Video: How to Bed-in Brake Pads and Rotors
 

Hi Guys,
A couple of months ago I posted a link to an article I wrote about how to choose brake pads. I’ve received a steady stream of emails and comments from forum members who benefited from that piece, so I decided to address another commonly discussed brake topic, bedding-in pads and rotors. Understanding how to properly prepare your brakes is critical for getting the most performance and longevity out of your components. Since visuals go such a long way towards adequately explaining this topic, I decided to use video in addition to a written article.

As with my prior article, this video is not intended to promote any one brand of brake pad, rotor, or brake system. The objective is to teach enthusiasts how to get the most out of whatever brake system they have on their car. My hope is that you’ll get more enjoyment out of your car, you’ll save money on brake parts, and we’ll all have fewer repetitive topics to wade through on this forum.

A few notes: When you click the link, please be patient and give the video a few seconds to load and buffer before viewing it (it’s quite long and high res). Also, if you only want to see the actual bed-in procedure or have a slow internet connection, there are links to shortened and low-bandwidth versions of the video below the main video. Finally, if you find this information useful, please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the video page. Thanks, and we hope you enjoy it!
Jeff

http://www.essexparts.com/learning-c...rs/post/Bed-in

Something I always wondered is why don't the car manufacturers bed-in brake pads? I myself bed-in pads when I make a change but have asked myself, " Self why don't they do this when they make the car"?

sexy sounding corvette man. nice.

good video too. my younger brother works at a bmw repair shop and absolutely refuses to listen to me when i tell him the proper way to bed in pads. he says bmw states to not do any heavy braking for the first xxx miles. i tried to tell him how to properly bed in pads and he thought i was talking out of my ass and considered it absolutely ridiculous.

i posted the video on his facebook. he is sure to blow a gasket. :)

Never mind

THat was a REALLY excellent video.

Thanks for posting this incredibly useful video. Can't wait to try this procedure out!!!

Damn, awesome vid, but one question... (flame suit on) Can you Re-bed used pads? Because towards the end of the video (~23:00) you say to redo it? I assume I can do this to my current brake pads that arent new? And When I get new brake pads should I turn the rotors? or will I be okay using this procedure on just new pads?

You can rebed used pads as many times as necessary. Sometimes a rebedding can cure a mild case of uneven pad deposits from overheating the brakes. The adherent layer of pad material on the rotor face is in a state of equilibrium. During normal operation it is constantly being abraded/eroded away and deposited at the same time. It is only when "abnormal" operation occurs that the rotor face gets out of equilibrium, like with a brand new pad, new rotor face, or an episode of exceeding the thermal limits of the pad.

Great video. I wasn't aware that bedding-in (which I now do religiously) also helps reduce or eliminate brake squeal.

just got new pads and rotors, my steering wheel shakes a lot when i'm coming to a stop, will bedding-in my pads help get rid of this vibration?......overall video was very helpful, thanks

Great video!
Worked perfectly for me