I just installed new Hawk HP+ brake pads about a week ago from stock pads to prepare for a HPDE. I noticed that on the rear rotors there is a discoloration on the outside or inside half of them. It's kind of a dark color ring around the rotor. On the rear passenger side the dark ring is on the inside of the rotor and on the rear driver side it is on the outside of the rotor. Did I mess up on the install or is this normal? Will the dark ring go away or will it eventually cover the whole rotor?

I like the new pads, they have a much better bite than the stock pads, but they squeak a lot. I know that is a trade off for better braking performance but is there anything I can do to reduced the squeaking. I already put some grease on the shims when I installed the brake pads.


Any help on any of this would be appreciated.

 

Did you bed the pads correctly after the install. Do a search for brake pad bedding. Look here for some excellent info on pad bedding. http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm

I've found the best "grease" to use to stop noise is actually the grey anti-sieze compound and NOT the regular anti-squeal stuff. Put some between the pad and the first shim and between each of the shims, and little between the last shim and the caliper piston. Be careful not to get any on the surface of the pad or the disc. There's a FAQ on replacing brake pads that has a lot of good info. https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=123081

 

I use Hawk HPS's for the street and Hawk HP Plus's for the track. The track pad is noisy, but the grip is way better when they are hot. You can interchange the 2 pads on the same rotor with no turning, cleaning, etc per hawk with no issues. There is no way to quiet that (or most) track pads down. If it's too loud you can always run HPS's for the street and switch at the track, it is more rotor-wear friendly that way too and HPS's are less dusting. Just my 0.02
Aaron

 

Not like this I hope: