Over the passed few weeks I've been reading and researching and pondering this whole "bed-in" procedure that most people on here seem to insist on. I've read the articles, I understand the concept. I just can't see how heating up the rotors and pads like that could possibly be beneficial, as it risks warping the disks, glazing etc.

My new centric premium blanks and stop tech pads came in the mail today. This sparked a huge discussion with my father. He doesn't believe the bed in process, as described in multiple places (here, stop tech website, etc). "when I was 16 that's what all my friends said to do to," he said. He suggested that I avoid stopping hard for the first ~400 miles. No brake ins, no repetitive stops from 60, what have you. He emailed me this - http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=85

So, what is every ones thoughts on this? Is bedding completely necessary? I'm on the fence at this point. Some manufacturers say no, some say yes.

 

This is the first time in my twenty years of driving have I ever heard of 'skipping' bedding the pads to the rotors.

 

you're not heating them up nearly enough to warp or glaze anything unless you're doing it wrong

 

Hey I felt the same way. I was all ready to go find a road and bed them.

However my father seemed very confident I don't have to bed them. He's not stupid, he's been building cars since before he could drive. So I tend to listen to his advice. Also, I've never done a bed in with any other car ive owned and have never had any issues at all with the brakes.

As much as every one stands behind "bedding" I'm failing to see how this would differ from simply avoiding hard stops for a while.

 

8 stops from 65 to 10 on brand new rotors and pads in 30 degree weather, you don't think there's any chance of something happening? Bakes are obviously something I know very little about, but this doesnt seem smart...

I'm not refuting the bedding process completely, I'm just questioning whether its as critical as its made out to be on here.

 

Don't skip it. Do bed in.

 

You arent going to warp rotors. Rotors dont give a crap if they are 1day old or 10 years, getting them hot now or later makes no different. On top of that, rotors almost never warp anyways. Usually what people think is warp is an uneven material layer or crystalline structure on the rotor from heavy braking then stopping (rotor cools at different rates where its open and where the pad is). Both these conditions can be fixed with proper bed-in procedures.

 

Straight from stop tech's website-

 

What pads did you purchase?

I would imagine the average person, driving an average car with average pads probably either doesn't need to bed them in because they're mediocre pads or the tech that serviced the vehicle did it for them.

 

Stop tech street performance pads, centric premium blank rotors. Just the fronts, installing by myself.

 

Since they're performance pads, I would think bedding would be necessary, but technology changes all the time and if Stop Tech is telling you that it's unnecessary, then go with their advice since it's their product.



Damn that was a comma splice run-on sentence.

 

This is why I made this thread. I'm getting conflicting information. Just want to know some first hand experiences.

 

with the stoptechs im sure youll be fine if you dont do a bed in, but they do perform better if "broken in". if your just dd'ing it and it concerns you that much then dont do it. Nothing critical will happen if you dont.

 

I have the stoptech 109 series street/strip pads, and the vendor told me, adamantly, that I needed to do the proper break-in procedure. Certain performance types of pads have a compound that requires extreme amounts of heat initially to get the most bite, the most longevity, and the least amount of pad-transfer that causes what people deem to be warping. The composition of the pad and the epoxy/resin that holds it together is what determines which break-in/bed-in procedure you should follow. Lacking that, take the manufacturers word for it.

That said, I returned my first set of 109s because I had alot of pad transfer/vibration during breaking - I did NOT do the proper bed-in precedure the first time. They thankfully warrantied the parts and gave me a fresh set. The second time I DID the procedure, and have not had any problems since. In addition, the brake pad grips the rotor better and requires less pedal force to slow the vehicle. Call me crazy, but that's my two cents and experience with this exact setup the OP described.

 

So you're saying if my rotors "feel" warped (vibration while braking), properly bedding in new pads could get rid of the problem? Getting rotors cut or sanded isn't necessary?