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Carbotech Bobcat nightmare!!

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Old Jan 18, 2004, 10:33 AM
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Carbotech Bobcat nightmare!!

I'm using the Carbotech Bobcat brake pads right now. I don't think i'll ever buy them again. I'm having a nightmare with them. They are extremely noisy, i've taken them out 3 times already to put more brake quiet and it doesnt work. When they are cold, they dont stop. It feels like really bad fade. And finally, they are scarring my rotors pretty bad. I resurfaced my rotors, it took weeks to get the rotor surface back new (shiny) again cause the brake pads are so rotor friendly. But when stopping 5 mph to 0, they sound like someone is scraping a chalkboard with 5000 forks. They make the same noise if you stomp on them hard at high speeds. It's pretty embarasing. I'm considering getting the Ferodos and just taking this as a loss since I dont think carbotech will give me my money back or replace these. They were so expensive too. I was so excited when I bought these too. Showing them off to my friends and all. LOL

Does anyone know what the heck is going on? Both front rotors are pretty scarred already, but the passenger side is the worst.

Rob

Last edited by Coolguy949; Jan 18, 2004 at 10:47 AM.
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 10:38 AM
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Bummer. I just bought these brake pads and was hoping to put them on today. I hope I don't experience what you are.
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 10:40 AM
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Jan,

Please let me know how they turn out. Are you going to use any brake quieting compound?
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 10:41 AM
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Originally posted by Coolguy949
Jan,

Please let me know how they turn out. Are you going to use any brake quieting compound?
I doubt it unless I have to. I am going get the rotors resurfaced before I put them on, though.

Have you called up Carbotech and talked to Larry about these issues? He *seems* to be pretty up front and supportive.
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 10:45 AM
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I've been talking to matt. He said that I needed to put some brake quieting compound and that would work. He said he's never heard of issues with noise. That's why i'm thinking I might have a a defective set?
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 10:48 AM
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Originally posted by Coolguy949
I've been talking to matt. He said that I needed to put some brake quieting compound and that would work. He said he's never heard of issues with noise. That's why i'm thinking I might have a a defective set?
I hope they are just defective. Most of my friends run Carbotechs and have nothing but good things to say about them. In fact, I just got back from Thunderhill and my friends 240sx has a brand new set of Bobcats and we ran them on the track and they made no noise.

I will give you an update as soon as I put mine on.
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 10:49 AM
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I think you may have a bad set or something. Mine squeal like hell but I have the 8 race pads and I just swap them out for the track. Call and talk to Larry.


Originally posted by Coolguy949
I've been talking to matt. He said that I needed to put some brake quieting compound and that would work. He said he's never heard of issues with noise. That's why i'm thinking I might have a a defective set?
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 10:55 AM
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I have these pads also and im very dissapointed with them! After all the hype.Squeal like a pig at very slow speeds,dust is still pretty bad,and no noticable difference in stopping!!I called them and they were extremely unhelpful.They just kept saying i dont know what to tell you!(great help).Im using these for autocross and i've noticed no difference from stock! I have a 944 turbo track car and im using hawk hp pads and theyre awesome,but lots of dust!I guess im just taking a loss on these also!?
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 10:57 AM
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What fluid are you using? I'm using this stuff:



http://shop.store.yahoo.com/machv/atesublrabrf.html
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 11:25 AM
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Same here!
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 02:15 PM
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Re: Carbotech Bobcat nightmare!!

Originally posted by Coolguy949
I resurfaced my rotors, it took weeks to get the rotor surface back new (shiny) again cause the brake pads are so rotor friendly. But when stopping 5 mph to 0, they sound like someone is scraping a chalkboard with 5000 forks. They make the same noise if you stomp on them hard at high speeds. It's pretty embarasing. I'm considering getting the Ferodos and just taking this as a loss since I dont think carbotech will give me my money back or replace these.
I've got the Ferodo DS2500 pads and mine make the same sound yours do when I hit the brakes. I'm going to try a different pad/rotor combo, and if that doesn't fix it then I'm going back to stock pads.
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 02:21 PM
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Wanna trade pads?
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 02:25 PM
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That's why you use the stock pads for the street and TRACK pads for what??? The track. Not so hard, if you look at the stock pads they are tapered at 45* to keep the squeal down because even the stock one's squeal a little. What do you expect you have some of the best brakes out there bigger then the 996TT's. The race pads I have STOP and did NO rotor damage at the track, then I just switched to the stock one's.
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 02:28 PM
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Well, the Bobcats and te Ferodo DC2500s aren't really considered track pads. They are good for the track, but that's not their purpose. When I called up carbotech I asked for pads comparable to stock, or a little better. He said the bobcats would be perfect for all street driving and maybe some track days. He said they are just like the stock ones if not better. I just didnt want to pay the $439 they want for the stock pads at the dealer.

Rob

EDIT: Meant to say arent instead of are

Last edited by Coolguy949; Jan 19, 2004 at 12:07 PM.
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Old Jan 18, 2004, 02:31 PM
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Is there a sharp edge around the leading portion of hte brake pad? I have had noise issues in the past, to eliminate it on other vehicles, I took the pads off, took them to a belt sander; I know this sounds bad, but I put a chamfer on the leading edge. Drive around abit & see what happens. Sounds strange, but worked on my 64 cooper S & 83 RX-7. You mentioned one side wore different than the other. Is the pad wearing "square" or at a slight angle? If its at a slight angle, this might help out. I am not talking about removing a bunch of pad material, just put a chmfer on the leading edge. the chmfer worked better than that break-squel crap for me as well. Good luck.

Oh, sorry to hear about your problem, but glad you posted about it. now I know 1 set of pads to knock off my consideration list.
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