I have a 2014 Z51. I've only 3,800 miles on the car but I had to replace the pads on the front and rear. I also had to replace all 4 rotors because of warpage. While I only have 3800 miles on the car, I've participated in 4 HPDE's. Fortunately the rotors were replaced by the dealership under warranty; the pads were not. I purchased Carbotech 1521 for street usage and XP10 for the track.

I installed the pads yesterday. The directions on this forum where accurate but I want to clarify something: you will not be able to replace the pads on all four corners in 30 minutes as some has posted. You should plan to spend between 1.5 - 2 hours to replace all four corners. I used a floor jack to lift and an impact wrench to remove the wheels. I'm not a mechanic but a pretty capable DIY.

I timed myself with a stopwatch and included the time required to jack the car at each corner. Obviously, if you're using a lift the time will be less. I was also very careful not to scratch the wheels while removing the lugs and careful not to scratch the calipers while removing the pins. If that doesn't matter to you, you could probably knock off another 10 minutes. Otherwise, I just don't see how you could do this job on 30 minutes if you truly capture all of your time from the moment you start to jack to the time you drop the last wheel. (not to mention setup & putup time!)

I should mention the job is not difficult at all; its straight forward with the directions on this forum. The only hitch I ran into was a couple of the pad's back plate had separated and stuck to the caliper. They were easily removed with a flathead screwdriver. One other helpful hint: the brake pad spring should come out freely once you remove the pins. If it doesn't its because the pads are holding it in place. If so, simply push the pistons back into the bores. You can use a spreader tool or as I found just use your hand. I was able to spread the pads on all four corner with my hand. Below are links to the tools I used. Good luck!

Punches & Hammer
http://www.harborfreight.com/5-piece...set-93111.html
- the 1/8 inch punch is a perfect fit to remove the pins without scratching the caliper.

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-oz-st...mer-95930.html
- this small hammer gives you plenty of room to hammer the pins back into the caliper and you can control it easily(less risk of scratching caliper)

Spreader Tool
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalog...brake+spreader
- really didn't need this as I was able to use my hand easily

Jack & Pucks
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-ton-l...ump-61282.html
- perfect height, rapid pump,very smooth up and down but very heavy, not intended to be portable

http://www.rpidesigns.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=3424
- originally had plastic but returned. According to RPI, the plastic pucks are intended for lifts not jacks. He didn't trust them with floor jacks because of the slip angle which stresses the insert.

 

Great info! Thanks for sharing your experience with changing the brake pads.

Did you have any issues with bedding the new pads?

-M

 

I didn't. I simply pumped the breaks a few times and the pedal pressure returned. Before starting the job, I removed the top from the break fluid reservoir but no fluid ever came out while I compressed the pistons

 

Sorry misread the post. I thought you said bleeding. I ordered the pads withe prebed option. Not sure it's worth the extra money because the directions to bed are straightforward. It's more useful on the track pads because you don't waste any laps trying to bed the pads.

 

The Carbotech 1521 pad for street use does not require bedding.

 

Are you happy with the performance of the XP10 pad for HPDE use? I am going to track my Z51 and looking for all the info I can get. Did your caliper's get hot enough to effect their color, I am wondering because you said your rotors became warped? I know a member here who had his red caliper's turn a pink color because of heat.

 

I haven't used the xp10's yet. I don't have another hpde for a month or so. My calipers did not change color at all. I was surprised that the rotors warped so quickly. I didn't use the cooling ring that comes with the car. I might install at the next event.

Another thing I found interesting is my rear pads were worn more than my front pads. I suspect that's a result of the electronics being very active on the track. There were only a couple of sessions where I turned off traction control, etc.
In addition to pads, you will eat up tires! I only have one event left on my fronts, maybe two on the rears. Its an expensive hobby but a fun one!

 

Adam,

They had a squeak on my Z51 rotors until I took them out on the road and bedded them. I cleaned the rotors well and they only had about 1k miles on them at the time.

Just an FYI

Kevin

 

Thank you for posting up with all the links, I'm sure many will find it helpful.

One thing I would like to point out is that it is very difficult to warp rotors. More often than not people complain of warped rotors when the real problem is pad deposits on the friction surface. Corvettes in general, especially the C7, are very fast cars even in stock form. They are capable of putting a ton of heat into the brakes and doing proper cool down is absolutely essential to increasing the life and consistency of the brakes. If you come off the track without properly cooling the brakes and just park the car or come to a complete stop with your foot on the brake pedal, holding the pad to the rotor surface- the temperature of the rotor, if elevated, will cause the pad to leave a deposit. The next time you go to brake, you will ride over this deposit and feel a shudder (if you feel it in the steering wheel and the pedal, it's the fronts). Sometimes this is visible on the surface of the rotor, sometimes it is not.

Regarding the pads- XP10 may work alright for you depending on the tracks you run and the run groups you drive in but you may run into issues with fade and low pad life if you are pushing them towards the upper end of their operating temperature range. If Carbotech is your preferred brand then XP12, 20 or even 24 would be a more appropriate front compound. Cobalt XR1 or XR2 and Ferodo DS1.11 and DSUNO are other options that work well on this chassis.

-Matt M.

 

Based on what I've read, you're right Matt. My problem was I did another hpde before they were able to replace my rotors. At that point, it would've been very difficult to have them cleaned.

I always take a cool down lap at 3/10s where I don't have to use the brakes. I've never used the parking break during an hpde. I'm not sure what else I should do?

Hopefully the xp10s don't fade. I never experienced fade with the oem pads and I assume these should be even better on the track!

 

http://www.essexparts.com/learning-c.../swapping_pads

Check out this link. I know its not directly speaking about pad deposits but the same idea applies. When you get your more aggressive race pads you can swap those in and use the abrasiveness to scrape off the deposits. With the less aggressive OEM pads it will take longer for the deposits to be scraped off but eventually it happens if you street drive the car a lot. You could also have the rotors resurfaced for ~$10-20 per rotor at most places if you don't want to wait. You probably won't have too many issues with deposits with proper track pads but if you ever do just street drive them for a while to clean the rotors.

Because I haven't seen your rotors I don't know what kind of pad deposits they were. Do you have pictures of them by chance? They could have happened from being overheated on track or in the paddock if the brakes are still too hot when you park. Regardless more cool down is never a bad thing and the rotors will last longer with more cool down. My routine is to do the entire last lap like you (~3/10 trying not to use the brakes) then I do a lap or two around the paddock at 10-15mph before I come in and park. All said and done its 5-10 minutes of actual cool down after I'm done with my last hot lap on track. At tracks that are especially hard on brakes (Laguna Seca) I will do more cool down. I also roll the car a little every minute or so for the first couple minutes once parked so the rotor can cool more evenly. Otherwise most of the rotor cools while the spot in the hot caliper doesn't as much and it can cause stress on the rotor depending on the temperatures. I have noticed that my rotors started lasting about twice as long using my current routine compared to the days when I just came straight off the track and parked. I also had less issues with judder from pad deposits so hopefully that helps you out at least a little.

If you weren't having issues fading the OEM pads then you should be alright on XP10 for now. You are correct that they will be better on track than the OEM compound in just about every regard. Just be mindful that as you continue to progress as a driver and start picking up more and more speed you may start to have issues. You may or may not fade them but if you start experiencing more rapid wear rates then its time to move up