Pulseing Brake Pedal (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

To be clear, if the issue is "pad transfer" it would be an uneven transfer. All pads deposit material on the rotors. When you put on new brakes and pads, you should "bed them" properly out of the gate and then you will get less uneven transfer.

I don't mean to be elementary, so no offense to anyone if this is common sense, but I know this and even forget to do it.

https://ebcbrakes.com/articles/bedding-in/


Edit: ugh, just read up the page and saw this was already discussed, sorry.
 
I had some pulsing on the 62 and bought new SS Brake Lines and it seemed to help. I also deleted the LSPV, but didn't notice much improvement.
 
weejub said:
To be clear, if the issue is "pad transfer" it would be an uneven transfer. All pads deposit material on the rotors. When you put on new brakes and pads, you should "bed them" properly out of the gate and then you will get less uneven transfer.

I don't mean to be elementary, so no offense to anyone if this is common sense, but I know this and even forget to do it.

https://ebcbrakes.com/articles/bedding-in/


Edit: ugh, just read up the page and saw this was already discussed, sorry.
Click to expand...

I don’t think is common knowledge. But I advise everyone to read the bedding instructions for their pads, they can be very different. Hawks, Pagids, EBC, Performance Friction, differ on how to do it, even within their brands based on compounds.

You can imagine going to a brake shop or dealer, they lift the car, swap pads and rotors (“hey, because our greatgreatgreat granddaddy did it that way in the civil war” bullsheeet excuse for charging more), bleed your blinker fluid and drain and refill your wiper fluid all for $1800. And you never see your car leave the bay, they never bed the new brakes. Pretty amazing. Around CLT, dealers are in congested roads, where are they going to follow the mfg procedure?
By the way, PFC is what I used in the past to scrub pulsing brakes rotors, they are aggressive AF. Pagid Oranges are agressive too but need high temp to work.
 
Last edited:
Izzyandsue said:
And you never see your car leave the bay, they never bed the new brakes. Pretty amazing. Around CLT, dealers are in congested roads, where are they going to follow the mfg procedure?
Click to expand...
This thought was the biggest impetus for me to start working on my own brakes years ago. I figured that even if I skipped the bedding step, I'd still be in the same situation as if I'd let them do it...but I'd have more money in my wallet. Ok, I'd have less because I'd spend the balance on shiny new tools to "help do the job right". Luckily, I lived so close to the arena, with its giant, empty parking lot, that I could go from my driveway to there without ever touching the brakes. I can only assume that I was doing it right because I never noticed any issues.
 
This is some really good information. Thanks everyone. Im sure I'm not the only one to deal with this. In a group of DIY'ers, We all change our brakes and in these heavy 80's with poor braking any additional info can help keep us all safe. I've learned more about brakes in the past day than I ever knew. Knowing how change brakes only scratches the surface of knowing how to complete the job. Thanks to @Izzyandsue for the article and the video @Green Hell Mustang. Reading about improper pads transfer, describes my symptoms dead on.

This only give me a few more questions.....
  • Why after turning the rotors does it feel "fixed" for a period of time and then appear?
  • If proper pad transfer doesn't happen, can you clean the disc and try to re-bed the pads?
  • Should I install new pad?
lumbee1 said:
Pad transfer.

Both my 2000 and 2002 Nissan Maxima were notorious for pad transfer. Essentially, the factory ceramic pads would heat up, melt, and transfer material to the surface of the rotor. This happened with normal every day driving. Most owners complained but all Nissan would do is turn the rotors for a fee. Turning the rotors is only a temporary fix. The real fix is to use semi-metallic pads and have the rotors turned. I sold my first Maxima with the problem. I replaced the pads on the second Maxima with Hawk HPS, an aggressive semi-metallic pad. All my issues went away once I changed the pads.

Driving on rotors with pad transfer is scary. If the transfer is bad enough, hitting the brakes causes a pulsating effect with some effect in braking performance as well. But hitting the brakes hard like in an emergency causes extreme pulsating with almost no braking.
Click to expand...

@lumbee1, why use a semi metallic vs a ceramic?

JohnVee said:
Question: Can a person tell, by feel, the difference between a warped rotor and pad transfer?
Click to expand...
I'm curious about this too. I still have the Drilled and slotted I had installed.
 
