Friction and Regenerative Car Brakes

What’s the Difference Between Friction and Regenerative Car Brakes?

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FRICTION AND REGENERATIVE CAR BRAKES?

Friction and Regenerative Car Brakes: Let’s take a closer look at conventional friction car brakes and how electric vehicles regain energy with regenerative brakes.

Conventional car brakes serve only one purpose—stopping the car. They are such an essential part of the car, yet hold a greater potential in energy efficiency, particularly in terms of regenerative braking.

Regenerative braking is not a new invention, as hybrid and electric cars currently use it to help recapture lost energy. The idea is simple: Recollect some energy lost in braking and convert it into electric energy for the large, high capacity battery. The creation of energy when braking is where regenerative brakes differ from conventional brakes.

Read the full article with pictures.

Automotive Disc Brake Market 2016 to grow

AUTOMOTIVE DISC BRAKE MARKET 2016 TO GROW AT A CAGR OF 6.67% DURING THE PERIOD TO 2020

A brake system is a component that is used to reduce the speed of a vehicle. A disc brake is used to slow down or stop the rotation of a wheel using brake pads, brake callipers, and brake discs. Drum brakes use brake shoes to create friction and slow down or stop a vehicle, and disc brakes use brake pads for the same. Disc brakes are usually made of materials such as cast iron, reinforced carbon, and ceramic composites.

About the Report:

Safety concerns among motorcycle owners are increasing and manufacturers are seizing on this to differentiate their product. Motorcycles with disc brakes allow a rider to enjoy a safer ride than those with drum brakes, and more and more high-end motorcycles are coming equipped with disc brakes on both wheels.

“Disc brakes provide a shorter, more controlled stopping distance in critical conditions such as on wet or slippery roads, which has increased their demand in motorcycles,”.

Read the full report.

Disc brake upgrade in your driveway

DISC BRAKE UPGRADE IN YOUR DRIVEWAY

Working on your 4x4s brake system can be daunting to anyone who hasn’t worked on brakes before. You don’t want to compromise your rig’s critical ability to stop. We’ve all had that exciting dream where you’re driving without brakes. The truth is the system is straightforward and working on it is easy once you get over the psychological holdup. You push the pedal, brake fluid is compressed in the master cylinder, and fluid moves to the calipers via brake lines and hoses or wheel cylinders, slowing the drums or disc brakes.

Brake parts wear out over time—it’s inevitable. Maintenance involves making adjustments and replacing parts. Our 1998 Dodge 2500 4×4 sees heavy use as a tow rig, parts runner, and occasional trail rig, and the front brakes were beginning to wear thin. Sure, we could have driven the truck down to our local Brakes ‘R’ Us repair shop, but we like doing things ourselves, saving cash, and making modifications.

To get the “whoa” back in our 4×4, we called up our friends at EBC Brakes, which sent us a set of its all-new rotors and performance brake pads for a simple DIY driveway brake install and upgrade that should be helpful to anyone who is new to messing with disc brakes regardless of what they drive. Some of the tech is specific to our Dodge, but all disc brake systems are similar, and we are sure there are some tips and tricks you can use next time you work on disc brakes on your 4×4.

The first step in our brake job is to pull a cotter pin and loosen a big nut that holds the front axleshaft to the unit bearing or wheel hub assembly. On many trucks this won’t be necessary and is an added step on our truck. Many newer Jeeps and trucks have disc brake rotors that fit over the wheel hub assembly and are sandwiched between the wheel and wheel hub assembly. Once the wheel is off and the caliper unbolted, the rotor slides off the wheel studs. Our truck has the disc brake rotor attached to the back of the wheel hub assembly. This means we have to loosen this nut and remove the wheel hub assembly. Trust us when we tell you that you don’t want to try to loosen this nut once the wheel is off the ground. Use needle-nose pliers or crosscutting pliers to remove the cotter pin.

With that done we can jack up the front of the truck using our hydraulic floor jack and support the truck with jackstands. Since this is the front axle, we set the parking brake and put our truck in First gear (it has a manual transmission). You should also always chock the wheels with bricks, rocks, or a couple blocks of wood.

