I've had some squeal during breaking on my '06 xkr with 25K miles and figured the front pads were going. I pulled off the Brembos (I agree with previous posters that the 2 bolts holding the caliper on are a BEAR to get off), and I was surprised to see the pads seem to be in pretty good shape. They have 1/4" of pad left on them. The new pads I picked up (NPNs) are 7/16" thick new and the steel wear indicator indicator is set for contact at 1/16". I can't find a steel wear indicator anywhere on the original Brembos, and I also don't see any indication that one was there that snapped off. I'm now wondering if the pads are fine and this it was general brake squeal that I was hearing.

Do the Brembo pads have a wear indicator somewhere? If not, are there guidelines on when to swap them out?

 

(Accidentally posted in this in the X-type forum)

 

Looking around on-line, I'm now wondering if there's some type of electronic sensing / warning for pad wear. I've seen references to it for this type of Textar pad, but I can't find any reference to it in the owners manual. Anybody seen a brake wear light pop on?

 

A couple hours later, and I think I've got most of this figured out.

1. Taking off the calipers to swap out Brembo pads was totally unnecessary and also a total pain. They slide straight out the top of the caliper.
2. Trying to figure out how to press the piston back in with a C-clamp was a waste of time. With the brake fluid reservoir open, I could push each of the 4 pistons per caliper in by hand (well, really with 2 thumbs).
3. I'm assuming the groove in the pads is what creates the whine to act as a wear indicator.
4. I think I changed out these pads a bit early as that groove probably went all the way down to ~1/8". There was a lot of dust in the groove, and that probably made them sound off early. I'm thinking if I blew them clean while still mounted, the whine might have gone away.

The first wheel took me about 3 hours to do. The 2nd was 20 minutes, with 10 of that spent on cleaning the wheel and caliper. One of these days I'll learn to study up first before I dive into a project.

 

Workin, to me it sounds like you were getting "normal" brake squeal. If you stop by the auto parts store, you can pick up some stuff that is called "pad glue". may also be called "anti-squeal glue". You apply this on the backside of the pad and it will adhere the pad to the caliper to prevent the pad from vibrating (leading to the squeal) during braking. It doesn't take a lot to make this stuff work. A bottle of this stuff is like $5 and it will do more sets of brakes than you can go through in a lifetime.

As for guidelines for swapping out the pads on your setup, I would say when you are rotating the tires (every 5-6,000 miles), do a quick brake pad inspection. If you are down around 1/8" of pad left, then I would do the pad changeout. This will garantee you don't hurt the rotors and there is still some time left that you don't have to do it right then and there.

So, unless you are spending a day at the track using and abusing the brakes, this system works. if you are at the track, then I would say a fresh set of pads at the start of the day and then a new set when you are done. If you are truely pushing the car, you will eat up the pads in a heartbeat.

 

no wear indicators on any factory pad. I dont like and havent gotten good results on any pads except EBC and factory. Even Akebonos were not impressive and left with a feel of fade on deep braking. and you took out the caliper bolts on the Brembos. You dont remove the calipers but the pins and slide the old out and new in. Easiest pad change out there. The calipers stay bolted unless youre doing a rotor change. Thermo is right on the pad pookie. But go to EBC's website and read thier info on brake squeel. My experiance on brake squeel is too light, too frquent brake application leads to pad/rotor glazing and squeel. And some pads are worse that other to thier susceptabilty. But by and large it is a DRIVER brake useage that does it. I have shown on many differant models that who drives the car and thier braking style has a larger impact than anything else. Why is it that 1 driver never gets brakes squeel, and on the SAME car, another driver does...think about it

 

I responded in your XTYPE forum thread

 

all posts merged into one

 

FYI, I've had great luck with Hawke Ceramics on my Brembos. Good stopping power and very light dust. Much better than the oem's.