It's time for a brake pad change. I was planning getting this done within the next month or two and was waiting for a free weekend that would hopefully also be a reasonably warm. Well, last week I noticed a TERRIBLE grinding noise coming from the passenger side rear end, whenever I touch the brakes. So I called up Jordan @
Defined Performance and ordered both front and rear Hawk HPS pads. I've always used factory pads, so I look forward to see what the performance difference is like.
In the meantime, I've been worrying about what could have happened back there that is making that noise. Hopefully I don't find a broken pad that has gouged the surface of the rotor. The outside pad looks just fine, but of course I can't see the inside pad until I pull the wheel off and get in there. I really don't want to replace the rotors unless it is absolutely necessary.
So, it looks like I'll be doing this on Saturday. Temperatures should be near or maybe slightly above freezing and the forecast shows no precipitation, which is good because I would like to have dry roads so I can properly bed-in these pads. Anyone have recommendations on bedding? I was going to follow the old "60mph-to-10mph braking" 10 times, each time putting more pressure on the brakes than the time before, with the last 2-3 being hard enough to activate ABS. I almost hate to do this with my soft Blizzaks mounted for winter. I will surely leave a bit of rubber on the road. :-(