Seating my new Hawk HPS Pads

[korntera]

I just installed my new Hawk HPS pads both front and rear last night, the day before I had PDXtuning do Goodridge SS lines and ATE Superfluid. After changing the pads I warmed them up a bit then did 8 brake stops from 60-10 as quickly as possible, I then drove for 5 minutes without using the brakes at about 5-10MPH, got out checked the rotors and they were mostly blued. I then repeated the process but this time did 6 runs of 60-10 mph hard braking and then 2 more at 80-10MPH, then drove on the freeway for 10 minutes at 55 mph to cool them off. Rotors are now completly blued.

1. Is this the proper process for seating the pads to get the best performance out of them(occasionaly track days)

2. Is there something else I should do

3. If I get Hawk HPS+ for the front only for track days do I need to seat the pads like I did above before every track day? Or should I just stick with the HPS's all the time. A friend told me it takes about 500 miles before you are at peak performance on new pads.

[caramall2]

Swapping pads: I haven't had an issue if I'm in the same "family" (brand) of pads...I use Carbotech. I just pop in my race pads, give them a few hard brakes to make sure everything is good, and press. Not sure how the Hawks fare if you do this.

 

500 miles: I kind of doubt that...at least any real significant change. I pop in brand new track pads and go out and haul down from 110 mph on the track...I don't notice and significant improvement at 100 miles, 300 miles, 500 miles...etc. Of course you can go through a brand new set of pads in a few track days...a different world from people trying to get "40,000 miles" out of their street pad.

 

Track Pads: My 2 cents is if you're going to get dedicated track pads, get some true entry track pads, not "street/track" pads. I'm not that smart on Hawk compounds, but I personally would lean towards skipping HP+ and going straight to HT10 or 14. Of course I'd probably run HP+ on the street if it were me (I run Carbotech XP8 on the street, XP12 on the track). However, saying all that, it also depends on driving style, experience, and tires. If you have all-seasons on, HP+ will probably be ok. If you have top of the line Summer Performance, or R-compound, I'd go with the HT10 or 14. I'll let people more familiar with Hawk compounds chime in.

[vduber]

All i know is that my hps pads are annoying me more than anything. Sometimes they dont squeal after hard braking sometimes they squeal after light to moderate braking and frankly im happy w/ the performance just not the noise! Im going to pull of a wheel this week and make sure everythings fine. I didnt really bed in these pads because most of the "brake gurus" said there wasn't much need since they aren't agressive or track pads and that over time regular braking would be fine!

[trackhore]

All i know is that my hps pads are annoying me more than anything. Sometimes they dont squeal after hard braking sometimes they squeal after light to moderate braking and frankly im happy w/ the performance just not the noise! Im going to pull of a wheel this week and make sure everythings fine. I didnt really bed in these pads because most of the "brake gurus" said there wasn't much need since they aren't agressive or track pads and that over time regular braking would be fine!

Installation error. Tear everything apart, clean all the shims, pins, and slide points with brake cleaner. Apply Disc Brake Quiet to the back of the pads before you put the shims in place. My HPS pads runs dead silent on three care.

[vduber]

Of course I should re-grease everything after this correct? Should I grease between the pads and the shims because I only remember greasing the outside of the shims?

[trackhore]

1. Is this the proper process for seating the pads to get the best performance out of them(occasionaly track days)

2. Is there something else I should do

3. If I get Hawk HPS+ for the front only for track days do I need to seat the pads like I did above before every track day? Or should I just stick with the HPS's all the time. A friend told me it takes about 500 miles before you are at peak performance on new pads.

1. Pretty much. The driving at 5-10 mph after the first session should be more like your highway cooling session. 5-10 is too slow to really cool anything down.

2. If the pads are brand new from the box, I usually warm them up, then continue to do my 60-5 hard stops until I begin to get fade, then continue for at least 10 cycles or so. This ensures you cool the gasses out and get past the green fade stage.

3. HPS will work at the track, HP+ on the front will be better, a real track pad like an HT-10 (HP+ rear) will be even better. Your track pads will wear off the transfer layer from your street pads very quickly resulting in a bare rotor surface. Think sand paper. You will then need to bed in the track pads to get a new transfer layer of the track pad material onto the rotors. If you really know what you're doing and the pads aren't brand new, this can be done during the warm-up session at the track.

 

When you switch back to street pads, you should re-bed the street pads. I usually change my pads at home so my drive to the track in the morning is on cold pads and scribs off the street pad transfer layer. I warm up first session out and get a new transfer layer onto the rotors with the track pads as they become adhesive. On the way home, the pads are cold and become abrasive. They will quickly wear off the transfer layer creating a bare surface on the rotor. Once I swap the street pads in, I make a few quick stops after a warm-up to get them re-bed.

[trackhore]

Of course I should re-grease everything after this correct?

I clean all surfaces as clean as I can get them with brake cleaner (piston faces, pins, slide points, pad backs, shims, shim covers, etc..) I them dab three good spots of the orange good on the back of the pads, spread it out, lay the first shim on, spread a little more goo on, and then lay on the outter shim.

 

Some members have stated they runf the HPS w/o the OEM shims. I've always had the room in the caliper for them and never saw the need not to use them. Because my track pads are noisy regardless, I do not use shims for the track, nor do I use any type of grease or goo, it would just cook off anyway.

[vduber]

hmmmm, i dont think i used the oem shim, i believe I only used the one that came w/ the hps pads. I will try to do this during the week. Thanks for your help as im not the brightest bulb w/ brakes!

[trackhore]

hmmmm, i dont think i used the oem shim, i believe I only used the one that came w/ the hps pads. I will try to do this during the week. Thanks for your help as im not the brightest bulb w/ brakes!

No problem. Like I said, some have been able to get quiet operation without the shims, but I've always been able to get both the inner shim (rubbery coated and slotted) as well as the outer shim cover (silver, solid, snaps over the pad with some modification) in place.

[ultimakf7]

I clean all surfaces as clean as I can get them with brake cleaner (piston faces, pins, slide points, pad backs, shims, shim covers, etc..) I them dab three good spots of the orange good on the back of the pads, spread it out, lay the first shim on, spread a little more goo on, and then lay on the outter shim.

 

Some members have stated they runf the HPS w/o the OEM shims. I've always had the room in the caliper for them and never saw the need not to use them. Because my track pads are noisy regardless, I do not use shims for the track, nor do I use any type of grease or goo, it would just cook off anyway.

 

 

I've got the HPS's with the OEM shims on, but it was such a pain to get the calipers back on...

[trackhore]

I've got the HPS's with the OEM shims on, but it was such a pain to get the calipers back on...

If the pads are new, it can be tight to get both sets of shims in place because of the full pad thickness. I believe I used a screwdriver and pried off the plates glued to the back of the HPS pads. Can't be certain on that as I change pads on cars so often, I don't recall if the HPS had glued plates on them from the box.

[Paisan]

I concur with trackhores descriptions. If you think you'll need HP+ at the track, I'd just run HP+ on the street, that's what I do. With that said, when my LGT was stock, the HPS worked fine for me on track and I run the advanced group.

 

-mike