I think they may feel the same on the pedal. I had warped rotors only once, they turned purple from heat and that was the tell sign. the warp is usually one one side, so I guess at slow speeds you could feel a frequency at every wheel revolution. Pad transfer would be more of a chatter, multiple locations within one revolution. But I am guessing here.

I had drilled rotors popped once too, hot day on track, red flag "cause of mustang" of course, so everyone has to stop and pull to the edge. Then I heard the pop..... pop. Both front rotors cracked, summmbeach.......
 
NC LX said:
  • Why after turning the rotors does it feel "fixed" for a period of time and then appear?
  • If proper pad transfer doesn't happen, can you clean the disc and try to re-bed the pads?
  • Should I install new pad?
@lumbee1, why use a semi metallic vs a ceramic?
Click to expand...

Because you have to do the whole process, turning rotors, then bedding the system. Otherwise it comes back with time.

Yes you can, the StopTech article had something about what to use. I have done it and worked fine with emery paper even though they recommend something else.

Not necessarily, unless you get pads that have a specific transfer layer and that layer is gone (EBC greens for example). It is just a matter of bedding both together, pads and rotors.
 
By the way, I would often just do a series of hard stops in a row, like 6-8, from 60 to 20, back to 60, 20, etc. All close together, until the shuttering stopped. It works, but the fluid would get hot.
I flush my brake fluid every few years, so I know it can take it. But in you shoes, that's what I would do first, hard on the brakes, clean the crap out, let them cool in the end by a longer drive.
 
I think the big issue is improper bedding for a great many brake issues most of us experience. You can turn your rotors and re bed them. I've not tried to re bed used pads, I would assume that if not completely glazed over they can be re bedded. I always install new pads, if used pads do not bed correct you now have to turn the rotors again if they have uneven deposits.

I am fortunate to have a dead end road that runs through my property, so easy to bed brakes without worrying about traffic.
 
Izzyandsue said:
By the way, I would often just do a series of hard stops in a row, like 6-8, from 60 to 20, back to 60, 20, etc. All close together, until the shuttering stopped. It works, but the fluid would get hot.
I flush my brake fluid every few years, so I know it can take it. But in you shoes, that's what I would do first, hard on the brakes, clean the crap out, let them cool in the end by a longer drive.
Click to expand...
Use DOT4 fluid :D
 
Pad transfer and warped rotors feel identical. Essentially when the pads squeeze down on an irregular surface, you feel pulsating in the brakes as the pads bounce on the high spots. The high spots could be from the rotor or the melted pad on the surface. I tried driving in reverse and slamming on the brakes while never fully stopping. This sometimes worked but most of the time didn't. I even installed cryo-treated slotted rotors. After a few months, they developed pad transfer as well. That's when it dawned on me the pads were the problem.


Not all ceramic pads are bad but some have a lower melting point. Semi-metallic do not suffer from pad transfer. I've learned myself with brake pads ever since my experience with the Maxima.
- Hawk HPS pads are designed for either heavy vehicles or track use. They are not a good pad for lightweight cars used for DD. The HPS requires heat before they work optimally. My first few stops in the Maxima with HPS pads required a lot of effort. The HPS pads would also bring the Maxima down from 90 mph in eye popping speed.
- Akebono Ceramic pads were pretty good. Quiet and good for daily driving but not the most consistent. Again these were installed on the Maxima and I probably wouldn't recommend them.

- EBC green on the Land Cruiser has been great once I removed the LSPV. The EBC greens have better stopping power than OEM but can develop a squeal. For a Cruiser, I wouldn't hesitate to buy these again.

BTW, I bed my brakes in very slowly and never fully stop. 0-5 to coasting, then 10mph to coasting, 20mph to coasting, etc... My final stops are 70mph to hard-as-fudge stop.
 
lumbee1 said:
Pad transfer and warped rotors feel identical. Essentially when the pads squeeze down on an irregular surface, you feel pulsating in the brakes as the pads bounce on the high spots. The high spots could be from the rotor or the melted pad on the surface. I tried driving in reverse and slamming on the brakes while never fully stopping. This sometimes worked but most of the time didn't. I even installed cryo-treated slotted rotors. After a few months, they developed pad transfer as well. That's when it dawned on me the pads were the problem.


