morris

Well I replaced my front pads this weekend with Hawk performance plus padlets. the Crook dealer told me that my brakes were pretty much done, took them at their word but that is another story. Anyway it turns out that there was about 25% pad left on them I changed them out any way and will keep the old one as a back up set.

This hopefully will help another newby avoid the issues I had on their first pad change.

1. I broke 4 torx sockets trying to get the pins out and in. The size is t45 by the way T46 would probably be better but that size wasnt available for me to try, the sizes went from T45 to T47, I used duralast (autozone) and the other brand they carry but I cant remember the name right now, both types broke. The Duralast fits better by the way, it is slightly more snug.

Any way the pins come out pretty easily the trick is that you have to be careful not to put any lateral pressure on the bit when you are trying to turn it, which is easier said than done particularly for the pins on the rear of the caliper. The pins were not frozen as you hear from folks I have done about 5 track days and about 9K on the odometer.

The shims on the OEM padlets do not fit on the Hawk Plus padlets, i had alot of brake squeal from 20mph down upon trying to stop after I first installed them and after the bedding procedure. I did use the included grease from Hawk on the first install attempt.

I also used antiseize when putting it back together, I wouldnt reccomend this and wont do it in the future. The antiseize clogs up the holes and makes it hard to turn when reinstalling the pins on subsequent assembly / disasemblies in additon like I said my pins came out pretty easy.

Torque spec for the pins is 30 pounds this isnt that tight so if you are not using a torque wrench keep in mind not to really crank those suckers down when tightening them. If you put much more than 50 pounds of torque on them you run the risk of snapping your torx socket.

To reach the rear pins on the caliper I turned the steering wheel which gives you a better angle on the rear pins which again is very important so you dont put any lateral pressure on the torx socket which in turn will make it snap.


After my initial install and the hideous squeal I mean really hideous at 20mph on down I pulled them apart again and put a good coating of the antsqueal paste from autozone on it and am hoping that this will reduce or eliminate the squeal. The packet that comes with the brake padlets is silicone grease I think and didnt seem to do anything when applied to the back of the pads. I can only guess that it was meant to grease the moving parts but I dont know why they would put grease in with padlets.

Anyway it wasnt enough to do both sides, buy your own tube

Wheel torque when putting them back on is 100 pounds

Oh also when installing the padlets i found it best to start from the top down and tighten the pins in this manner which makes it easier to put the next lowest padlet in without the upper padlet falling out.


I know this probably isnt news to those that have been doing them for a while but for the first time changing the calipers on the Z hopefully this will help someone.

matteo

I usually find it easier to remove the calipers to install new pads, but from what I recall, you only have to remove the center pins and not the outers when doing it by the book. Oh, and HP+ pads? - get used to the squeeeeeel!

68sixspeed

(well, on the remove the caliper vs the pins, and squeel! I've never pulled the pins after reading a few stories on here!)

morris

Well its more like a screaching that would wake the dead, I am really hoping that it is better with the brake quiet, please let it be better, otherwise I may have to switch back and save them for the track it is just that bad.

Unreal

HP+ are noisy.

u1arunit

I thought the Hawk plus pads are for track use? If so they can be expected to squeal. Sounds like you need a more street friendly pad set.

BEZ06

Yeah - that's what they do!!! You get an aggressive track compound and you get noise and dust. I'm sure you must have read about the HP+ before getting them. Here's an excerpt cut-n-pasted from the Hawk website:

http://www.hawkperformance.com/performance/hpplus.php

You'll hear a lot squealing driving around the paddock and out to staging, but once you get them heated up to their proper operating temp range during a track session you won't notice them.

You can drive to/from the track with them, but you're going to get squealing when they aren't warmed up, and a lot of dust. Also, the high friction compound is hard on the rotors - especially when driving on the street and never get up to track temps. It's not an around town/street driving compound because you just don't get them into their proper operating temp zone unless you're driving on the track. They're not an all-out race pad, but you need R-compound tires to take advantage of anything more aggressive than the HP+.

I have run the HP+ and I get them off the car and put my OE pads or HPS (which can still squeal and dust!!) as soon as I get back from the track.

They're a great light duty track pad for use with ultra high performance street tires, but that's primarily what they were designed for - the track.

IMHO, if you don't want squeal and dust, get some ceramic pads for the street and save the HP+ for the track.

Also, most of just remove the caliper to swap pads - I find it a LOT easier!!!

Bob

Gman57

The HP+ are intended for the track(auto-x) not everyday street use. GM's pins suck I bought RaceBrake pins with great improvement over OEM removal but still use antiseize.
Just my .02 worth

morris

Yes I did read about them prior to purchase and expected some squeal, I guess I just wasnt expecting the high pitch sreeching that these produce. The dust is a non issue for me. I guess I will figure out how muich of an improvement they are when I hit Roebling in a couple weeks, barring any hurricanes

Gman57

Yep.... they sound like an old school bus....

NORTY

You were down to 25% pad material and your dealer is a "crook?" How so?

Would they still be a "crook" if you were into your rotors? WTF?

morris

Because with 25% pad material plus left on them I had at least a couple of months left of driving on them (probably more like 3-6 months). The dealer said I only had 1mm left on them and that I needed to have them change them right away for $600 thats why.

Lead Foot 66

Hi Bob,

So...what street pads are you running to minimize dust and squeal, that also don't rip up the rotors?

Steve

BEZ06

On my Z06 I curently have a set of OE padlets in for street driving. I also have a set of HPS. They both work real well for street driving.

I don't care about noise and dust, and both of the above are easy on the rotors. When not tracking the car I swap on the street pads, and also pull off my DBA 4000 rotors and put the OE rotors back on.

However - if you want no noise or dust - the carbon ceramic brakes on the ZR1 make no noise, there's no dust, and they stop better than anything I've ever driven!!! They stop just as well when cold or hot, so they're great for the street or track. You do have to "burnish" the pads to get the best out of them - the procedure is in the owner's manual.

So....you could get a 2011 Carbon Edition or the Z07 package with the cc brakes and never have to worry about noise and dust!!!

Bob

allanlaw

They're cool, especially when you pull up to a crosswalk full of pedestrians - I love the look of horror on their faces when they hear the racket . . .