Once the front of the truck is supported off the ground you can remove the wheels and tires. We always roll the tire and wheel and place them under the frame or skidplate just behind the engine of the vehicle we are working on. That way if the truck falls off the jackstands it will land on the wheel and tire rather than the ground or you. Trucks do fall off jackstands, and the result can be devastating.

Now that we have access to the calipers, we remove them using a hex-head socket on a breaker bar. Most calipers are retained by slide bolts, and some are retained by clips or other bolts. With our slide bolts loosened and pulled out of the way, we coaxed the calipers off the rotor with a couple pry bars. This can take some work if the grooves in the rotors are worn into the metal.

Once the caliper is free from the brake rotor you will need to support its weight so that it is not hanging from the brake hose. Use zip-ties, bailing wire, coat hangers, old U-bolts, anything to hold the caliper up and out of the way while you work on the truck. Many Dodge trucks like ours have control arms that make for a perfect caliper resting place. At this point if our truck had rotors that slipped over the outside of the wheel hub assembly we could slip the old rotors off and slip the new ones on. We are not that lucky, but if you are you can move on to installing the pads at this time.

Using a 12-point 14mm socket we now loosen the four bolts that hold the wheel hub assembly to the axle’s outer knuckle. With those bolts removed we should be able to wiggle the wheel hub assembly and brake rotor loose from the axle. Since our truck is a little bit rusty we used this trick to loosen the wheel hub assembly. Thread one or two of the bolts back into the wheel hub assembly a little ways and use the socket and a few extensions to make up the space between the bolt and the inner axle knuckle. Now you can turn the steering wheel of the truck and use the steering system to help push the wheel hub assembly out of the outer knuckle. Be careful doing this. You don’t want to apply too much force to a part if you are unsure about having loosened all the mounting hardware.

With the wheel hub assembly and brake rotor loose from the axle we used our shop press to remove the wheel studs. The studs hold the two parts together so we need to remove them to install the new rotors from EBC Brakes. You can also use a large hammer and a brass drift to remove the studs, but be careful not to damage them as you will need them to hold the new rotor in place. During this step we noticed that one of our wheel hub assemblies was bad. There is a video showing the worn part here if you want to check it out.

The EBC Brakes GD series rotors are drilled and slotted to help the brakes shed heat. This means that the rotors are directional and there is a right and a left brake rotor as labeled by EBC. With this in mind we installed the brake rotors to the wheel hubs using the old wheel studs and the shop press. Again, you can use a large hammer and a drift to install the studs or even a few lug nuts, but the press if available is the best method.

With the new rotors installed on our wheel hub assemblies we can move on to changing the brake pads in the calipers. First we use a brake caliper tool to push the piston back into the caliper. To do this, you first want to open the brake fluid reservoir and monitor the level. As you push the piston back into the caliper the brake fluid has to go somewhere; move too much and it will spill out your reservoir and onto the paint. Brake fluid eats paint, so that’s bad. If the reservoir is too full you can remove fluid with a turkey baster or paper towel.

We love EBC’s Yellowstuff brake pads. They work well stopping our truck and come coated with a special break-in coating that helps set the pads to the rotors. To that end, break-in (or is it “brake-in”?) is important. After installing new brakes you should avoid any heavy braking for the first 1,000 miles. That will help keep your new EBC rotors and pads working at top efficiency for as long as possible. Also shown is a wear indicator. It’s the metal tang that squeals when your brakes are worn out.

Assembly is the reverse of disassembly. Make sure to torque all hardware to spec before driving your 4×4, and remember to go easy on those new brakes till things get set in. The last step for us was to reinstall those huge axle nuts and cotter pins. Adding a little black caliper paint from the parts store helps things last and makes our truck look better.

Read the full article with pictures at Four Wheeler Network

BMW F32 435i With A Few Modifications Installed

BMW F32 435i gets a brake upgrade

BMW F32 435I GETS A BRAKE SYSTEM UPGRADE

For many owners, improving the braking system of their performance car is just as important as the visual upgrades. European Auto Source just completed the brake system upgrade on this BMW F32 435i which now allows the 435i Coupe to bring us to a halt in emergency situations and to also help slow us down so we can enter a corner without flying off the track. Upgrading a brake system usually involves changing the brake pads, upgrading the brake fluid, calipers and rotors.

