Help me understand/read/check my brake wear from my track weekend
#1
Former Vendor
Thread Starter
Help me understand/read/check my brake wear from my track weekend
Well all of these parts were new for my track weekend. I was 2 days on Grattan Raceway and quite a few sessions! DBA 4000 front rotors, Hawk DTC 70 front pads, DTC 60 rear pads.... Can you give me your thoughts on the use of the components, anything usual/unusual, what to look for, etc? Thanks! I'm new to this and learning every step of the way so I figured learning the wear of the parts is another step!
Passenger side front DTC 70 pads
Passenger side front DBA 4000 rotor
Back side of my pass. side DTC 70
Drivers side front DBA 4000 rotor
Drivers side front DTC 70's
Passenger side rear DTC 60's
Drivers side rear DTC 60's
Front drivers side shot to show pad life DTC 70
Just to show the track wheel/tire combo
Front dusty
Rear dusty AND rusty metal from rear rotor (pretty sure this is due to running in COMP mode and the active handling applying a lot of rear brake?)
Shaved Toyo R888's from GTRacing Tires!
Passenger side front DTC 70 pads
Passenger side front DBA 4000 rotor
Back side of my pass. side DTC 70
Drivers side front DBA 4000 rotor
Drivers side front DTC 70's
Passenger side rear DTC 60's
Drivers side rear DTC 60's
Front drivers side shot to show pad life DTC 70
Just to show the track wheel/tire combo
Front dusty
Rear dusty AND rusty metal from rear rotor (pretty sure this is due to running in COMP mode and the active handling applying a lot of rear brake?)
Shaved Toyo R888's from GTRacing Tires!
#2
Burning Brakes
Everything looks normal from what I can see. Kind of hard to tell with the rotors, but the pads look fine and should be good for a couple more two day events. Rotors will start to develop spider cracks (heat checking) over time. It should take a little longer with the DBA rotors than with NAPA or Centrix but it will happen sooner or later. Once the cracks spread to the edge the rotor will crack. You can replace them pro-actively once the cracks get near the edge of the rotor but most of us wait until they fully crack. You'll feel a vibration as you brake. I typically get about 5-6 days out of a set of Centrix Cryos my buddy runs DBA and gets about double that and we drive similarly. You should get in the habit of carrying a set of spare rotors and pads to the track if you don't already. I get about the same life out of a set of DTC 70s. Experimented the last event with HP + on the rear to save some $ but wouldn't recommend it.
#3
Safety Car
I don't know what I'm talking about compared to Jim and his 100 track days (woo hoo!), but:
It looks like you greased up the back of the pads - no need for that - the grease will just burn off.
It does not look like you had any V'ing of the pads. You may want to rotate pads ever couple sessions just to prevent this.
The rubber piston seals (at least up front) will burn off. Don't worry if you see smoke coming from your brakes at the end of a session.
I would bleed regularly, but this might be overkill - at least once/day.
Brake cooling ducts (Quantum) up front are a good idea.
As Jim said, bring spares and the associated tools to swap discs (torque wrench, jacks, cheater bar, gloves (discs are hot!)). Like he said, smaller cracks in the middle are fine. Cracks can happen at strange times. I cracked a disc (on my S2k) 35 mins after the last session of the day, during some light braking + a turn at ~45mph. Replace the disc immediately. If you have no spare, at least put on junk pads so you don't destroy your good pads.
You should not have to do this at the track, but use a turkey baster to drain the fluid from the brake reservoir if it gets discolored. I think - I see this suggested a bit - I assume that means the fluid has been stressed (or something?). It is easy to do, though you can't drain the rear partition this way. You can gravity bleed the rears for a bit to draw in the new fluid, then bleed in the regular diag towards driver/diag towards pass pattern. Once you burn the seals, the fluid in the caliper will get dirty quickly.
It looks like you greased up the back of the pads - no need for that - the grease will just burn off.
It does not look like you had any V'ing of the pads. You may want to rotate pads ever couple sessions just to prevent this.
The rubber piston seals (at least up front) will burn off. Don't worry if you see smoke coming from your brakes at the end of a session.
I would bleed regularly, but this might be overkill - at least once/day.
Brake cooling ducts (Quantum) up front are a good idea.
