mikshan, your story is almost exactly identical to what happened to my EVO's brakes. The only part that differs is replacing the rotors. I just had mine cut down twice, and new pads every time. First at 7700, then 11,000, then 15,000. Also like yours, my EVO is a daily driver. I have never taken it to a track or abused the brakes.

To fix the problem, I put on a set of new pads (EBC Greenstuff) and some RMR slotted rotors at about 17,300 miles. I broke them in properly, and have been on them hard a few times since breaking them in (stupid people cutting me off, then braking...grrr ). I currently have 20500 miles on my car, and the rotors are still perfectly balanced. No more shaking steering wheel while braking at high speeds. No more "warped rotors!"


IMHO, I think the stock rotors and pads are poo poo. Get some good slotted aftermarket ones and new brake pads and the problem should go away.

 

I second this tip.

This may have been the cause of my rotor problem in the past. I no longer sit at stop lights with my foot on the brake, unless I am on a slope. In which case I only apply enough pressure to keep the car from rolling.

 

Haaaa, I have the same exact problem. I dont race the car, I dont over heat the brakes infact I baby sit them. They fixed my rotors 3 times and still. Let me tell u this save some money buy new rotors and pads made by endless and that will solve your problem. our pads are to soft so they stick to the rotors in hard braking cousing brake dust deposite on the rotors.

 

I had to have my front rotors replaced at 3400 miles. I haven't had any problems since.

 

Its not the rotors, its the crappy pads that deposit unevenly. Like many people have already mentioned. Rotor upgrade are pointless unless you track the car. The factory units are more than enough for the street. Upgrade your pads clean off your rotors with something not too abrasive and your problems are solved.

 

and here we thought brembos were awesome when im at the light, i'll always roll one inch forward or let it slide back one inch so my brake pads dont sit on the hottest point; the 'stopping' point on the rotor before your car comes to a halt..... and/or i use the e-brakes.

 

One word of advice...I track my car...and have learned some useful info about hot brakes. If your brakes are hot enough that you are worried about rotor warping or brake deposits NEVER use your e-brake. If your rotors are hot enough to warp...they are hot enough to fuse your e-brake to the inside hat of your rear rotors. I have seen it happen and advise very strongly against ever using your e-brake after a few hard stops.


I had something weird happen that I'm still trying to understand. I read the entire Stop Tech article in this thread. I was tracking my car the other day and I started feeling vibration in the streering wheel. It felt like "rotor warping"...it got progressively worse and worse the hotter it got...this was on the 2nd day and the last session (i never experienced it before). My instructor told me that i had warped it...we let things cool down by driving then parked it. I came back an hour later and went to the gas station to get some gas and the rotor warping feeling was entirely gone. I have the stock rotors and Project Mu pads...I believe they are the sport/street pads. Maybe this was my mistake and I actually needed a track pad. Does anyone have any idea what the hell happened? My instructor told me its likely the rotors will re-warp once they get hot again and should buy new front rotors for the track. Anyone have any thoughts? thanks in advanced!

 

Try behavorial changes - they have worked for me.
1. Never bring the car to a full stop with hot brakes - coast in to a curb or chock.
2. Avoid "dust free" pads - the escaping dust carries heat away with it.
3. Never turn rotors - the loss of mass increases heat loading. If worn, replace.
4. Install Mistbishi's brake air deflectors.
5. Replace the pads when 80% worn.
6. Brake hard over a short distance - never ride the brake pedal.

 

I think #6 is often overlooked, misunderstood, or unknown. During spirited driving it is best to "jab" the brakes with more than moderate pressure in order to slow the car quickly, as opposed to doing a limousine type of stop, whereby you slow the car ever so gradually--this really heats up the braking system. Killasweep, with due respect, this may have been what ailed your brakes, you were heating your braking system. You were experiencing brake fade not rotor warpage. Been there, it happened on the track (and sometimes at 80mph on the highway) quite frequently with my 300ZX, until I changed my driving style or more accurately, changed my braking style . I have over 15k miles on my Evo with track time mixed in, several times my wife and I have doudle-dutied the car at track events and the rotors are fine. However, get rid of those stock pads.

