Brake Pad Bed in - serious heat

[KryptoNyte]

My 2005 WRX has about 49k miles on it, so I swapped out the pads just now with some Hawk ceramic. The bed in process was pretty clear from Hawk, however, it seems like the front pads are so thick, that they are hanging a bit.

After seating the new pads in the front calipers, and pushing the pistons all the way back into the calipers, there was some serious jiggling to get the caliper back over the disc/pads (no tools, but had to smack it a few times with my bare hands). I checked the brake fluid level frequently when compressing the pistons, no real problems there. The old pads still had about 5k miles left in them, and the rotors were in really great shape.

When I did the bed-in, about 5 miles, the disc is *extremely* hot, probably due to some "dragging" due to the tightness in the caliper, and you can hear the fronts drag a bit even coasting under no-brake. Is this normal for a short period? I'm thinking of getting out on the highway, and it seems like they could overheat and warp the older rotors on the fronts. I've done plenty of brake jobs before, just never had them drag quite this much out of the blocks - and that's a lot of heat.

[jimbo058]

I have an '09 REX and just installed HPS pads last weekend, car has 16K miles on it. I followed their "burnishing" procedure, but even that wasn't enough. I have had to do alot of high-speed stops to break in the pads. These pads are as hard as a rock, but I think they will last a long time after broken in. They made a "sanding" noise for several days after installing. The stopping power is definitely MUCH better than stock. A great upgrade, just have patience, and do alot of hard stops from 50+mph to break in the Hawk pads.