Bedding New Rotors
 

i found plenty of info on bedding pads, plus they all come with instructions usually, but i havent been able to find anything about bedding new rotors, other than it should be done and its best if its done at a different time than the new pads. im getting ready to put on new rotors and new pads and am wondering what the recommended method is for bedding everything in. pads then rotors? rotors then pads? do the rotors get the same procedure as the pads? any help would be appreciated. if it makes a difference, the pads are carbotech ax6s and the rotors are the blanks from rockauto.com. :cheers:

When I did my Carbotech AX pads last year they said to use new rotors with the new pads. Something about needing the pad compound on the face of the rotor to make the pads work better. Call them and they'll explain it better than I can. I did it and my pads and rotors are wearing perfectly.

:iagree: I bedded my new Carbotechs and ATE rotors at the same time. 6 to 8 60mph to 10mph stops and then 6 to 8 90 mph to 10 mph hard stops till the brakes and rotors were hot then put it away to cool. Everything is working great now.

Here's some info from the Tire Rack and DBA websites:

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/tech/....jsp?techid=85

http://www.dba.com.au/2006/techdocs/T017.asp

I recently put on new DBA rotors and Hawk pads. The big caution from DBA about the rotors was that they come with an anti-rust stuff on them for shipping. The instructions said to make sure you got all that stuff off the rotors before installing them or you could mess up your pads.

The procedure was to wash the rotors with soap and water. They said spraying brake cleaning compound on them wasn't good enough - instead, make sure you used soap and water to completely clean all the shipping goo off the rotors.

What your rotor manufacturer may have put on to inhibit rust during shipping, I don't know, but there may be something on the rotor surface that you might need to get off before doing the bedding process.

Bob :flag:

Stoptech has info on it also in their white papers I believe.

Rotors need to be brought up there peak operating temp slowly and brought back down slowly. Lots of ways to do it but you want to do light, then moderate then heavy stops then back to moderate then light again and then cruise to cool. Leave the car sit and make sure you roll the car every couple of minutes so you don't get hot spots.

If you are using the car for AutoX then you won't have to heat them up as much. For RR you will have to really get some heat into them.

Here is StopTechs info.
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...contents.shtml

I tried breaking the rotors in according to recommended procedures and also throwing new ones on at the track - saw so little difference in life that I stopped doing it. Granted, if they were 200 bucks a pop, I probably would try anything to milk a bit more life out of them...but they just aren't.

These are the instructions Carbotech includes with their brake pads.

New brake rotor bedding procedures:

Like brake pads, you must bed new rotors. The process is similar to bedding brake pads. Proper bedding will increase rotor life and make rotors more resistant to thermal cracking. Before installing new brake rotors (always install rotors in axle sets), be sure to thoroughly clean the rotors with clean wipes and brake cleaner. Make sure you completely remove any grease, surface resideue, and debris that might contaminate or damage the brake pads. Once the brakes are installed on the vehicle, perform the following steps:

1. Start with several near stops for the first two laps, with multiple stops per lap, while gradually increasing your speed and brake force with every stop (6-12 times per lap).
2. Next, do another two laps at normal speed followed by a cool down lap. The resulting gray coloration is from the pad material depositing a transfer layer of material into the micro-grooves of the rotor. This process is critical to achieving the best performance and life out of the rotor.
3. Stop the vehicle and allow the rotors to completely cool down to ambient temperature; not less than 30 minutes.

Used brake rotor bedding procedures:

If rotors have been previously used with Carbotech brake pads, then bedding the rotors again is not necessary. If rotors were previously bedded using a different manufacturer's brake pads, the used rotors must be reconditioned (turned). Only recondition rotors that are in very good condition and meet the manufacturer's miminum specifications. After rotors are reconditioned and installed with new Carbotech pads, follow the above procedure for new rotors.

WARNING: Do not "drag" your brakes by ddriving around the track with continuous pressure applied to your brake pedal. Dragging the brakes does not bed brake pads or rotors properly and can severely affect the performance and life of both your brake pads and rotors.

thanks to everyone for the posts. i was happy to see that carbotech included info on what to do with new rotors in their instructions so i will be following those as best i can. thanks agian.