[dsn_klr650] rear brake pad wear question

[Dennis Steinert]

I used to do automotive brake jobs for a living (Sears in Northridge, CA). I was there for 8 years, paid for my college. I still can probably do a standard Ford or GM rear or fronts blindfolded. Brake squeal usually comes from the pads and/or the rotor becoming glazed. When the surface is rough, the vibration is at a low frequency. As they become glazed, the vibration frequency increases. Rotor glazing comes from high heat, pad glazing comes from long, slow stops. During a long, slow stop, the fibers in the pad twist and line up with each other. To avoid pad glazing, all you need to do is to use the brake properly - which is fairly hard. None of this long drawn-out stops where you lightly grab the brakes. Grabbing them with the proper force will keep the fibers from twisting. Of course, you couldn't convince customers of this. So to fix the complaint and send the customers on their merry way we would do one or more of these: 1) lightly sand the rotor with emery cloth, or lightly cut (re-surface) the rotors. 2) remove the pads and lightly sand them with emery cloth 3) use the anti-squeal gunk on the backing plate of the pads. Ideally this should have been done at install time. We had spray-paint can for of this stuff, spray on the backs, let it sit for a few minutes and then install the pads. 4) use the brakes. This was quick and easy and worked most of the time. Get the car up to 20 MPH (in a large parking lot) and lock the fronts. Lock them for 5 or so times, then just brake very heavily for another 5 or so times. Brake hard a few times in reverse, so the rears can properly adjust. Now while #4 was great for cars (and we used it 75% of the time), I wouldn't recommend it for the KLR unless you are into pain. Dennis Steinert KLR650 A13 4,700 miles and counting. -----Original Message----- From: billmonahan [mailto:billmonahan@...] Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2000 17:58 To: DSN_klr650@egroups.com; Bogdan Swider Subject: Re: [DSN_klr650] rear brake pad wear question So you apply a lubricant (graphite) onto your brake pads. Hmmm......Yeah they would squeak less but do they stop as well? Bogdan Bogdan, they stop just fine.......are you worried that you'll spot a camel and have to stop quick? I'd be worried that it might be a police decoy.