Not all ceramic pads are bad but some have a lower melting point. Semi-metallic do not suffer from pad transfer. I've learned myself with brake pads ever since my experience with the Maxima.
- Hawk HPS pads are designed for either heavy vehicles or track use. They are not a good pad for lightweight cars used for DD. The HPS requires heat before they work optimally. My first few stops in the Maxima with HPS pads required a lot of effort. The HPS pads would also bring the Maxima down from 90 mph in eye popping speed.
- Akebono Ceramic pads were pretty good. Quiet and good for daily driving but not the most consistent. Again these were installed on the Maxima and I probably wouldn't recommend them.

- EBC green on the Land Cruiser has been great once I removed the LSPV. The EBC greens have better stopping power than OEM but can develop a squeal. For a Cruiser, I wouldn't hesitate to buy these again.

BTW, I bed my brakes in very slowly and never fully stop. 0-5 to coasting, then 10mph to coasting, 20mph to coasting, etc... My final stops are 70mph to hard-as-fudge stop.
Click to expand...
I've had luck with the EBC brakes myself, but on the Mustang. I've never used them on the Cruiser. Now that you've mentioned they have decent stopping power, I should look into using those next.
 
Don’t get yellow. They are racing brakes, will squeal around town, need high temp to grab and don’t work great when cold. I used them exclusively for racing. When hot, they do grab amazingly. And will wear your rotors down quickly too.

Get the high performance greens I posted earlier, the 7000 series ones, up in front and regular greens for rear.
 
Izzyandsue said:
Don’t get yellow. They are racing brakes, will squeal around town, need high temp to grab and don’t work great when cold. I used them exclusively for racing. When hot, they do grab amazingly. And will wear your rotors down quickly too.

Get the high performance greens I posted earlier, the 7000 series ones, up in front and regular greens for rear.
Click to expand...
I'll second this. The yellows are abrasive pads, more so than usual. When drivers talk about "keeping their brakes up to temp" this is part of what they are referring to. They will squeal so bad when cold.
 
Izzyandsue said:
Don’t get yellow. They are racing brakes, will squeal around town, need high temp to grab and don’t work great when cold. I used them exclusively for racing. When hot, they do grab amazingly. And will wear your rotors down quickly too.

Get the high performance greens I posted earlier, the 7000 series ones, up in front and regular greens for rear.
Click to expand...
It looked like there was two versions of the yellow. A racing yellow and truck yellow.

Race pads https://ebcbrakes.com/product/yellowstuff-street-and-track-pads/

Truck pads
https://ebcbrakes.com/product/yellowstuff-high-friction-truck-sport-brake-pads

This was a question out of curiosity.
 
NC LX said:
The EBC green have good reviews. I also saw the truck yellow stuff pad EBC has.

https://ebcbrakes.com/product/yellowstuff-high-friction-truck-sport-brake-pads. Seems like this pad may do better on an 80 from the description.

Does anyone have any experience with these?
Click to expand...
The Green pads are aggressive daily driving pads and are quiet and consistent. The yellow pads are slightly more aggressive and consistent but the tradeoff is brake squeal. The greens are guaranteed to be quiet while the yellows are not. Personally brake squeal would drive me nuts.

Another recommended pad is the Hawk HPS for the Cruiser. The HPS is aggressive and quiet but they are not consistent.
 
lumbee1 said:
The Green pads are aggressive daily driving pads and are quiet and consistent. The yellow pads are slightly more aggressive and consistent but the tradeoff is brake squeal. The greens are guaranteed to be quiet while the yellows are not. Personally brake squeal would drive me nuts.

Another recommended pad is the Hawk HPS for the Cruiser. The HPS is aggressive and quiet but they are not consistent.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. I was leaning towards the greens. Im going to order a set.

Brit and I had family friends come in for the weekend and Its been so cold outside the past few days I haven even been outside to check things out. On a quick trip to the grocery store last night I did notice that at slower speeds, estimate 5-25mph, it sounds like a high spot rubbing. It stops at higher speeds.

Looks like we are going to have a heat wave of 32°F around 3pm here in Chapel Hill. Sounds like it will be a good time to set up the Little Buddy Heater and see whats going on.
 
I like all the high tech brake bedding chatter. It's all true and good info. Before you jump off the cliff and buy an expensive set of racing brakes for your tractor just to destroy them in short order with a bad caliper, do inspect the old pads for wear with an eye for uneven wear. These trucks are 20+years old. Calipers do freeze up. A bad caliper will ruin a fancy set of EBC pads just as quickly as a $40 set from Vadozone. Your symptoms are EXACTLY the same as mine were. My problems were totally fixed with a caliper rebuild and a regular set of pads.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom