Here are a couple of ways to bed in your brakes.
After installing new pads make 6 to 10 stops from approximately 35 mph with moderate pressure. Make an additional two to three hard stops from approximately 40 to 45 mph. Do not allow the vehicle to come to a complete stop. When completed with this process, park the vehicle and allow the brakes to cool completely before driving on them again. Do not engage the parking brake until after this cooling process is compete!
Then there is this one. It's a bit more radical, and more for high performance brakes.
- From 60mph, gently apply the brakes a couple of times to bring them up to operating temperature. This prevents you from thermally shocking the rotors and pads in the next steps.
- Make eight to ten near-stops from 60mph to about 20 mph. Do it HARD by pressing the brakes firmly, but do not lock the wheels or engage ABS. At the end of each slowdown, immediately accelerate back to 60mph, then apply the brakes again. DO NOT COME TO A COMPLETE STOP! If you stop completely, with your foot on the brake pedal, pad material will be imprinted onto the hot rotors, which could lead to vibration and uneven braking.
- The brakes may begin to fade after the 7th or 8th near-stop. This fade will stabilize, but not completely go away until the brakes have fully cooled. A strong smell from the brakes, and even some smoke, is normal.
- After the last near-stop, accelerate back up to speed and cruise for a few minutes, using the brakes as little as possible to allow them to cool down. Try not to become trapped in traffic or come to a complete stop while the brakes are still hot.
- If full race pads, such as Hawk DTC-70 or Performance Friction PFC11 are being used, add four near-stops from 80 to 20 mph.
- After the break-in cycle, there should be a slight blue tint and a light gray film on each rotor face. The blue tint tells you the rotor has reached break-in temperature and the gray film is pad material starting to transfer onto the rotor face. This is what you are looking for. The best braking occurs when there is an even layer of of pad material deposited across the rotors. This minimizes squealing, increases braking torque, and maximizes pad and rotor life.
After the first break in cycle shown above, the brakes may still not be fully broken in. A second bed-in cycle,
AFTER the brakes have cooled down fully from the first cycle, may be necessary before the brakes really start to perform well. This is especially true if you have installed new pads on old rotors, since the pads need some usage to conform to the rotor wear pattern. If you've just installed a big brake kit, pedal travel may not feel as firm as you expected. After the second bedding cycle, the pedal will become noticeably firmer. If necessary,
bleed the brakes to improve pedal firmness.
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I generally used the first one, plus 2~3 stops from at least 60~70 and it always works.
I really can't recommend *normal* street brakes being hammered right off the bat from 60 like that.
If you'll start slow, then work up it should be fine. They WILL heat up and smell pretty badly. Just don't come to a complete stop with your foot on the brake.... slow it down then let it roll.
Thing is, now that they were never bedded in properly (if they are really giving you problems) you'll likely end up having to pull them and either sand them down or start with new pads.
The garage should have either bedded them in themselves, or given you instructions on how to do it! (Although nobody I know will do that, they just don't.)