As Jim said, bring spares and the associated tools to swap discs (torque wrench, jacks, cheater bar, gloves (discs are hot!)). Like he said, smaller cracks in the middle are fine. Cracks can happen at strange times. I cracked a disc (on my S2k) 35 mins after the last session of the day, during some light braking + a turn at ~45mph. Replace the disc immediately. If you have no spare, at least put on junk pads so you don't destroy your good pads.
You should not have to do this at the track, but use a turkey baster to drain the fluid from the brake reservoir if it gets discolored. I think - I see this suggested a bit - I assume that means the fluid has been stressed (or something?). It is easy to do, though you can't drain the rear partition this way. You can gravity bleed the rears for a bit to draw in the new fluid, then bleed in the regular diag towards driver/diag towards pass pattern. Once you burn the seals, the fluid in the caliper will get dirty quickly.
#4
Tech Contributor
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Hard to tell whether there was any pad tapering or not. As the previous poster indicated move the pads from one side of the car to the other each day to compensate for the taper. This will keep the pedal from going long. At Watkins Glen which is hard on brakes due to the high speeds I was able to get 5 or 6 days out of NAPA rotors (even the ones made in China). The longest life I got out of brake pads for the stock calipers was about the same as the rotors. Once I started running a the LG G Stop kit with Wilwood SL6 calipers and the 7420 pad configuration I was able to get the front pads to outlast the rotors.
I always bleed my brakes the day before an event and if they felt good I didn't bother bleeding them during the event or after it. This has worked fine for me for 18 years of HPDEs.
Bil
I always bleed my brakes the day before an event and if they felt good I didn't bother bleeding them during the event or after it. This has worked fine for me for 18 years of HPDEs.
Bil
#5
Safety Car
Yes! WGI is tough on brakes, which is wear on managed to crack the brakes on my S2k (127 top speed vs. 140++ in C5s). I blame it on a hard back-back sessions though, the S2k has zero appetite for parts compared to my C5.
#6
Former Vendor
Thread Starter
Big thanks guys! When you say rotate the pads, do you mean keep them on the same caliper, just switch them spots, or keep the ones on the outside on the outside, but switch sides of the car?
I actually have the quantum cooling kit and it's already installed but I couldn't run it, because I didn't have any ducts and when fabbing it up, the front tires would crush the tubing when turning! Randy at DRM has some ducts on the way to me already!
I actually have the quantum cooling kit and it's already installed but I couldn't run it, because I didn't have any ducts and when fabbing it up, the front tires would crush the tubing when turning! Randy at DRM has some ducts on the way to me already!
#7
Instructor
Member Since: Sep 2009
Location: Melbourne Florida
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DTC70/60 are burning off the paint on the backside and the pads look like that after getting hot. I think it looks like you have used the material quite nicely.
My suggestion is that you check the slope of the wear of the pads. They will consume faster on the "entry side" and less on the "exit side". If you rotate the pads after each track day, you will have some extra laps per pad.
Also, when you have worn the pads down to the slot, they are used up. If you go past that, you might experience boiling brake fluid even if you have 600 fluid.
I also have DBA4000, but mine are slotted?
PeO.
My suggestion is that you check the slope of the wear of the pads. They will consume faster on the "entry side" and less on the "exit side". If you rotate the pads after each track day, you will have some extra laps per pad.
Also, when you have worn the pads down to the slot, they are used up. If you go past that, you might experience boiling brake fluid even if you have 600 fluid.
I also have DBA4000, but mine are slotted?
PeO.
#8
Former Vendor
Thread Starter
DTC70/60 are burning off the paint on the backside and the pads look like that after getting hot. I think it looks like you have used the material quite nicely.
My suggestion is that you check the slope of the wear of the pads. They will consume faster on the "entry side" and less on the "exit side". If you rotate the pads after each track day, you will have some extra laps per pad.
Also, when you have worn the pads down to the slot, they are used up. If you go past that, you might experience boiling brake fluid even if you have 600 fluid.
I also have DBA4000, but mine are slotted?
PeO.
My suggestion is that you check the slope of the wear of the pads. They will consume faster on the "entry side" and less on the "exit side". If you rotate the pads after each track day, you will have some extra laps per pad.
Also, when you have worn the pads down to the slot, they are used up. If you go past that, you might experience boiling brake fluid even if you have 600 fluid.
I also have DBA4000, but mine are slotted?
PeO.
Yep, mine are just the blank version Ken at KNS hooked me up with for a great deal!