For those of you who have a separate set of brake pads that you use only for track days, how do you address the bedding-in procedure? Anyone have any sort of problems with brake chatter or anything of the sort? Thanks in advance for the replies!

 

i use carbotech pads and as long as you are changing to one of there other pads you don't need to clean your rotors. however you do need to bed the pads still. bedding i will be doing the night before a track day with runnes from 50/60 down to 35 adout 10 times till i get fad.

 

If your going to any sort of race/performance pad upgrade they need to be bedded in. Contact your manufacturer/dealer for specific directions. They all vary in one way or another.
You should also be turning/resurfacing or changing your rotors completely to get maximum performance. There is buildup from the old pads and it will keep you from getting the best possible braking. Your braking will be better, but not as good as it could be.
What actually does the braking is the pad material. It em-beds itself or "molecularly bonds" itself to the rotor surface. When you hit the brakes, the pad is essentially grabbing itself for maximum braking power. Is that "clear as mud"? Hope I helped.

 

You can also find info about Carbotech pads at www.AutoXCooper.com

 

I now use Hawk street pads and Hawk track pads. I typically try to bed in the track pads on the street a while before the event. Sometimes it winds up that I have to do it on track.

Switching rotors and street/track pads is overkill and not needed for most track pads. Refer to the brake pad manufacturers info regarding this. I often buy direct from Zeckhausen racing as they really know brakes very well and can offer lots of good insight as well as a full line up of street and track brake products. http://zeckhausenracing.com/

 

Penelope is referring to the Hawk HP and HPS pads which are NOT true track pads. They are a street/autocross pad. If you ran the Black or the Blue you would NOT want to run them on the street. Much to harsh for the street. Any true track pad is not street friendly. If your truly putting in an effort (speed) at the track you would overheat and wear thru any street/track pad. You can't have both, it doesn't exsist. I have looked and spoken extensively with PFC, Hawk, EBF and Carbotech and it doesn't exsist. Changing pads out is the only way to truly do it. If you run the same manufacturer street and track then you only have to swap out the pads, it's not hard. Don't you already change tires? Would you run your runflats at the track? Not if you were serious. Hoosiers, Toyo, BFG, Etc... You would run a performance tire. It's no different for pads. They don't cost that much, and if you use them in the proper application they last longer and SAVE you money. We have run entire season's on one set of race pads and I have had the same set of street pads on my car for 2 years with more than 50,000 miles on them.

 

minimike1: i have preached the same thing too many times. one set of pads won't do it if one is tracking their car hard. street tires won't keep up w/ r-comps. that said, beginning track enthusiasts can enjoy themselves w/out undue wear with both dual purpose tires and pads. when one decides to go to r-comps, add track-only pads......

 

What they said.

 

My question wasn't what pad works for the street and track, it was about bedding in procedures when changing out pads for the track from your street pads.

 

you are absolutely correct.....we digressed.....to answer your question.
if possible, i put them on a day early. normal driving w/ track pads will wipe out all trace of your street pads. if conditions permit, 6-7 hard slows from as fast as i can go on public streets to near stop. keep moving, however. sometimes i just put them on at the track when i put on the r-comps. i just brake earlier (although still hard) for a couple of laps. brake hard at 250 for example, if my normal braking point is 200. by then i can stop/slow normally for my track pads. i don't sweat it too much....

 

Sorry littletimmy, we did get off on a tangent. What pads are you running? Different manuf.'s have different bedding procedures. I would do it at the track, it is hard to achieve the temp's you need on the street to properly bed in your pads. If your running a street/track pad you could probably do it on the street. Bean is right about getting the old material off. If you want the pads to perform their absolute best, you want to get the track material on the rotor so it can adhere to itself. This creates the best level of braking that the pad is capable of achieving. Again, ask your Manuf. the best way to do it.

 

Bean- what brake pads are you running?

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I thought you had just misunderstood my question. I figured I could probably bed the pads in on any given drive to the track, considering my closest track is at least an hour, hour and a half away.

 

i have a TCE 13" bbk. i run willwood poly h's up front on the track and BP-20's on the street. on the rear i run porterfield R4 at the track and stock or cheap equivalent on the street (currently mintex).