awcjacobs

LR

I agree, the pads bite when they are warm and its awesome. The do need to 'warm up', I always take it easy when first starting out, not just for the brake pads, more not to be rough on the cold engine. Yes, the brake dusty is heavy. P21S and Poor Boys wheel sealant helps a lot.

dcaron9999

Im a new owner of a 2005 allroad car, and when I bought it, the brakes were in bad shape. I changed the F/R rotors on my 2005 allroad a week ago. I went with Zimmerman Coated and F/R Akebonos Euro pads. Did the zeckhausen bedding procedure on them, before realizing the instrutions that came with the pads said to drive easily for the 500Kms.

Ive bled the brakes four times by myself, and once by a mechanic, to try to get rid of a spongy pedal. I need to sink the pedal close to the floor for hard braking, and to engage ABS. I bled the brakes with combination of a motive power bleeder, brake pedal pumping, including hitting the calipers with a rubber mallet to remove any air bubbles.

Im still not happy with the stopping power, but my mechanic said to be patient, as the pad wear and surface contact is not optimal yet. He disapproved of the bedding procedure I used, and said that I might have made things worse, by "glazing the rotors". He suggested that I lightly sand the rotors, and let the pads wear down gradually. If Im not happy after 500Kms or so, to get rid of the pads, and go back to OEM or better quality.

Any thoughts?

LR Audi

Zimmerman and Akebono make very good brake products. I can't comment on them personally but I know of many Audi and Porsche owners who use their brakes.

You should not need to drive easy for 500km. That seems far too long. I used the Stoptech brake bed-in procedure for about an hour or so and after 120km my brakes were properly bed-in. I actually use that procedure on all my vehicles, minus my new S8 as it has carbon ceramic brakes!

Prior to your brake repair, did you have to sink the pedal to the floor as well? Or did that only happen after you had your brakes done? I too have the Motive bleeder which I use on my A4 and have used previously on my old A6. I never had to bleed the brakes more than once.

I don't know about your mechanic but after 120km your brakes should be bed-in if you used the correct procedure. If you glaze the rotors then your braking performance will be very poor but you still shouldn't have to put your pedal down to the floor to stop.

dcaron9999

Noticed today while sitting at a stop light, I must press the brake pedal until it is aligned with the gas pedal at idle, just to stop the car from moving. Is this normal behavior?

dcaron9999

I think I actually solved my problem. The brake booster pushrod (sitting behind the brake pedal) needed a little adjustment, to allow it to exert longer stroke into brake booster. My allroad now stops after 1.5 inch pedal travel and what seems like less pedal effort.

I adjusted the brake pedal by spinning the collar that the rod screwed into on brake pedal. Adjust so that brake lights are off when released, on when pushed. You will see the switch on brake pedal that activates this. When satisfied with adjustment, adjust nut on rod so it holds the adjustment from moving.

No need to dismount/dismantle anything, or mess with hydraulics ...

This took a while to resolve, so thanks for your patience all your input!

LR Audi

Good to hear everything is going well. Drive safely and enjoy your new brakes.

tzaudi

dcaron9999, were you happy with your choice of zimmerman + akebono?

I read stories where owners were complaining about horrible noise this pairing makes.

My mechanic wants to put just that setup on my heavy allroad. I wonder if you noticed more noise on your allroad, perhaps a lot of squeaking?

dcaron9999

Id say that I was generally satisfied for the price ($500CAD for F+R rotors and pads). No squealing at all from the AKEBONOS. The had a bit less bite for the first few hundred Kilometers. They lasted less than 40,000Kms and I had to replace the fronts due to uneven wear. The calipers on the allroad are so poorly designed. I just changed my pads 3 months ago due to brake sensor getting tripped due to inside pads get too thin compared to outside pad. Decided to go with OEM Audi front pads this time.

The rotors did develop rust eventually and the plating did not hold up that well, not sure the Zimmerman are that better than standard rotors. Better to clean and clear coat (high temp spray paint) the standard brake rotor hubs before you get them installed.

tzaudi

Than you dcaron9999. This helps as I am looking for a longer lasting set that will break at least as good as OEM but be as quiet and less dusty.

I wonder if anyone tried this setup from Bosch as it looks at least interesting?

+Bosch 14010019 QuietCast Premium Disc Brake Rotor
+Bosch BP839 QuietCast Premium Disc Brake Pad Set