc rotor.
Not pictured, but the hat was still seized to the hub. I also bought a 4lb hammer(more normal hammer sized in overall length). I struck the rotor hat diagonally on the "corner" until it cracked between the wheel studs. Do this in a couple places and it comes right off.
Now when it comes to the new rotors... to prep them you need to clean them with hot water and soap:
You can use brake-clean first if you like... but most leave a thin oily residue(you won't feel it) that will contaminate the pads. Will it make a huge difference? No. Are the rotors really clean then? No.
How do you know they're clean? You scrub them with the soapy hot water, rinse them, then let them dry. If they rust... you're good to go. If your rotors don't rust after you spray them with brake clean and they dry... then clearly there is -something- on them.
Close up of them as they're drying:
And drying a bit more...
I forgot to take pics of this part but...
Now remember how big of a pain the old rotors were to get off? To take care of it, use a small wire brush to get all the scaly rust off the wheel hub and bases of the wheel studs, then spray down with parts cleaner until it runs clear.
Once that happens cover the whole rotor mounting surface(on the hub) with anti-seize. Thin coat works, do not glob it on.
Slip the rotor on... and then do this as well:
And a hint for the caliper bracket... scrub the pad sliding surfaces with your wire brush so there is nothing for the pad to hang up. While your pads and the bracket are dry(no grease), test fit them in your hand, if they are too tight, then you may need to use a file or grinder/etc to take a small amount of material from the pads so they fit correctly. If you take too much, you might get a "clunk" when braking one time each time you stop for the first time going forward, then first time going backwards and using the brakes. Not a big deal, just annoying.
Then use DISC BRAKE CALIPER GREASE... NOT anti-seize for the pad sliding surfaces:
This is the exact stuff I use... it works great:
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/d...ap?ck=Search_N0448_-1_2017&pt=N0448&ppt=C0069
The reason for NOT using anti-seize is because many types of anti-seize while advertised as working to 1500+ degrees... will actually goop up and become a thick glue-like substance. I end up having to fix this s*** every few days at work... I know of some people who do use it successfully(on track/auto-x cars nonetheless)... but I know for a fact that CarQuest anti-seize WILL do this. No sense in using the wrong stuff for the application.
Then you follow your brake bedding procedure. In the case for my Hawk HPS, I made about 8 kinda quick stops from 35mph... then 3 hard as hell stops from 55-60mph. They're still not fully bedded in, and won't be for a few hundred miles. Generally you can tell because the rotors will become much shinier and harder on the surface from being work-hardened by the brake pads and heat cycling. I'm not entirely sure if this will apply to these since they are a "ferro-carbon" pad and are supposed to work by transferring pad material to the rotors.
For now my impressions are that they modulate easier at low pedal pressures(not quite as instantly-grabby as stock pads), and seem to stop as hard or harder than stock at higher speeds. I expect them to get a bit better.. but nothing magical. I have the "I" model 2.0L with the 10.9" rotors... Depending on which auto-x class I ultimately decide on running, I may upgrade to the 2.3L or MazdaSpeed front rotors.... which will have more of an impact than pads ever will.
Just figured I'd share some of that.
edit: And do not... I repeat do NOT use the kitchen sponge... you will get yelled at by your wife. Go buy a dedicated scrubbing pad or sponge or whatever.
