Breaking in the brakes

[inthedeck]

do you think that it could be because of the non-factory tires? Given that they provide a better stopping capability, they heat generated from braking may have caused this one caliper to stomp a little harder than the rest? Maybe another idea is that the tires weren't balanced properly, and that caused this as well? Just a couple of random thoughts... later, and sorry to see that happen...are they going to replace the rotor? i.

[SUBE555]

I very seriously doubt any of the first two contributed to it whatsoever. For the first 300-400 miles I was for the most part, fairly light on the brakes. For what I was doing with braking, RE92's would have worked fine, just for braking (not handling.) Tire balancing shouldn't have anything to do withscoring of a rotor. The local dealership (the one I didn't buy from because I was having difficulties with their sales dept on striking a deal) said that nothing needs to be turned or replaced. I quote as the service ticket notes: 'ROTOR LOOKS NORMAL.' I'm rather perturbed. SoA will be getting a message this weekend or next.

[inthedeck]

yeah, I would tend to agree with the fact that you are not in the best of moods. Dunno what else could have done it, except a faulty pad...but they should definately replace it...I have never seen anything like that at all. Later, and good luck, i

[Deer Killer]

You got some debris stuck under the brake pad, or the caliper was assembled incorrectly. If it's the former subaru really didn't have anything to do with it, and it's probably gone now.

[ALS]

Hello, Braking questions. New to this forum and new to Subaru. Currently drive a '98 A4 1.8T. But am very impressed with the Legacy GT Ltd. I don't do autox or race but I like to stop and go fast. There is a Legacy GT at the local Subaru store and I drove it for the second time in two days today becuase I wanted to check out the button shifters on the steering wheel that I read about last night. I decided to do some hard braking tests today too. Afterward I decided I still don't want an automatic and I'm sure my A4 can stop a lot faster in emergency situations than the GT on dry pavement. The A4 is big boned at close to 4400lbs, I have a set of the Bridgestone Potenza G 009 's and original factory brakes. The front tires on the GT would skid if I braked too hard and the antilock brakes didn't seem to kick in like they will on the A4. The A4 has 1000 pounds on the GT and part of that weight is used for momentum (resisting braking) and part of it is used to make the tires grab harder. Does anyone know which force is stronger in this situation? I imagine the GT brakes would work better on the track because the lower weight would produce cooler brakes but in an emergency situation does the fat car win? I wasn't concerned about damaging the new GT brakes, not because there were already 300 miles on the car and they were probably already well beded, I just didn't know you needed to 'bed' new brakes until I started looking into posts on the GT's brakes. Very fortunate for the dealership. So, does the fat A4 brake faster or is just my imagination?

[Th3Franz]

Yeah Seth my brakes don't look like that.. with that deep groove in those pictures it just doesn't look right.. I still don't understand how a rock could get trapped and cause that.

[awdG35killer]

hm, i never though about breaking in brakes. over 2 years and 41k miles later, my pads are perfectly fine and have a few grand left. is it really a big deal, or just a safety precaution

[agctr]

Seth, there seems to be a few posts in here about the same thing, Im thinking its for sure a problem with the way the brake has been designed/installed on that side. Currently or prior, was there any vibration/sound/grinding at all? The thing that annoys me the most is, they know there is something wrong with it and they fob you off by saying there is nothing wrong with it. To add to this, they take this BS (look but they dont touch) attitude, meaning, if they took the brake apart and actually looked at it, well that would be something but when they apply this theory it just becomes very very frustrating to say the least. Mate, I would be ALL OVER SoA NOW, dont wait any longer and just talk to them ASAP, dont let it drag on or nothing will get done. I dont have time I hear you say, MAKE TIME FOR THIS ONE. Keep us up to date and good luck with it.

[SUBE555]

No vibration, just a nice solid groove in the rotor. I don't think I'll have a problem in my dealings with SoA. I know the right person to get ahold of, just catching that person on the phone isn't the easiest, but it will get done. The reason right now time had been tight is working 12hrs a day 7 days a week, hard to do much of anything, and that doesn't include 1-1/5hrs of travel time and being at work early to relieve someone. Don't worry, things will get taken care of, but the handlings with the local dealership leave more to be desire by the visit. I will get to the bottom of the warranty item and how the dealership has been dealing with customers, all through my contact at SoA. So back to brake break-in? ;)

[SUBE555]

UPDATE: Just got through to my contact, they'll do some digging to see if there are other claims of it as they mentioned it didn't sound normal. I'll hopefully have an update this afternoon or tomorrow with some sort of info.

[CombatCQB]

I don't think braking will be affected in anyway. I have heard of small stones getting caught between the pad and rotors. And I do think they should replace it just because it's a new car and under warranty. I don't think they can even machine the rotor, looks too deep.

[SUBE555]

I've had multiple stones caught between rotors at one time or another on previous vehicles. None have cause nearly this much wear. Nothing close. Oh well, I'll wait and see what they have to say, I did mention my happenings with the local dealership on some things too. They'll get to the bottom of it.