MJ23FE

iTrader: (3)

Unfortunately, I do not have the OEM shims to try out. What I was planning is to run some brake quiet which Smikey recommended. I don't know if it'll work or not, but it can't hurt... maybe just make a little bit of a mess, but I'll try to be tidy about it.

A new thing I noticed about these pads, is that I think the rears kinda get stuck when you're making your first stop of the drive. It sounds like the piston has to knock them loose for the first stop. You hear kind of a clunk of sorts when you first apply the brakes. I'll see if I hear it today when I back my car out. Has anyone every encountered that before?

I'll try to isolate the noise more, but that's my thought at this time.

-Jalal

Raptord

iTrader: (10)

I get that clunk on my first stop when I change direction. IE If I was previously going forward then switch to reverse, my first stop in reverse will get a clunk. it's like the pads reseat themselves in the calipers.

MJ23FE

iTrader: (3)

Yup. I got that today. Both forward and backwards.

When I'm bleeding my brakes I'm going to apply brake quiet to the back plates and see if that helps with anything. I'll have to check it's temperature range to make sure it doesn't melt on me.

-Jalal

aeroweenie

iTrader: (5)

Ditto (for RC6's) - low speeds, light pedal pressure is when they complain. They're happier doing harder work.

MJ23FE

iTrader: (3)

I'll take photos of my rotors tomorrow so that you guys can see what they look like after about 3.5 days of driving. A pretty big difference compared to what they looked like in my install photos above. 100% conservative street driving. I have not tried to test these yet, or even put heat into them for that matter.

With another 4 days of driving, that's more time for these pads to "scrub," "cleaning" my rotor face even more.

-Jalal

asininedervish

iTrader: (7)

Yeah, that clunk was alarming at first, but now its not even something i notice unless someone else points it out.

MJ23FE

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, it definitely had me going, wtf? LOL.

Do you think paste or shims help that? As I mentioned, I plan on applying anti-squeal paste to all my back plates when I bleed my fluid.

-Jalal

asininedervish

iTrader: (7)

The paste helped me for maybe 2 weeks, then the squeal returned in full force after about 2 more. After two attempts, i figured the noise wasnt worth the effort. I honestly think the clunking is because the holes are larger than the pins, so i doubt that will be aided at all.

Raptord

iTrader: (10)

Well I just noticed tonight that I'm not getting the "clunk" anymore from the brakes. The only thing that's changed is that on Monday the top bolt on the front right caliper somehow came out of its hole while I was driving. The next time I stepped on the brakes, the rotation of the rotors caused the caliper to rotate towards the front, and the top of it started scrapping the inside of the wheel. Since the caliper was lodged against the wheel, once I stopped I couldn't get moving again. I had to take off the wheel on the side of the road, loosen the remaining bolt and twist the caliper back to its intended position, then tighten the bolt as tight as I could to get me home, where I was able to put a new 19mm bolt back in. I guess the clunking was caused by the bolt being a bit loose and allowing it to rotate a little bit when the direction of the wheel's rotation changed. Doesn't clunk anymore now that the caliper is properly tightened.

So, just to make sure, you may want to check the bolts holding your calipers in place (19mm in the front, 17mm in the back) to make sure this doesn't happen to you.

Pics of the carnage:

asininedervish

iTrader: (7)

Huh. That would be really ****ty to have happen, but I didnt touch the bolts on the caliper when i did mine. I'll check em next time i've got it on the lift though, and see if that makes a difference.

MJ23FE

iTrader: (3)

Damn, Raptord! That looked real bad. Are you sure you torqued them down to spec? Maybe you had a slight of mind and didn't tighten them down all the way? Who knows. Good thing it didn't happen to you when you really needed your brakes!!!

-Jalal

MJ23FE

iTrader: (3)

After driving with these pads on all week, I can say that they are definitely loud towards the end of your stop with very light pedal pressure. People either think you need a brake job, or that you're a freight train. They def sound like race brakes, that's for sure. It's only under light pressure when you're creeping in traffic or coming to the last bit of your stop. On the highway and such they're fine. I'll be bedding the pads tomorrow with my buddy Justin and I'll be able to give you guys better impressions then. I can't wait to see how much torque these things have!

Updated rotor photos have also been added to the OP.
This is after a week of normal brake usage. I have not tried to put any heat into these pads at all. Just normal driving without any aggression at all.

-Jalal

Canon EOS 30D
Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9267835@N03/5360183965/http://www.flickr.com/photos/9267835@N03/5360183965/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/9267835@N03/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9267835@N03/5360184035/http://www.flickr.com/photos/9267835@N03/5360184035/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/9267835@N03/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9267835@N03/5360797832/http://www.flickr.com/photos/9267835@N03/5360797832/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/9267835@N03/, on Flickr

MJ23FE

iTrader: (3)

Obligatory evo photo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9267835@N03/5360797594/http://www.flickr.com/photos/9267835@N03/5360797594/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/9267835@N03/, on Flickr

-Jalal

JRitt@essex

Thanks for all of the feedback Jalal. It looks like the discs are cleaning up. You still have some pad material on there (the greyish blue stuff), but it looks fairly thin. Let me know how the bed-in goes.

Guys, the clunking when changing directions is from the pads moving in the caliper. CL manufactures the pad backing plate slightly smaller than other manufacturers because of the pad composition Usually 1mm shorter or so). Since they are a sintered pad (higher metal content), they expand more than other pads when heated to track temps. CL builds in some extra room for that expansion on all of their pads. That's all you're hearing.

If anyone has technical questions, always feel free to email me at jeff.ritter@essexparts.com

MJ23FE

iTrader: (3)

So I bedded my brakes last night doing about 8 stops from anywhere between 80-100mph. The ***** still shudders as many said it would, and as I hoped it wouldn't. However, I knew the pads weren't a 100% fix. All along I wanted to try and see if they would work and was always going to buy new fresh rotors if they didn't. So that's my plan. I'll be shopping around for a front set of Centric Premium blanks.

With day light today, I was able to see that the rotors are now half light gray-ish/blue and half silver. After giving Jeff a call, he told me that it's normal to see that and it means that the pads need another bedding session. He mentioned that this will happen when you start putting heat into the pads and that over time the entire rotor face will turn this gray-ish/blue color. However, he also mentioned that after getting that layer of pad on the rotor when racing, when you go back to driving normally on the street, the cold abrasive nature of the pads will scrub them clean again and they will look silver as they originally were. Thanks for all your help, Jeff!

With many people using these pads on the track a good amount without much rotor wear noted at all, I feel these will be safe to use on a daily driven car. When I put the new rotors in, Justin and I will be applying Permatex Ceramic Extreme Brake Parts Lubricant on the back plates and see if that helps the squeal. They have definitely been quieter today. We'll see how that goes as time progresses. I'll most likely be bleeding the brakes as well when the new rotors go in and will be using some ATE Super Blue brake fluid.

I'll keep you all posted.

-Jalal