Brake Disc and Pad Bedding In And Care

After fitting new brake discs and pads we will have carried out a road test including initial "bedding in” of your brakes.To optimise the braking performance of new brake discs & pads you must allow for a further "bedding in" process as the new brake pads have to condition themselves to the brake discs on your vehicle. Generally by normal driving the brake pads will require approximately 200 miles to become fully conditioned. During this period we recommend that you avoid hard or aggressive braking. Caution: Excessive braking can cause the friction material to overheat too quickly resulting in the brake pad surface to glaze over or create high spots and wobble affecting the overall braking performance. 

ONGOING BRAKE CONDITIONING FOR LIGHT USE CAR 

If your car is used infrequently or does less than 10000 per year it may be wise to carry out periodic brake conditioning to help reduce the effect of corrosion build up on the friction surfaces. We recommend the following procedure once per month. Light braking from 50 mph down to 30 mph 3 times over a distance of 1 mile. 

VEHICLES WITH PARKING BRAKE SHOES INSIDE BRAKE DISC HUBS 

This type of parking brake arrangement suffers from a build up of corrosion on the parking brakes shoe/drum friction surface due to the parking brake only being applied when the vehicle is stationary. At routine service we will carry out a parking brake conditioning procedure consisting of driving at less than 20mph for 300m or so with the parking brake very lightly applied. This procedure helps to clean and condition the friction surface. It may be beneficial for this to be carried out more often and may be done yourself should you feel confident to do so, however, this should not be attempted with electrically operated systems. 

Obviously, care should be taken to observe road traffic and conditions while carrying out these procedures. Note: This information is the best advice given at the time and is subject to alteration, all advice is just that, ADVICE! No responsibility is accepted for misunderstanding or damage or harm howsoever caused.