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Sarra
03-12-2007, 02:53 AM
I think some of you remember me posting about going down steep hills and getting my brakes glowing on my BE, and how I was inquiring about upgrades.

That was on the BE. With my BK, which is much nicer, I've been much more relaxed with it. Think of the BE as my Fast and Furious car, the BK is my Slow and Serious car. I have fun in it, but I don't use quite the excess I did with the BE. Plus, there's a lot of gravel on the roads still, and therein lies my newest problem.

I've been accumulating gravel in my brakes. I haven't pulled anything yet, but I've been getting rocks in the rotors, either between the pad and rotor, or the dust guard and rotor. Well, it seems to be mostly between the pad and rotor, because now, when I go to stop, not much happens. I haven't seriously baked these brakes, so the pads should be good. I do get a grinding sound. I don't get that "OMG, find a fire extinguisher, your brakes are on fire!" smell, they just... Make noise, and don't work.

Should I pull the calipers and clean the pads, or are my pads a loss? I do have a can of brake clean, I'm hoping I can put the car up on jacks, pull the wheels, then pull the calipers, and lay the pads out and spray them down and they'll be okay...

How can I prevent gravel from the roads from getting in my brakes, and remember, I'm getting gravel in them regardless of if I'm driving 10 mph or 55 mph.

My BE had 15" wheels, and I never had this problem with it. I also had mud flaps, and I didn't have fender liners in the front... A part of me wants to blame the horrible rock in brake problem on the 16" wheels, but I know that's not it. =\

rougeben83
03-12-2007, 12:44 PM
pull the pads, check if there's rocks imbedded in them. Check your rotors too, rocks will score them.

Get new pads. I would suggest getting something like slotted rotors to keep rocks from junking up the pads.

Huffer
03-12-2007, 01:26 PM
How will slotted rotors help you avoid gravel inbetween the pad & rotor?

Only solution I have is to stay off gravel roads, and maybe you should consider a 16" with less "open face".

The 15" reduces the amount of space available inside the wheel for gravel to bounce around, and depending on the grade size of the gravel, it might have actually made a difference.

d1giPhux
03-12-2007, 01:42 PM
The only fix would be spinners... yes. :lol:

rougeben83
03-12-2007, 05:59 PM
The slots keep the rotor pad contact surface clean; hopefully it'll dislodge some of the larger chunks of pebbles and other junk that happens to get in between there.

Sarra
03-12-2007, 09:12 PM
pull the pads, check if there's rocks imbedded in them. Check your rotors too, rocks will score them.

Get new pads. I would suggest getting something like slotted rotors to keep rocks from junking up the pads.

I'd get new rotors, but I'm planning on either selling the stockers if they're in good enough condition, or throwing them away if not, and putting larger brakes on.


How will slotted rotors help you avoid gravel inbetween the pad & rotor?

Only solution I have is to stay off gravel roads, and maybe you should consider a 16" with less "open face".

The 15" reduces the amount of space available inside the wheel for gravel to bounce around, and depending on the grade size of the gravel, it might have actually made a difference.

werd

I'd get slotted rotors only if I was doing something more hardcore, like autox, road racing, or driving consistantly in slushy snow consistantly.

My BE had the 1993 Turbo 15" wheels, and to this day, I regret not having them swapped over to the Wagon when I got it. If I can find a set of 15" wheels and tires that would fit, I would switch over in a heartbeat.

I haven't been driving on gravel roads, it's the gravel they've put on the roads to help with driving on ice/packed snow. Now the snow melted, but road crews haven't cleaned the roads yet.

Sarra
03-16-2007, 11:53 PM
Well, I managed to pull everything apart, it took some serious work. Wow, my front calipers are rusting really bad, there's rust in the pistons. =\ The brackets don't look so good either... Excuse to upgrade. :p

subba
03-17-2007, 07:35 AM
The only fix would be spinners... yes. :lol:
lol

Sarra
03-17-2007, 07:36 PM
I'll install electronic spinners, they spin super fast when stopped, but are completely static when going 55 mph. :p

OUTBACKWBEER!
03-23-2007, 01:10 AM
I swap my 15" offroad setup and 16" wrx wheels (street) and go up on gravel all the time and never had problem .

I suggest better pads such as PBR Metal Masters... you'll thank me later.....!
I got mine from www.get-primitive.com (http://www.get-primitive.com) I crew for Paul...so I know they are rally proven...!!!

Slotted is really overkill unless you race...Slotted rotors are to remove glazing caused by heavy braking .Therefore leaving deposits on the pad...giving you brake fade...


I also recommend removing the ABS fuse if equipped for any off pavement travel...ABS is only designed for pavement and hinders braking offroad...you'll thank me again...later...
You'll only get a an ABS light on ....while driving....Then plug the fuse back in and turn the ignition off and restart ...the light will go off...your ready for pavement again...

Sarra
03-23-2007, 09:10 PM
I swap my 15" offroad setup and 16" wrx wheels (street) and go up on gravel all the time and never had problem .

I suggest better pads such as PBR Metal Masters... you'll thank me later.....!
I got mine from www.get-primitive.com (http://www.get-primitive.com) I crew for Paul...so I know they are rally proven...!!!

Slotted is really overkill unless you race...Slotted rotors are to remove glazing caused by heavy braking .Therefore leaving deposits on the pad...giving you brake fade...


I also recommend removing the ABS fuse if equipped for any off pavement travel...ABS is only designed for pavement and hinders braking offroad...you'll thank me again...later...
You'll only get a an ABS light on ....while driving....Then plug the fuse back in and turn the ignition off and restart ...the light will go off...your ready for pavement again...

I never had problems when I had 15" wheels on my BE. ;)

Well, after normal driving, I'm getting bad fade, but that's probably due to the massive amount of crap that's been getting stuck between the rotors and pads. having slotted rotors would probably help with that...

I never mess around with the ABS. The ONLY time it ever comes on is when driving around on ice with bald summer tires. I've never had the ABS come on while driving on dirt roads, or on pavement. If I did serious driving on backroads, then I might.

I did get new tires, so I've been having fewer problems, but my brakes are still not quite up to par, and the calipers look like crap.