 

I think there may be yet another factor here. I had a good conversation with a race brake guy a week ago. This is my understanding: When brake pad friction material is manufactured and bonded to the pad backing plate, there are resins (glues) and other volatile organic materials in the pads. When you do the proper break-in procedure, you heat up the pads relatively slowly and in a controlled manner. The primary purpose is to "burn-out" the volatile organics in the pad material and transfer some friction material to the rotor. This can be a pretty dramatic process. With some Porterfield pads I used to use on the DSM, the pads used to actually catch fire during the bedding-in process! Obviously, a lot of organics can be in the pad material. The last part of the bedding process is to run the car for a good while with little or no braking to allow all the organics to blow off while car is still moving and the pads cool.

Mitsubishi recommends a pretty lame "break-in" procedure for the brakes. I think the requirement is basically to just take it easy on the brakes for 500 miles or so. The Brembo website used to have a proper bedding-in procedure described. As I recall it was something like driving for 20 miles and do a 60-30 mph stop every half mile, then drive 10 miles without braking. I just had a quick look at brembo.com, but couldn't find the procedure.

If you don't bed the brakes properly (blow off the organics), then heat them up all of a sudden and come to a stop while the brakes are still even warm, you could get that organic deposition on the rotors (because you are not driving for 10 miles to let the organics to blow off while the brakes are moving), and "warping".

I've gone through 4 sets of Brembo front pads and only had a minor pad transfer issue once. I bedded all the sets properly (except the original set).

I'm not saying that this is the only issue, but proper bedding may be a factor sometime in contributing to "warping".

 

Seems to be a MASSIVELY common problem for such a myth. My rotors have warped 3 times...2 of which the dealer re cut the rotors. Now I can't do it because the dealer says I beat on the car...it was a daily driver doing approx 70-100 miles a day most of which were highway driving. SCREW mitsu and their service centers. They suck!

 

Excellent point! If I recall correctly, in order to bed our new brake pads/rotors on our new Evo, I subjected my wife to 10 stops from 35 mph, then an additional 3 stops from 45 mph (those were instructions I remembered from Hawk pads), followed by a 15 minute drive on the highway. I figured the virgin pads and rotors required some sort of bedding.

 

Ha! I just realized my last sentence is wrong. I should have written:

...*im*proper bedding may be a factor sometimes in contributing to "warping".

 

Bogie thanks for the advice. I have no doubt that it had to do with my driving style. It was my first driver school and I was "reverse braking" for awhile. Reverse braking for anyone that isn;t familiar with that term is when you start off lightly on the brakes then hard once you get to your turn in point. What are you supposed to do is brake for a shorter period of time then lift slowly until you reach your desired speed. I was riding my brakes extra hard trying to get a faster speed into turn one. I need to improve my driving technique and probably the cooling system on the fronts.

My big question is....are my brakes screwed for the next time I race? The "warped" feeling I was getting completely went away after i drover around and let them cool off. Does brake fade cause vibration in the steering wheel similar to that "warping" feeling? I'm just afraid that the symptoms will easily come back at my next track day. Is it possible that the pads and rotors are still ok since the brakes system is smooth as glass now? I have aftermarket street/Sport pads made by Project MU...Vivid racing sold them to me. I think for the future I am going to get a track pad since they actually dust. The project MU pads are great for the street...they dust very little...stop well..did really well on the track...minus the last day and last run when I had the problem. Any advice on where I should go from here? The last thing you want to be worrying about during racing on a track is your brakes.

 

Many people want to drive fast but they seldom think about braking fast. I have spoken to many drivers regarding brake fade, some recommendations included..."just brake harder." My suggestion would be to flush your brake fluid, change your front pads, and sand (130 grit) your front rotors using moderate pressure. After you install your new pads, bed them per manufactures' instructions, then, before you next track event log at least 250 miles on the new pads. I found that sometimes a good bedding needs to be followed by a good seasoning.