Der ABT

i think its your 3.0....its too strong for the car.
you should give it to me...

Do you set up your pads before braking zones....just a little tap on the brakes in case of any pad chatter/backoff

i bring up the heat issue cause his wheels are barely a year old and have gone from the buckley black to purplish gold....that takes some heat to do that...and it was the rears that did it first....thats what got me thinking something was dragging/stuck on...

ill look at some vids but i dont think your on the brakes longer than normal...least not from what i remember at VIR but that was only one corner...

paradisenb

Frank, your issues are not normal and should be correctable. In four years, with my SC, I have rebuilt the front calipers twice, not because they were leaking, but for routine maintenance. I have never had to do the the rears. I bleed them after each event, usually pushing a quarter to half liter through the system. In the winter I will push a full liter.
I know from our conversation you use an assistant, I do both - Motive and assistant. Both ways work, I prefer an assistant. I change pads at 50%. Fronts are usually good for 2 weekends, rears go 5-6.
I think your brake system and that of the factory 82-83 Euro SCs are exactly the same.
If I were in your situation, I would install brake cooling ducts, change the pistons all around and rebuild with Porsche parts. (I buy my rebuild kits from Pelican) With those things done you may need to adjust at your braking style.

FrankyV

I am using the FTE rebuild kits sold by Pelican and new ATE calipers.

FrankyV

Thanks for all the good ideas, I am planning to try a lot of them and will report back after Mid Ohio.

Astroman

Yes, good advice. I definitely do this too. It makes a big difference at certain tracks like Road America where the rumbles are big.

Plus, it fakes out that pesky competitor who may be filling your mirrors!

Sean F

did you replace all the calipers

dbryant61

Wow, that's a lot of pads. I ran one set of PFC 97s in 2010 (17 days) and one set in 2011 and 2012 up through Road Atlanta. Me-thinks you doth brake too much.

FrankyV

Yes, both of the rears were replaced this year with new ATEs and each one has been rebuilt at least once using FTE kits.

Dude, are you running them down to the backing plate? That is crazy long pad life.

Sean F

Replace the front calipers. I chased this exact problem for 2 years. Did everything you did. Didn't go away until I put new front calipers in. No sign of leaking or any problems with them. They were just the last thing I changed because I ran out of other things to change.

dbryant61

Nope. Probably to about 1/3 of the original thickness. The pads do function as a heat sink, so less pad = less heat sink. This was a problem before I put brake cooling backing plates on. Back then I had to rebuild the calipers about every 5-6 weekends. Now I rebuild them about once a year. And forget the dust seals - they just burn off or disintegrate.

dbryant61

That makes great sense. Front calipers not functioning well causes more pressure to go to the rear.

Astroman

I agree Frank... Don, I've never heard of such a thing...

I usually replace my pads every other weekend... sometimes every weekend depending on the race... I never go to Atlanta or Road America without brand new pads... 125 mph downhill threshold braking zones stress the system (and me) just a little bit...

FrankyV

I was planning to rebuild them, and only replace them if the piston or cylinder was out of whack. Do you think I should just skip the rebuild and go straight to new calipers?

Astroman

If the piston or cylinder was out of whack, you would either be leaking fluid or one of the pistons would be sticking/frozen (which would manifest as bad unequal pad wear).

I would buy new pistons before buying new calipers.

Matt Romanowski

Buy the Centric kits from RockAuto.com. They are 1/10 the price ($3.12 per caliper) and are made by the same people that do the StopTech brakes. Great kits and better quality rubber.