Brake Installs – Tips, tricks and products

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Brakes are one of the more important areas of your motor vehicle. A vehicles braking system must be maintained to a high level, and always filled with quality products, right from the simple degreasers and lubes used through to the rotors, pads and fluid. Remember if you decide to take tools to your car’s braking system, make sure it is done under the guidance of a professional if you’re new to it.

The range of products that will be used in order to upgrade the RX8s brake system consists of:

Bendix

- Bendix Brake/Parts Cleaner and Degreaser. Bendix offer a wide range of quality lubes and degreasers specifically designed to work on a cars’ braking system. As there are rubber seals and important dust boots that can perish when coming into contact with particular chemicals, it is important you use specific cleaners and greases that will not breakdown rubbers. Failure of these rubbers can result in brake failure.

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- Bendix Ceramic High Performance Synthetic Lubricant. When it comes to greasing particular areas of the braking system, such as piston sliders, you must use specific grease that is designed to function around high temperatures and will not perish any rubber items. This brake-specific lube can be used anywhere on a car’s braking system to prevent corrosion and reduce pad noise. In fact, Bendix high performance brake lube is renowned for its anti-squeal properties.

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- DBA T3 4000 series rotors. DBA’s 4000 series of rotors bring affordable track-bred technology into the wheel wells of your car. Constructed from high carbon alloyed iron, these sweet looking rotors are designed to be punished and heated up to extreme levels. Another cool feature is the thermo-graphic temperature monitoring system which can be seen around the side of the rotor. There are heat paint markings that change colour under specific temperature ranges, enabling a driver to keep their braking performance in check


- Bendix Ultimate rear brake pads. Bendix’ Ultimate line of pads are at the higher end of the scale. They offer a premium level of performance coupled with low noise and low dust technology. With their higher operating temperatures, they will work hand-in-hand with the slotted DBA rotors.

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The first step is ensuring that the vehicle is located on even ground and is safely elevated. To make lives easier, always slacken the wheel nuts prior to jacking the vehicle up. Make sure that you have a set of jack stands to rest the vehicle on (place stands on either the marked section of the sill or control arms / cross member). It never hurts to leave the jack under the car too, just as a safety precaution (if space permits).

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When removing a caliper, you will have to wind or press the caliper piston back into its sleeve. As this will cause pressure to build up in the hydraulic brake system, removing the cap from the master cylinder ensures any excess pressure can escape freely. Also, placing a rag over the top will catch any excess brake fluid that may weep out (it is not good for your paint!)

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Remove the existing disks from the hubs, and use an impact screwdriver to remove any screws if your disks are not floating. Also, it is always handy to keep a bottle of rust penetrating spray on-hand as bolts and screws around the braking area tend to seize. The last thing anyone wants is to round or ruin the head of an important bolt.vvvv

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Cleaning is essential. Bendix recommend that you spend the time removing any dirt, grit and buildup that may reside under the disks. Use a small square of 1000-ish grit sandpaper to sand back any raised areas or surfaces. Fitting the disk to an uneven surface can cause the disk to spin untrue and wear prematurely.

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Again, more cleaning, Don’t be afraid to clean all shims and metal backing plates with brake cleaner prior to installation. Bendix Brake/Parts Cleaner and Degreaser dries quickly, evaporating residue free, leaving a nice surface to apply grease to.

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Once every component is clean and the disk is secured to the hub, check the pads are correct and fit the calipers. Try not to place paw-prints on everything, as you would have just cleaned it all! All metal shims and backing plates should not be forgotten, so double check that they are all intact and in-place.

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Afterwards, sit back and enjoy your hard work! Bedding in procedures can be found on either the brake pad manufacturers’ website, or generally inside the box they came in. Always make sure you follow the bed-in procedure as closely as you can, as doing it incorrectly can cause premature pad wear or even worse, glaze pads and fresh disks.

Click HERE to visit the Bendix homepage for further tech info regarding their products

AND

Click HERE to visit the DBA homepage