not being funny but are your rear brakes ok ? , the only reason I say this is my new front pads were getting a bit warm and when I checked the rears the shoes were fine but the adjusters had seized so they were not making contact properly which meant the front brakes were doing all the work ,

I'm fairly sure they are ok, they get hot too. I was more shocked at the tyre grip james, as my old tyres were awful in the wet. I don't get much brake fade, just alot of smoking pads.

That picture is of the front wheel, right? Can any brake experts chip in here...I'm not sure fluid loss is normal, even if you boil it up.

How long have you been driving for when this happens?

cheers

James

That was melted bearing grease after ragging down a mountain

Yeah, I drilled those holes in the black one Steve. Not entirely sure if it helped at all, but gave me something to do one saturday afternoon

Here's my guide (and my plan for this weekend) to aid brake cooling:
1. New fluid, at least dot 4, preferably dot 5.1 (NOT dot 5). Decent fluid is essential before doing anything else.
2. Check disc/pads for wear - the more you've got of both the more material you have to dissipate the heat!
3. Adjust rear brakes properly. IME properly adjusted rear brakes give a much better pedal feel.
4. Drill holes in guards. Might not help much but its free to try!
5. Take out fog lights (if you have them) and pipe some air to the calipers for cooling.
6. Fit more open wheels to aid cooling.
7. If possible try and use the cooling channels for the CVT system to route air to the rear brakes.
And last but not least:
8. Try and make a vented brake setup!

My eventual plan is 8, but until then 1-7 will have to do!

But note that smoking brakes aren't the end of the world if they still work! In fact, with some sets of brake pads a completely toasting and then a complete cooling (ie over night) is a great way to bed them in and actually make them work better!


Just my 2p anyway

Well i'm currently working on 8 so will keep you posted!!!
Cheers Adam

I'm kinda working on it, but it's not going to be anywhere near as good as yours!!

I have the exact same problem as david. I can cook the pads in two miles if I try hard enough, and I have properly adjusted brakes, with new dot 4 fluid, black diamond disks (drilled and grooved) I have only got standard lucas pads in it at the moment, cause no one had uprated pads in stock when I fitted the disks, I have seen the disks glowing on a couple of occasions too, mineis definately suffering from pad fade, the pedal stays good but the brakes just stop working. I recon removing the back plates can only be a good thing, I can see what james is saying about it being a heat shield, but it can only be to protect the balljoints, subarus dont have backplates, and the baljoints dont melt on them, so I cant see a problem.
Does anyone know of anywhere that has uprated pads in stock?

I'm guessing I rely on engine braking too much

cheers

James

foggyjames wrote:the fluid was ooooold (ie: nearly as old as Rupert),

Hmmm, your car is from 1988, I date from 1972, so unless your brakes were sitting on a shelf for 16 years I don't think that's possible!

For normal quick driving I use plenty of engine braking but its different for abit of nuts out fun - much more brake pedal. I'll check the rear brakes, bleed and remove guards. Got some nice open alloys now

Mine were fine until the rally 10days or so ago... now I have lost a lot of feeling. Need to learn about brake stuff quickly I guess. Carl, are you free one evening, I don't know if taking it for a spin would tell you anything? I did find the manufacturer of the vents in Beast, they were a standard part, fitted in standard calipers, and worked nice, even with stock GLT rims.

My brakes were always super sharp, and now there is nothing until they are a bit warm

I completely cooked mine too on the black GLT, which is why I'm determined uprate the brakes this time. I had a set of mintex M1144 pads in mine, which although I cooked, they last much better than the old ones I had before. IMHO they're about the best fast road pads you can buy. I think I got mine from http://www.proven-products.co.uk/ for around £55. I think the part number is MDB1150-M1144. Steve might have the receipt for them in the black GLT's history to confirm all this.

You could also go one step more and get M1155 pads, but you lose a bit of the cold braking performance in exchange for improved fade resistance.

Chris - I'm happy to have a look at yours/give you a hand with anything. I'm gonna try and get out to the finish pub on Thursday in Fioner, so if I can work out who you are I'll come and say hi
But I think the stock setup is very limited, and you're very limited with what you can do with it assuming it's all in good shape. Any info on your old vented setup would be very handy - pics, part numbers, manufacturers, sizes etc etc.

Yeh on the disk guards issue, i'm ditching them!!! Mainly because they wont fit my 280mm disks and i cant be arsed to get the G60 ones!!!!
Cheers Adam

Vicky does not have this problem as she does not bother to slow down normaly slowing down for bends.

The answer to what the sheilds are for, they are there to help reduce muck and water getting onto the discs.
Removing them should not cause aproblem.

Dai