BryanPendleton

I have started tracking my C5 at local HPDE events, and a few months ago I rebuilt by calipers. Just finished up my second HPDE on the rebuilt calipers and when swapping my street pads back on, I noticed that by brake dust boots are shot already. It does not look like heat damage, it looks like that boot was eaten by termites or something. Any ideas as to what is going on here? I am running Carbotech XP8 rear pads for the track, and some unknown pad on street.

ErnieN85

burned up from heat
if this is the rear
your probably using active handling try comp mode
all on drags the rear brakes to stabilize the car and starts at .4G
other than that more air to cool the rear (Z06 rear ducts)

Socko

Mine burnt almost all the way off my first trackday in the rear. Fronts are oddly surviving. I assume it has to do with me running AH on or in comp mode at the track.

Mine definately burnt from the outside in like that. I assume yours are just lasting longer cause they are fresh as mine were original but in solid shape when i put my track pads on the first time.

I run the 10/8 combo as well.

I just ripped it out the best i could, its pretty common they burn up on these cars.

BryanPendleton

This last event was run with all the nannies off, except for a few laps where I forgot to turn it off once. Regardless, sounds like this is typical. Do I need to be concerned? My thoughts are the main piston seals are now exposed to the elements, dirt and debris, which could lead to seal bore wear.

JRitt@essex

They were destroyed by heat. When they get hot, they get brittle. They take on a consistency more similar to plastic than rubber, and it is extremely common for them to chip, flack, and fall apart. If you're going to be tracking your car, it's something that will continue to happen.

Calipers that are designed for heavy track use don't have dust boots for this reasons. For example, all of our Competition Big Brake Kits have stainless steel pistons without dust boots.

It will be futile to keep installing dust boots if you're going to just burn them up right away. Not having them is nothing to be worried about. You really don't have to treat the calipers any differently. You just have to keep an eye on them and clean them up once in a while. If you're going to be tracking the car regularly, you have to build an occasional caliper rebuild into your maintenance schedule. With OEM calipers run on the track, the frequency of rebuild will likely be considerably higher than it would be with a caliper designed for track use.

Also, as mentioned above...running with the nannies on will eat the rear brakes in a hurry vs. running with everything turned off.

froggy47

Spray some cleaner in the space between the piston & caliper before you press them in (for a pad change). Leave the boots off.

wtb-z

This happened to one of my rears as well in my first year of ownership. I never use AH/TC (although I do use ABS), and am gentle enough on my brakes that I still have original front dust boots after 30+ track days. Mysterious.