Powerbrake

[Wynvat]

I have invested in a Powerbrake all terrain disc and pad kit for my Patrol. (They are only available for the front). I will only fit it after the holiday, though.

My Patrol has now done 78 000km. The rear brake pads have been replaced at 60 000km, but the front ones are still good for a few thousand km. I would have thought that the front ones would have gone first, but apparently not.

The reason for my post though, is the excellent service I received from Francois Duigan at Powerbrake. I ordered and paid at 11h00 yestertday, and this morning at 7h30, the kit was delivered to my house. All my questions were answered straight, honestly and to the point.

Price, including delivery, was R4378.74. [A front disc and pad change on my wifes little platkarretjie was more than that (fitted, OE, but not done by the agents)].

I found the technical articles on the Powerbrake website very informative an interesting reading material. They deal with: judder, bedding in and warping. Have a look here:

http://www.powerbrake.co.za/tech_info/t ... judder.htm

http://www.powerbrake.co.za/tech_info/tech_02_bedin.htm

http://www.powerbrake.co.za/tech_info/t ... arping.htm

[David]

Interesting articles - The info is not Powerbrake specific which makes it worthwhile reading.

Wynvat - Why was it necessary to change your pads/discs? My Patrol have done similar milage but it looks like it will easily do 100k km with the original set. Do you do a lot of stop - start driving?

[Wynvat]

David

The discs and pads are not due for replacement yet. I am just starting to accumulate the stuff, as I want to change tyres, shocks and brakes simultaneously at approximately 100k km. By that time the vehicle will be paid off. At the same time I also want to do front and rear bumpers, a winch, a roofrack and possibly a 140l main tank (I'm still unconvinced about the reliability of the latter).

I'm trying to spread the expence over a period of time.

The vehicle has not done a lot of town driving, though.

[Sias]

I'll let you guys know how they work in a few weeks or so. My discs and pads are in the cupboard in the garage and will go on as soon as I get the car back.

[David]

I'm trying to spread the expence over a period of time.

Yes - it adds up quickly.

[David]

Well, about a month ago I also changed to Powerbrake disks in front (my originals started to wobble/shudder when they heat up when going down a mountain pass ).
I was also very impressed with the service and response from Francois. It cost me R4565.70 incl VAT for the Powerbrake All Terrain Series front brake upgrade kit - AT316N1361HD and another R171.00 for courier delivery to Stellenbosch.
The kit consists of a pair of (front) Powerbrake All Terrain Series high-performance slotted discs as well as a set of (front) Bendix Heavy Duty matched high-performance brake pads.

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The quality of the kit is excellent and it was quite simple to fit. (Must say I was a bit shocked when I felt the weight of those disks - they are heavy!) You have to do a bed-in procedure after the pads have run in (http://www.powerbrake.co.za/tech_info/tech_02_bedin.htm)

I did this after about 600km's and although the brakes were good they were never as good as my original brakes The Bendix pads which comes with the Powerbrake kit tends to screech when cold and has less feel because they require more pressure to stop effectively.

I thought this would improve but after more than a 1000km's I decided to change my pads back to the OE spec Hitachi pads and voila my brakes are again excellent!

I can recommend the Powerbrake disks if you need to replace disks but would rather go for the Hitachi pads

[Chris Skinner]

Thats interesting information. In fact the guy I bough my vehicle form had similar problem. Just beofre I bought the vehicle he tried to replace the front pads with Ferodo and found that they were noisy and did not perform well, so he went back to OEM parts, and things were back to normal. I now have the Ferodo pads sitting on my workbench at home.

Has anyone else experienced this phenomena....

[G-MAN]

Some pads work great from the word go(cold), but fade when they start heating up.
Pads like the bendix H/D need a bit more heat and will perform better when hot and less fade when seriously worked/hot.
I have pads on one of my 350Z's/track toy that sucks when cold but can take abuse and heat and work's better when moerse hot!

[David]

I agree about the pads but think it is really horses for courses. If you are going to be on the brakes all day then the Bendix compound is for you.
The Powerbrake disks are painted with max temperature recording paints which discolours when a certain temp is reached. I have with normal use (including a few mountain passes) only discoloured the lowest temp one. Maybe I don't brake enough
90% of the time the Bendix pads only heated up enough to stop sqeeling and perform properly when I have already reached my destination! I also tend to drive long distances where you hardly ever brake (like going to Namibia) where I prefer having a compound that will react immediately if I have to do an emergency stop

[Nikolai B]

Hi guys,

We have at our website an article about more or less the same subject.

http://www.euro4x4parts.com/es/mecanica ... freno.html or http://www.euro4x4parts.com/fr/mecaniqu ... frein.html

but I'm not finished with the English translation yet

So only for those who speak French our Spanish it might be interesting!!