Well, listen to the manufacturers and vendors for high-performance
pads/rotors:
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedintheory.shtml
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm
http://www.wilwood.com/TechTip/TechFaqs.aspx
(Under "Does my pad bedding process change at all if I have e-coated
rotors?")
I think the Stoptech article is the most informative.
The answer seems to be dependent on the pads you use, to an extent, your
common Napa passenger car pad is going to be designed to bed in during
normal driving more than a high end Hawk pad would.
Then you have pads with "break in compound" on them, like many of the
EBC pads have now -- I think that's a game changer if you have those
kind of pads.
I don't think the average person will see much of a difference by doing
this, unless they're doing a lot of towing or going down a long, steep
gradient for a long period, where they'll run in to "green fade" if the
pads haven't been used aggressively enough in normal driving to properly
bake off the resin.
I ran into this once in my wife's former Toyota Camry on this road:
http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/goingtothesunroad.htm
Very scary sensation, especially when you have kids in the car.
M.B.
On 09/22/2010 10:25 PM, Eric wrote:
>
>> I've also not been a big fan of "take it out and do hard braking"
>> to set the pads. Thats a sure fire way in my book to build up
>> excessive heat, glaze your disc and pad friction surfaces, and
>> warp nice new fancy rotors. Easy, normal braking is what I have
>> always used on new brakes I have services, and its what I
>> recommend to customers.
>
> So what started the "burn em up" routine? It's what I've always
> heard, and the theory behind it could make sense. But it could
> easily be bogus, too.
>
>
>
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