Brakes Wheels 1st Gen Tires Most liked posts in thread: EBC, Wake Up! Your Pads are Failing!

Probably not as hard as you do, true, but I'm there for fun and my own experience. I drive my car to the track and back home again. I don't have the luxury or knowledge of being able to change out pads while at the track and I need to drive 130 miles back home after the track sessions are done.

The Hawks lasted just over 2 years. The Red Stuff pads have been on since MOTD, 2012, and the tech guy says they should last for another year.

 

Ferodo 2500 are a great pad that can be trackable, i use they on my car daily, but yes they dust. The Hawk HPS is what we put everyone in cause they do not dust and are a great street pad. but they are not a track pad. they work well for daily use and some autocross. but if your an aggressive driver you have to live with the dust. there is no pad in the world that will brake on a track and give no dust on the street. so you have to have a trade off. live with the dust or you have to swap out pads for track days. its like haveing a car that seats 8 comfortably but handles like a super car and is soft riding..and i want to tow with it and do track days... just cant happen. but any pad could fail after time depending on location in the country. water is an amazing thing and can get into everywhere. add a bit of heat and the pad starts to break up a bit allowing more water to get behind it..since the backing plate is metal it starts to rust.. rust expands and pods the pad off the backing plate. this is speed up thanks to the heat you keep putting int to the brakes during braking add in some rain and in 6 months it can fail.

 

I agree with all the the above Chad except for the water/rust part. Not that water does not cause rust we all know it does, but that it's the main problem with the EBC pads. I have had 3set for EBC pads fail for the same reason (2 front 1 rear) backing plate pad separation.

All brake manufactures have to deal with the same conditions and the EBC pads are failing at a very high rate compared to all the other manufactures.

 

When you look at the greenies posted here it sure is the rust that popped them loose. Sort of a chicken vs egg thing though. Did the pads separate a little & let water in for rust to do its thing or did the rust do it without separation letting the water in? There is a whole load of rust on those backing plates. Either way that sucks.

 

The Elmer's glue EBC uses sucks and the pads separate and water gets in and they rust.

If the pad did not fail the water would not get be able to get in and cause the rust.

My pads separated and it had nothing to do with water or rust it has to due with EBC's poor choice of pad to backing bonding agent.

 

When I called EBC and spoke to them about this problem they denied they had any reported pad separation issues. They said I was the first. (BS just google it)

I was shocked and said my Reds failed and EBC sent me and additional set of new pads and reimbursed me for the Reds I had to buy and the shops labor to install them. I took that new set of Reds directly from EBC to the Dragon last year and had to use them because the new set that was on the car failed again. They did not fail from driving on the Dragon and they did not catch on fire they failed on the way to Fontana. If you are counting at home that's 3 sets of EBC Reds just for the front.

I was also shocked because the mechanic I used also just replaced EBC pads and rotors on another MINI that the pads failed on. The pad failed while driving and the backing plate got wedged and destroyed the EBC rotors. EBC sent the replacement parts directly to the shop after a few phone calls and pictures. He still had to pay for the labor and wait to be reimbursed.

Just a few weeks ago my rear pads failed for the same problem and that makes 4 total failures so I am done with EBC pads forever.

Just another side note about EBC pad failures.
It is not always the entire pad that separates completely. I have seen half the pad crack and brake off leaving the other half (top or bottom) still attached. This is hard to check for unless you take the pads completely off and inspect them without them being in the brake calibers.

Be save everyone and really inspect your brakes yourself if you have installed EBC pads.

 

I'm wondering if we could ask one of our friendly vendors that sell here to please call & ask EBC what is happening with these pads?

If this ^ would happen EBC may pay attention to this. Who knows.

 

Who cares if somebody uses a set of pads in a month or 3 years...
The backs should NEVER SEPERATE....
The OEM don't....why should we expect less from an "better" aftermarket replacement?!
I have ebc "ultimates", aks blacks, their cheap OEM equivalents on the rear of my 2005....so far no issues... But it does make me worry....
And for the record....
My 2005 mini still has the OEM pads that the factory installed when the car was built on the front... Car is tuned, etc....begin the flames?! Cause I drive safe? You don't need to wail on your brakes to drive hard fast....only stop...pick the right speed gear, etc. And carve the turns!!!

 

No flames from me Zippy. How many miles do you have on your 2005?

I agree no pads should be failing this way. At first I thought it was from folks roasting them, but now it seems that isn't the case.

 

I have oem rotors and pads on the rear of my MCS. They were put there when the Hawks disintegrated at the tech check in the Spring of 2012, and I later replaced the fronts with the EBC Red Stuffs and new rotors at MOTD that year, too.

The oem rear pads and rotors are working just fine.

 

:eek6:

 

Uhh Zippy, I posted a little before that I had a set of factory pads on the rear of my '03 JCW separate too.....

It was a strange thing, to me it sounded like I had a flat or a loose wheel, a rhythmic thump that followed wheel speed, but when I looked the tire was fine and the wheel tight. It wasn't till I got home and took the wheel off that I could see the pad had separated from the backing. I still run factory pads and haven't had any problems with them since...but it does happen.

 

Not sure if you're referring to me, but it depends on which CT pad you're running. I've run most of 'em.
1521/Bobcat - street pad, quiet, low dust, low initial bite, progressive
AX6 - auto cross pad, high dust, noisy, high bite cold to hot, good heat tolerance
XP8-12 (and beyond) - track pads, moderate to high dust, low bite cold / good to high bite warm to hot, high heat tolerance (increases with number), may be noisy

 

Great post...very informative!

 

Very good info. in this thread.