New Wilwood Brake Question

Clois Harlan · #1 (**permalink**) 06-06-2005, 11:04 AM

Dean Lampe dropped his new Hurricane car off at my house yesterday for me to help him with the shake down while he flew out to Sacramento. Everything has fallen into place except for his brakes. Mind you the car might have 25 miles on it. Dean is running Wilwood 12" disc on the front and new IRS T-Bird disc on the back. He uses Tilton pedals w/ the balance bar for his front and rear bias plus the clutch pedal. His m/c is Wilwood and reserviors are Girling and all of his lines are 3/16" stainless. The pedal is firm with no fade but the pads do not seem to be grabbing as we expected. Is this a case of the pads not being burnished in yet or is it an issue with the balance bar not being properly adjusted. Note: He is not using a residual proportioning valve in his brake system.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated since we are two days away from our first track event.

Thanks in advance.

Clois

Mike Simard · #2 (**permalink**) 06-06-2005, 01:38 PM

Which grade pads does it use? If it's the basic T cold stopper grade that comes with some of their kits it should have high stopping friction when brand new. If it's any of the other grades you could use a proper bedding cycle to get that film on the rotors.

Clois Harlan · #3 (**permalink**) 06-06-2005, 02:03 PM

Thanks Mike,

I am not sure which pads Dean is running but I am guessing they are the standard pads that came with the 140-2129 Wilwood kit.

Clois

rdorman · #4 (**permalink**) 06-06-2005, 03:00 PM

Clois, check and see that the balance bar is roughly centered (I am assuming that the system was designed balanced) and make sure that the balance bar is free to move when the peddle is fully depressed. After, are the rears locking first? If so turn it toward the front until the fronts lock first. A spectator standing at a safe distance in the braking zone makes it a lot easier to tell which wheels are locking first. I would suspect he will run into pad fade on the T compound pads at an open track, just beware! The T compound should work well out of the box for everyday and light (as in autocross) type work.
Rick

2KWIK4U · #5 (**permalink**) 06-06-2005, 03:20 PM

Clois,
That is the same Wilwood part # I'm running, and it comes with "Q" pads. I went through their recommended bedding cycle and was very disappointed at the stopping power. The setup is the same as you described except I'm using a Wilwood pedal assy. w/balance bar, and drilled and slotted on all four corners.. I checked pressures and it was good, changed MC's, adjusted B/B every way possible and couldn't lock the front brakes. However, after about 300 miles of everyday driving, the brakes gradually got better and better, to the point that they feel like they should now. I though I may have messed up bedding them but it may be the Q compound? May not been able to build enough heat in them, just don't know.

Brad W.

ERA Chas · #6 (**permalink**) 06-06-2005, 04:20 PM

Might I suggest you remove the pads and tape a sheet of 40 to 80 grit paper to your flat workbench and lightly scuff the pads on the surface. Also put a slight bevel on the pad edges. Can't hurt anything and sometimes helps this sort of situation with out switching pads.
It's an hour of your time but may save pad replacement unless heavy track use is planned.
My .02, good luck,

D-CEL · #7 (**permalink**) 06-06-2005, 05:10 PM

Clois,

I have tried many times to get the "TAN" pads to work, but have never had any luck. I have tried them I many different cars (late model Mustang's, Camaros, Hondas and a Viper with Wilwood kits/parts) and have never had acceptable performance.

My two favorite compounds are the "D" & "E".

For a "street" car, I like the "D" best as it has better cold performance with reasonable fade resistance. The "E" has a higher fade temp, but most of my customers (friend's) like the better tip-in and lower pedal effort of the "D"

I run the Wilwood Superlite 6's with a "D" pad on my Mustang and love them.

D-cel
(Jason)

Mike Simard · #8 (**permalink**) 06-07-2005, 05:26 AM

I also run the "Q" pads on the street, they do seem to have slightly less braking torque than I would expect. When I was swapping pads alot I did notice that when replacing T's with E's without bedding the torque was much lower. A good bedding cycle fixed that.
D-CEL, are the D's discontinued? I tried to find them on Wilwoods site: http://www.wilwood.com/BrakePads/003-DESC/index.asp

Clois Harlan · #9 (**permalink**) 06-07-2005, 08:13 AM

Thanks everyone I will pull the pads and scuff them up tonight and see if that helps other wise I have a extra set of HAWK Replacement pads of my own that I might drop in and try and see if that compound is better. I am glad to know we are not fighting a battle that hasn't been fought before.

Clois