Newbie with rotor pad question.....
 

Hello Everyone,

I've been lurking a short while as I'm a new Boxster owner. The forum has been tremendously helpful as well as a money saving tool for me (vs. dealer service ctr.).

Any how, I put on a new set of front Balo rotors and a set of EBC Yellow Stuff pads last night on my 2003 Boxster. The pads and rotors are quite tight on the passenger side. It's tight to the point where it's quite hard to turn the rotor by hand. I can turn it once the wheel is mounted but there is still resistance there. After 75 miles of city driving with light brake usage, there is a slight decrease in resistance. Is this normal? Are Yellow Stuff pads normally thicker than OEM's?

A couple of things come in to play here. 1.) the Balo rotors were coated....yes the braking surface was also coated (what the heck huh?) 2.) The Yellow Stuff pads have a break-in coating which likely made them thicker.


Thanks in advance for the help/input.

When you installed the new pads, did you first press the caliper pistons back into the calipers, or did you just slip in the pads and let it go at that? If that is the case, the first time the brakes are applied, the pistons will reset themselves and you should be fine.

Remember to properly bed the pads in for maximum performance and life.

Thanks for your reply. I did push the pistons all the way in. There was no way the pads would have fit otherwise. I've been trying to follow EBC's recommended bedding technique. I'll put on another 50 miles or so today and will jack the car back up to see if things have loosened up some. I'm just a little worried about excessive brake heat with the fit being so tight in the beginning.

I suggest you bleed your brakes also in all 4. This will help the system to adjust. If possible, do a flush and change your fluid to ATE blue.

Done and done. Two days ago, I did and fresh ATE Super Blue and bled til all the gold stuff was gone. Thank You.

I put on about 40 miles this afternoon. I'm gradually increasing the braking pressure and doing the 60 to 20 mph with moderate pressure on the pedal. After I got home, I lifted the car and the wheel is turning a little bit easier than last night. I'll spend some time doing the same tomorrow and see. I need to put some miles on this set up as I will be attending my first track day at BIR next week.

Thanks again for your input.

Sort of related. Pretty cool article, however a little too technical for me.
ImportCar - The Complete Import Service Magazine

I use EBC YellowStuff pads and yes, they ARE slightly thicker than a stock pad so they will seem "tight" when first installed in the caliper. Don't worry, they have a special break-in coating that will wear away in about 200 miles and then the rotors will spin normally (with just a bit of pad drag). The break-in period can be up to several hundred miles so don't worry if the brakes are grabby, squeal, or seem tight - this will all clear up a in short time and then you'll have a great set of brakes with tons of power and no fade. I track my car regularly and these pads are excellent.

Thank you for your reply. After 500 miles and one track day, they are perfect. They were exceptional a the track day...... even with less braking surface than oem pads because of the tapered/beveled edges.