Sonic
UberDork
6/12/23 10:40 a.m.
I had this problem with the in laws car after they had a shop do the brakes with likely cheap pads. The cure was new rotors and new quality brake pads (Raybestos element3). The cheap pads left an uneven transfer layer that was even visible to the eye, it couldn't be wiped off from additional tries at re-bedding. Same car with same use and drivers has has no problems since the pad change.
That's good feedback sonic and it was what I was afraid of.
In general, I know that people like us will do things like bed brakes on street pads, but I am highly doubtful that anyone from dealership techs down to the local midas techs go out and bed the brakes after replacement on all vehicles they service. Or even brand new vehicles off the manufacturing line - does someone go out and bed the brakes on 70 vehicles an hour? I would expect that bedding isn't necessary on street brakes with street pads since it should happen during normal driving. Am I totally mistaken on this?
Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:
Or even brand new vehicles off the manufacturing line - does someone go out and bed the brakes on 70 vehicles an hour?
if they do, they do it in secret.
Do you bed the brakes in when new? Ever since I started following this guide: Bedding in Brakes I have not had warped rotors, or pulsing brakes, its been probably 10 years or more. As a bonus the kids liked riding along for it.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:
Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:
Or even brand new vehicles off the manufacturing line - does someone go out and bed the brakes on 70 vehicles an hour?
if they do, they do it in secret.
It would explain why the forte brakes are so damn terrible.
I had similar problems with our 2007 F-150. I bought standard pads and rotors from O'Reilly. Every time I drove it in the mountains the brakes would start pulsing and it didn't matter how gentle/hard I was on the brakes. I only put about a thousand miles on those brakes before I decided I needed to replace them.
I bought Raybestos Specialty Truck rotors and Performance Friction Carbon Metallic brake pads. They were a little more expensive but I haven't had any more issues with the brakes since I did it. It was well worth the money.
If you search on Rock Auto they have several categories of brake parts. At the bare minimum I'd look at the Premium pads and High Carbon rotors. They aren't THAT much more and they are much better quality than the cheaper parts.
thanks for all the help so far everyone, akebonos and new rotors are ordered. I'll keep everyone updated on the results.