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I did a 4-wheel brake job about 7,000 miles ago, put all 8 new Raybestos pads on, turned all 4 rotors, and did a fluid change.

I drive pretty normally most of the time, other times I like to have fun But nonetheless, I still don't use my brakes that hard. I even make sure I let off completely at stop lights to avoid warping them.

Yet already, it wobbles quite a bit when I touch the brakes at about 60, and I'm already hearing some squeaking too. Is it possible that the pads I bought are just garbage (which would really piss me off b/c they're the most expensive ones Autozone had )? Maybe I should switch to a different pad and turn the rotors one more time.

Any thoughts?

I've found turned rotors on other cars (never bothered on mine) to only last a few weeks even with normals driving their normal cars. I used to ruin brake rotors every 6 mos until I got these cryo rotors.

Steve

I had my rotors turned before and they started warping pretty quick too...

After that, I just got some new ones from AutoZone and they have been alright.... couldn't tell you how many miles are on them now but they've got a good amount. They pulsate just a little but not very bad

Andrew

did you bed the pads in properly?. You might try sanding the rotors & pads to get rid of pad material, and then re-bed the pads.

When I pulled the car out of the garage, I went down the neighborhood street at a leisurely 45mph then got hard on the brakes until it stopped. I did this about 4 times. I was told that was the correct way to break in the pads for the first time. Is that correct?

From what I've read you're not supposed to actually stop.

To bed mine in, I got up to 75 mph, then braked hard to 5 mph, then accelerated again for 30 seconds, then repeated four or five times. Then I drive around without using the brakes for a couple of minutes and then parked for an hour.

I was bedding in fairly hard ceramic pads, though; if I were doing normal pads I'd probably have only gone up to 50 mph or so.

I haven't had a single problem after ditching the stock Turbo pads for a WRX setup. I don't know what they did differently, but they seem to be much better.

Cryo treating can probably get the stockers up to par, if not better.

yeah I haven't had problems either after going to WRX setup. However my brake setup is way different....including cryo'd rotors.

My OEM WRX pads do the same thing. But when I swap in the Bobcat pads the problem clears up. I just thought that the wrx pads are junk.

The idea is to heat them up slowly at first by hitting the brakes lightly, and not actually stopping....

Then after they are heated up, you lay on them hard
Then drive at highway speeds to cool them off a little and lay on them hard again....

Not the exact steps, but thats the gist of it....

Im sure there are a bunch of other ways, but thats one I have heard of...

Andrew

you don't want to "lay" into them......you want good moderate pedal pressure, and you don't ever want to really stop.

Being the splurger that I am, I might get a set of carbon-metallic pads (which I've been told throw off almost NO brake dust), maybe turn the rotors again, since it's so cheap, then seat the pads as you all have suggested.

You can usually only turn the rotors a couple times before they go out of spec.

Steve

Just splurge and get 4 new rotors, all cryotreated. Then get some Carbotech Bobcats or something similar and bed them in as Vikash recomended.

After several attempts at using aftermarket brake pads (and then swearing I'd never do it again!) I've resolved myself to ONLY use the Subaru OEM brake pads. (I've driven Subaru's since '81) I don't know what they do to them or what material they use, but they DON'T squeal! They may cost a little(?) more, but they come with all the quality shims and clips to properly restore your brakes and they don't squeal.

With regard to rotors- How are you mounting your wheels? Many of my fellow SVX'ers have concluded that you can prematurely warp the rotors if you over-torque or unevenly torque the lug nuts. Apparently, uneven tightness of the lug nuts will 'twist' the rotor and aggravate the prospects of rotor warpage. Always use a torque wrench set to the proper spec to tighten your lug nuts!

-Mark

I dunno... I don't mind brake squeal. It's pretty much purely a "cosmetic" issue, isn't it?

My EBCs never squeal, but I KNOW EVERYONE SAYS THEY SUCK.

I'd just get the fronts cryotreated and save some money. The rears don't get enough of a work out to need it. I replaced the original rear rotors last summer only because they looked like ass and I was changing the pads and adjusting the parking brakes anyway.

Steve

I've pondered this a bit more, and I find it simply impossible that my rotors are already warped after only about 5k miles. Something is wrong somewhere.

So I'm going to investigate the possibility of a sticking caliper. Sometimes when I get off the highway after an extended period, it takes excessive effort to stop the car, like the brakes are extremely hot. Also, I'm having the slightest vibration at about 60-70, not enough for a tire to be out-of-balance, but enough to feel like maybe the brakes are applied on the warped rotor just a tiny bit.

I will probably pull the wheels and look at the rotors, and if I find one that's more warped than the others, I'll know what's going on.

No stuck caliper, the rotors really were warped.

How embarrassing that I have two cars and still need to borrow someone else's to do the brake job (the XT is still hidden in the garage). I had the front rotors turned and put some el cheapo pads on there, $20 for the fronts. I left the back alone.

Bedded them in right, went up to about 45mph, got on em hard until about 5, then coasted for a while. Then got a chance to do it a couple times from 60, so they're seated good already. They feel fantastic, these new pads seem to respond the slightest bit faster.

I also bled some of the old fluid out, coz it was so full of moisture that the BRAKE light would stay on all morning until the next time I drove it.

I went cheap this time, because I'm really just prepping the car for the Dragon. Upon returning, I'll probably get 4 new rotors and have the fronts cryo'ed, carbon metallic pads, and I might have a source on RS calipers, not sure yet though.

Cool. Thanks for that link Josh. Seems more now like it was a poor pad choice rather than warped rotors...

Got some investigating/experimenting to do this summer now