Hi Scott:

Bill & Greg offered some great input on that and I'd like to make a few more points since I spend a lot of my time solving such problems for people.

As everything in this world is Cause & Effect, brake problems may be generally classified into 3 categories:

Overheated Pads
Overheated Fluid
Overheated Rotors

As you already know, all of these things are interrelated and must be considered individually and as a whole. Any components that are operating beyond their design range will cause all of the above problems and the net result is brake failure, just when you don't need it.


Specifically, all street & racing brake pads operate within the design engineer's parameters and this is why there are so many race pads, even from the same manufacturer. Matching your brake operating temperatures to the correct pad is part of what a race engineer does, and your brake component provider should be capable of doing the same thing for you.

If you are experiencing some brake problems, you must therefore know what your current brake operating temperatures are and the way to do that is by using the brake temperature indication paints & strips that are offered by AP, Alcon, Wilwood and others. Placing a strip on the side of the caliper and painting the outer edge of the rotors in one spot will tell you what peak temps your brakes are operating at.

Matching that number with the pads that you wish to use, OEM or otherwise, will tell you if you are going to have any issues. Going by "feel" or using past history to make predictions is not very scientific and given what's at stake when your fluid or pads suddenly boil or melt, is a reactive not proactive solution. You will get to know your bodyshop better than you might want, not to mention your Doctor.

I would strongly encourage anyone to avail themselves of such information and data to see whether they are close to pad or fluid failure, based upon their existing brakes and how they use them. At the very least, this will show you how effective good brake cooling is to these critical components.
--

Steve Weiner

Rennsport Systems

 

Steve

Seems like the usual serving of sensible advice .......... would you know of a source for the strips / paint ? I saw further details at:

AP Racing Web Page

But not sure where to get this kit from !

 

Hi Chris:

Several racing supply houses carry the temperature sensitive paints and strips.

Since there are several different temp ranges to choose from, you must know what range of products to order and use. This is partially based upon what pads you use, OEM or racing and what their temp range is supposed to be.

For example, Pagid Orange, Blue, Black (2 of them) and Yellows all operate in different and overlapping tempature ranges so one would buy the proper product that would match up to the maximum rated temperature for the pads in use.

Pegasus Racing
Essex Racing
B.R.I.T.S.

All these guys carry this stuff. Its SOP for the pros,.....

Hope this helps,
--
Steve Weiner
Rennsport Systems

 

Steve-
In your opinion, what are the advantages/disadvantages of measuring brake temps with a probe and/or infared gauge vs. the temp paints. Thanks

 

Hi Belz:

Well sir, I have a probe and just use that for tire temps and I do use my Rayco infared thermometer quite extensively.

The main (and big) advantage to the strips & paints checking brake temps, or anthing else for that matter is that they will record PEAK temps. You will not see that when the car rolls off the track and is checked with the infared or probe units.

In this instance, I much prefer the strips and paints as the best method to observe and record the peak component temperatures and use the other instruments as a maintenance tool. Using your infared unit to compare left-to-right temps will help confirm that everything is even and nothing is dragging,.....
--
Steve Weiner

Rennsport Systems

 

Steve,

Why is all this brake analysis necessary? I thought that's what the runoff areas were for at the end of the straights.

 

good one.

 

JC:

I agree,......

Some years back, a customer brought in a 76 930 that someone has installed a 934 (485HP) engine in it and retained the stock brakes.

Damned scary!!! That car positively needed a parachute to stop. Cheaper than Big Red's, too.
--
Steve Weiner
Rennsport Systems