Just replaced the rotors and pads (Axxis Metal Master) and am still going through the rotor/pad bedding process.

I noticed that though the front rotors are nice and smooth now, the rears seem to have minute grooves in them - sort of like a vinyl record, only tinier. Not enough to catch my fingernail but i do feel it.

Is this normal?

Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks.
- Mike

 

Yes...mine did. I did the Axis MM with Stillen x-drilled rotors.

They have the "grooves".....Ive had them on for about 40k miles now, and no problems....I asked if they need resurfacing...and i got a....9.....which means Nein in german...thats a NO in american.

They are ok mikey....Im drunk so sorry bout the comedy. LOL

 

LOL! Thanks for the en-light-ened response

Say, i have to ask you this - did the Axxis ever give you initial bite problems? As it is now (again still bedding it) there is nearly no bite even after repeated stops. The OEM almost felt like a BBK compared to this.

 

Yes, my Metal Masters do that too. The grooves are more pronounced on the rears for some odd reason, but on the fronts it's completely covered in grooves. Metal Masters are very hard on the rotors' surface, but that shouldn't necessarily cause them to warp (warpage is caused by thickness variation due to excessive pad material being deposited on the rotor)

So it's not a problem.

 

Thanks. Seeing as you've probably had the MM's for a while - did you ever have initial bite issues? (or the lack thereof). How is it now?

Even after it's warmed it's scary braking with these - i'm hoping it starts working soon.

 

Did you go through the bedding process? Reason why I ask is I changed the pads on my wifes Focus and went from SM to ceramic due to the constant dusting. Pedal was firm but braking was scary. I then went and performed the bedding process (about 30 minutes) and the braking was MUCH better. And we did have some consistant stops prior to the braking

 

My MM's usually bite just fine initially... they get REALLY tight after they warm up, which is very nice

Then again I started using them with the 2004 rotors on the BlehmCo BBK, which puts the caliper a little further out (increases brake torque by a small amount), so this might be comparing apples to oranges.

 

I've been taking it easy for the past week and just try to bed it any chance i get - which isn't saying much since it's traffic all the way to/fro work.

However, i got to do it a bit better this p.m. - so far i think it's finally starting to bite like it should - after several warm-ups and high-speed stops the thing just worked like a charm when i tried an 80-20. Hopefully i can do a second proper procedure this weekend. I'll keep you guys updated

 

I broke mine in properly, and They did seem to have initial "bite" issues. But that probably needs to be defined better.

All in all I like my set up. The MM work great.

 

Well, i did the procedure and correctly this time - finally got the smoking smell and even application of pad material on the rotors. So far the brakes are working better now.

By "bite" i meant the initial braking force, for the first couple of days - even after the pads heated up to operating temperature, pressing on the pedal was scary - the car barely stopped and felt like the pads were just sliding over the rotors.

The car is cooling down now, i'll drive it around later to see if the bedding helped more than i think.

Thanks for the responses guys!

 

Alright, after several hours of cooling i took the max out for a spin. The brakes *DEFINITELY* works now! It's amazing what proper bedding can do to really make your pads and rotors shine!

So far i'm loving the Metal Masters + Powerslot combo, even cold it works fine. Once it goes up to operating temperature (about 2 casual stops seems okay) the MM's just plain works. In fact it works better than OEM - i don't have numbers to back these up right now but the feel definitely is there. I can't even get it to fade after trying a second bedding procedure (e.g. 60-10mph 10 times) - on the OEM set-up the brakes would already start fading after the 4th or 5th high-speed (hard) stop.

Thanks for the helping me out here guys!

 

just curious, are the MM noisy at all?

 

Compared to the OEM? Not at all.

The only noise i get from it is the creep when applying the brakes lightly and going about 5mph. But that's not necessarily a bad thing since i get that with the OEM set-up as well.

No squeals, no screeches. It's pretty silent. Not what i expected after reading some horror noise stories from some different forums.

 

yeah i heard the bad stories about the noise... thats why i was wondering

 

Do you mean noise from metal pads or slotted/drilled rotors?

I just replaced all 4 with Stillen drilled rotors.. (the rears are marked Brembo) and their metal matrix (PBR I think) pads. I do hear a whoosh when I step on the brakes, but I thought it was just the rotors.

The rears have had a week to break in while the fronts only went on this morning.. I was expecting more noise from the fronts but surprisingly the volume appears to be the same.

To answer Soundmike's question, initial 'bite' seems very, very good, coming from 60% worn front pads and slightly warped rotors (52K miles). But of course I haven't stomped on it yet, not until a few more days of babying the new hardware.

 

i meant brake squeal/screech. That low whooshing sound is normal for XD and slotted rotors.