After 2 track events, my front caliper piston boots are cooked and falling apart. I have a 2003 enthusiast model (16000 miles) w/ Motul 600 fluid, and track compound pads.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Any luck in having the dealer replace them under warranty?

How do dealers respond to wear and tear due to track use, in general?

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

Matt G on here had 3 of his Brembos rebuilt under warranty, so I doubt you'd have any issue getting it fixed... Perhaps you should consider a brake upgrade though...

 

Can you post a picture of the cooked boots? I'm going to check mine soon. I am also going to test the warrany issue with my brembos, 1 track day warped my rotors, they should be able to handle 100 miles on road course for 1 day.

 

How did you manage to warp your rotors? Did you leave your foot on the brake after a session on the track?

 

I'll have to take some pics (good idea for documentation).

My front rotors were slightly warped, but still within specs after turning them.

I'm gonna get the brake cooling ducts before the next event.
Maybe get the stoptech brakes, too.

 

Yeah, I disintegrated my boots a few times and warped/cracked my rotors. Unfortunately that is what happens when you put cheap Altima brakes on a 3100 lbs. sports car. Your only eventual option will be to get big brake upgrade. You can replace the pads/fluid/lines, but this will only allow your temps to get even hotter. I would go through a set of pads front and rear each track weekend. The backing plates would warp severely as well. I went through 2 sets of front rotors last year. Luckily you can replace your rotors cheaply ($~55 from Carbotech), but if you really track your car and go to some shorter tracks that are hard on brakes, you will need to change your brakes or your driving style depending on your wallet. Now, I have the 14" stoptech kit and it is like night and day. I way out brake my T1s tires now.

 

I'm not sure they are warped, but I'm getting a very strong pulse while braking. No, No, I didn't leave my foot on after, nor put the e-brake on. I let them cool, then parked it. I did spin her at the very end of the first session, tires were getting slippery.

Someone said it might just be pad material, I hope. I'll see if it gets better. Also, I've heard you can get hot spots, what exactly are they, and what would they feel like. Maybe I can have them turned, I need new pads anyway. These are the brembos BTW. They have 10k on them.

 

While it may be counter-intuitive, you can leave the e-brake on. In the center of the rear rotor is a drum-like design for the e-brake.

But back to the topic at hand, it's quite possible that it's the pad material as James mentioned. Try rebedding them, or simply go with a replacement set and bed in a set of fresh ones...

 

John - that's not recommended either because you can warp the ebrake drum from the shoes being applied the same way you can warp the rotors by leaving the barkes on.

Always best to let the car coast to a stop without the brakes, shut it off and get off the clutch while still in gear to keep it stopped. That's the only way to really prevent warpage.

Also, don't drive through water puddles with hot brakes.

And to spankyG35: It's probably pad material. You can either scrub the rotors with garnet paper or run an abrasive pad for a few miles (Hawk Blues work pretty well) to get rid of the deposits. Very unlikely that you actually warped the rotors. I had serious deposit problems from tracking my Z on the StopTechs and played around with various pad compounds until I settled on one that I really liked (Performance Friction PF01). These leave no uneven deposits and I have been really happy with them - but they are expensive!

To the OP: My dust boots have been cooked for a long time. As long as you keep the pistons clean and lubricated you don't really need them. That's been my approach.

 

What do you recommend for cleaning the dust boots?

 

Looks like the dealers won't replace under warranty.
Apparently, they don't condone track events or even autocrossing.

I wonder if Porsche or BMW dealers treat owners this way.
They sponsor track events for their customers...

Here is a pic:

 

That's nothing, you haven't even burned off all the paint on the caliper yet! Wait till all the paint turns white... Just kidding, not much you can do. I would ignore it. As long as you clean it before you push the piston back in each time, it should be fine.

 

Looks very similar to my E28 BMW after a weekend track event. Main culprit was the Metalmasters I'd use. Cornerworkers commented on the sparks flying at the end of long straights.
Best solution is finding a pad that won't throw off material easily, ie. a good hard track pad. It's not just the temps.
I'm using AXXis ultimates up front and had postive results at one session late last year. But they are not a true track pad and could overheat on a long track.
I always had extra rebuild kits and got pretty good at it.

 

My Stoptech boots are toast. Not sure how long, but any boot will melt under the braking we do on the track. Like Jason, I don't worry about it. So now we all know why true RACING brakes don't even bother with them.

 

Its about time to change those pads Enthuz! I spent part of the day bedding mine in for this weekend. I'll really get to test those ducts at VIR south.

 

Yah, your right, they were JUST touching the rivets!

I still haven't gotten my cooling duct kit.

Let us know how it works.

 

mcclaskz -

Where did you get a brake duct kit?
Do ya have a pic of it?

 

look at my post on ducts in brakes/suspension.