Complete brake failure at 145 MPH!

[Gtiwv]

Question. You said the fluid was fresh at the beginning of the season. Like, you ran multiple events without bleeding the brakes?

At a minimum, you should bleed your brakes and check your pads before every event. Even with SRF, I would bleed them slightly to make sure there's no air

[BMR Sales]

Originally Posted by Russell James

Like mentioned, thin pads will kill the caliper seals. Doesn't matter if you have the best fluid on earth if the caliper seals melt, done. If the powder coating shows signs of melting, the seals are probably also melted.

I'd rebuild the calipers with new seals. Add quantum ducts. Use Castrol SRF. I'd use OE Brembo pads, nothing wrong with them. If you go crazy aggressive on the pad, will really need to upgrade to a full race caliper. The race calipers are generally not powdercoated and no dust seals. The dust boots and powder coating can't handle race brake temps.

I had an Accident on the street 3 months ago because my Pads were too thin, the seals melted and the Piston got stuck locking up the Brakes. I should have known better

[Vileintent]

Good wake up call for me in this. How do guys bleed your brakes, any advice on tools, videos?

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[Synner]

Originally Posted by Vileintent

Good wake up call for me in this. How do guys bleed your brakes, any advice on tools, videos?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

If you have an air compressor then I have a mityvac 6835 which I love. So much easier than trying to do it with 2 people.
http://www.mityvac.com/pages/products_bcbe.asp
If no compressor then something like the MV8020 works well.

I suction out the reservoir paying attention to not draw the level below any openings so you don't introduce air. Then I bleed each wheel. After that I pump the clutch 30 times and then suck out the reservoir again. That gets the fluid in your clutch hydraulics swapped. If you ever drop the transmission then throw a speed bleeder on it and you will waste less fluid but the stock bleeder is in a horrific location. It takes roughly 1L of fluid but I prefer to have 1.5L on hand just in case. Especially if you have air in the system it may take longer. If you are putting a new caliper on then I bleed/burb them before ever putting it on the car. Makes it much simpler and faster.

[Merc]

Did the clutch breaking support pack it and in and take out the brakes? I had that happen, but I have a separate reservoir for the clutch so I did not loose my brakes at 130 MPH on the front straight of the Ridge.

[Donald]

Ouch. Could have been worse, glad it turned out as well as it did.

[DonM]

this is getting interesting, I'm in

[himmy33]

Finally an update!

Got a chance to get under the car and see the extent of the damage. Exhaust pipes have a few dings in them and the plastic pieces on the underside are a bit scraped up but not horrible. The front passenger wheel took a beating and looked like it was sand blasted on the inside of the rim. The front passenger caliper also had the same sand blasted look as well. Basically just all cosmetic stuff. One concern is the passenger side caliper does a ding in the pipe that connects each side of the caliper together with fluid. Still works just don't like it! I am going to see if I can get that little pipe fixed. Also I took the car in for an alignment and the front passenger wheel is out of round. Like I said it took a beating. The pads were pretty worn and the disks have surface heat fractures.

Pics!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EUWbyLQUTBxCASvJ2

I pushed new fluid through the lines and put on the new pads. Went to the track and the car seemed solid. I did not push it however. I don't have the same confidence in the brakes and it was more of a shake down run than anything. Fastest lap was a 1:36 that day and my fastest ever is a 1:34. Only ran a 1:36 twice. Most were just pleasure laps.

I was able to get the front wheels re-powder coated and and the front passenger side back to round. So that was a relief. Car is sitting dormant for now until spring when I can push Castrol SRF through the lines and get back out.

[imaSSnake]

Good deal, glad you are ok

[Mach83]

In the pics -I’m assuming that’s a new pad compared to the old pad, not inner vs outer?

Not much left on that pad nonetheless. I’m new to tracking and set a limit that 6mm is the absolute limit I’m gonna hit the track with. In fairness I have the 4 piston SS setup on my 1LE with wheel well ducts, and I bleed before every session with Motul 600 - and while I have her apart I measure pads and rotors. I’m more focused on stopping safely than getting going obviously, but your video is exactly the reason why and I thought it was overkill for a track rookie but I’m gonna stick with my program after seeing this.

Glad you’re ok and the car is relatively unscathed. If the pedal gets soft - she’s talking to you. Bad news doesn’t get better with time.

[himmy33]

Originally Posted by Mach83

In the pics -I’m assuming that’s a new pad compared to the old pad, not inner vs outer?

Not much left on that pad nonetheless. I’m new to tracking and set a limit that 6mm is the absolute limit I’m gonna hit the track with. In fairness I have the 4 piston SS setup on my 1LE with wheel well ducts, and I bleed before every session with Motul 600 - and while I have her apart I measure pads and rotors. I’m more focused on stopping safely than getting going obviously, but your video is exactly the reason why and I thought it was overkill for a track rookie but I’m gonna stick with my program after seeing this.

Glad you’re ok and the car is relatively unscathed. If the pedal gets soft - she’s talking to you. Bad news doesn’t get better with time.

That's correct new vs old. You are doing the right thing! Keep it up and don't do what I did. Yes she was talking to me and I didn't listen. I paid the price and was extremely lucky that's all that happened. Big eye opener. These cars are great but use caution and smarts. The alternative is not worth it.

[djnice]

How many times do you think you pumped the brakes? Is the car an auto?

I think you are lucky it didn't roll. Probably lucky they cleaned up that edge of the track in 2016. I am not sure I would have thought to let it go sideways, but it worked for you.

Did they red flag? It didn't sound like it with cars still passing.

[TWOFORTYZ]

I boiled the castrol you're considering using on a regular basis... That was while commuting by the way. ATE racing brake fluid is the ONLY fluid I have tried without boiling. YMMV. I'm glad you are okay and handled the situation so well.

[TWOFORTYZ]

Also, I use a tiny bit of high temp anti seize between the wheel and mounting surface, as well as between rotor and hub. I do this on my motorcycles as well. If any comes out you used too much. This is just to increase the heat transfer ability of the wheel, but when it comes to pushing 10/10ths, every little bit adds up.