The owner of this BMW 435i Coupe opted for an OEM upgrade. The BMW M Performance offers their brake system at about $2,300. The Brembo-engineered high-performance 4-piston aluminum fixed caliper on the front axle and 2-piston aluminum fixed caliper on the rear axle add a stunning new look and the braking power of the new BMW M3 and BMW M4.

BMW F32 435i With A Few Modifications Installed

Available in M Performance Red, Yellow, or Orange – all with an M logo – the high-performance braking system can easily match the color of your car and wheels.

Included in the set is the drilled and grooved, internally-ventilated lightweight brake disk to assure that your brake maintain optimal temperature. To ensure the proper function side of things, BMW requires at least 18-inch wheels to be utilized.

Article courtesy of BMW Blog

Chevrolet Lumina Brakes

SUPERIOR FRICTION OFFERS 2 OPTIONS FOR THE CHEVROLET LUMINA

There are 2 quality options on brake pads for your Chevrolet Lumina; EBC Yellowstuff brake pads or the EBC Bluestuff brake pads.

chevrolet lumina middle east 09

EBC YELLOWSTUFF BRAKE PADS FEATURES

EBC Brakes offer Yellowstuff pads which are high performance and race brakes for occasional track use & street use. They are fast to bed-in and great for street vehicle brake upgrades. EBC Yellowstuff is NOT rated as low dust and creates similar dust to OEM pads, if low dust is what you seek, EBC Redstuff should be your choice for fast street use.

  • High friction pad for better high speed stopping
  • Zero fade race developed compound
  • Brakes effective right from cold
  • Can be used on street or race track
Shop EBC Yellowstuff Brake Pads 600x400 1

EBC BLUESTUFF BRAKE PADS FEATURES

EBC Brakes offer Bluestuff pads which are made of high friction sport and race materials that can be used for aggressive street driving and certain types of track use. This material has had much success on the track with quality aftermarket calipers and multi-piston systems with better release and cooling and larger rotors. The biggest advantage of the EBC Bluestuff NDX material is their bite from cold and progressive brake feel.

  • World’s first street and true track pad
  • Factory heat scorched to reduce bed in times to minutes
  • World’s first chemical interlayer system for super strong pad bond to backing plates
  • Huge lifetime almost double previous EBC products
  • Easy on rotors, surfaces are left smooth and not scored
  • Low heat transfer, balanced heat sink
  • Great release, pads let go as soon as you do
  • Deep V grooves catch dirt dust and debris and improve venting
Shop EBC Bluestuff Brake Pads 600x400 1
Nissan Skyline GTR R35 with Vari Rotors

Nissan Skyline GTR Rotors and pads

Another Nissan Skyline GTR fitted with the J-Hook heat treated & slotted rotors along with the EBC Yellowstuff brake pads.

Contact us for pricing.

081 588 5060
Email: info@superiorfriction.co.za

Subaru Forester XT 2.5 Brake kit

Subaru Forester XT 2.5 Brake kit – Heat treated & slotted rotors with EBC Yellowstuff brake pads

Subaru Forester XT 2.5 Brake kit: The Heat treated and slotted rotors are specially machined to get rid of gases and debris, giving you better bite.  This helps prevent deformation, strengthens the bonds between the molecules, and allows for an increase in heat resistance. Designed for the racetrack, track days or even off-road, these sport rotors will help you get to a stop much faster.

Features

  • Cooling your brakes
  • Excellent bite
  • Cleansing of debris

EBC Yellowstuff brake pads

Subaru Forester XT 2.5 Brake kit with heat treated rotors will perform optimally with the EBC Yellowstuff brake pads.

  • Give your Forester superior stopping power with EBC Yellowstuff brake pads alongside the slotted rotors
  • Yellowstuff installs as a straight substitution of your stock pads
  • The Yellowstuff is a aramid fibre based brake pad and is explicitly formulated for the track and spirited-street driving
  • No need to get the pads up to temperature. The EBC Yellowstuff  pads bite hard on cold as well as hot rotors
  • Manufactured with EBC’s unique Break-In surface coating for quick bedding in
  • EBC Yellowstuff brake pads’ centreline slot vents heat and gas to prevent thermal cracks and fade
Subaru Forester XT 2.5 Brake kit
Subaru Forester XT 2.5 Brake kit