Wilwood Brake System almost killed me today. Do not use Street pads on the Track!

[Joszer]

Using the BP20 Pads that came with my kit at the track was a total mistake. At the end of my 5th session I had completely eaten away ALL of my brake pads up front. The rotors made direct contact with the backs of the pads which overheated the calipers and busted the seals. I lost ALL pressure. This happened to me as I approached turn 1 at Thunderhill raceway at 100 mph. Thank got the car made it through. I am out a complete Wilwood Brake system, $400 tow bill, and a broken spirit. The kit was not even 4 months old.

Click me for Photos

 

[MKVIIST]

Sorry to hear about this, another member had made a similar post about their BP20 being eaten up at the tracks. I'm currently running on BP10 but will probably end up swapping to BP30 if I plan to ever track it.

 

[Young L]

dam, luckly the damage was only to the brakes. I was thinking about using the BP20 pads myself but thats definitely gonna change.

 

[lukits01]

I use the polymatrix E-pad myself for track work on my wilwoods.
most of the BP series are very street oriented.

 

[Charest2394]

Do you think to rebuilt your Wilwood brake or you think to change to another brake kit after this story.

 

[razorlab]

It's the pads. Exact same thing happened to me (minus the pads to the backing plates) but in the second session of the day, in turn 1 at Thunderhill as well. I posted about it a couple months ago. Glad you escaped unscathed!

The BP20's suck, I even don't like them on the street. After I put BP30's in for the next session the braking was solid, even at 110mph+ braking zones.

Use BP30. They work great on track with the Fiesta. I would advise not using them on the street as they will destroy your rotors when cold.

Btw, make it a habit of checking your pad depth after every session.

Sorry I missed you at the track yesterday, I was supposed to go but ended up having to sell my spot for other reasons.

Here are the BP20's smeared all over my rotor at the track:

 

[Young L]

with this wilwood kit are you just limited to the wilwood pads or can you use other companies? Id like to pick up this kit in a few months before it warms up here in Germany, im planning on hitting up the Ring alot this year but the car is my daily also so id be lookin for a pad that would work well in both driving enviroments

 

[Rejeme]

I had the DP6's on my Mini Cooper Coupe. While they were great for the street, they were not recommend for track use. Reason being that the pads are too thin in order to keep the overall caliper width narrow. I got mine from Todd at TCE and he specifically calls the DP6 a street caliper with very light track use.

 

[Joszer]

Do you think to rebuilt your Wilwood brake or you think to change to another brake kit after this story.

Well depending what Wilwood does for me, I contacted them and give them all these photos. Hopefully they can cut me a deal with another set of rotors and a rebuild kit. It is sad that a fiesta with stock pads and brakes can hold up to the abuse at the track, as evidenced by one of the guys in the advanced group, and that their setup can't with their BP20 pads which are supposed to be more aggressive than their standard pad.

 

[Joszer]

There was another guy there with a White Fiesta in the Advanced group. I thought you were him up until I asked him, "Are you RazorLab on the forums?" haha. He was really booking it in his group, I was impressed. He had stock pads and brakes and had no problem at the track. I almost feel that this setup was a waste of money since I could have done relatively the same with the stock setup.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Your WW brake system did not almost kill you, using the wrong pads that did so, and not checking your pads

After ever run you should go over the car, especially the first time out with a mod, tire temps, wear patterns, air pressures, nuts and bolts, shake the wheels to see if the bearings, tie rods, etc are tight, torque the lug nuts at least once if not after the second session as well.

I found out before running the BP20 pads they are made for hot rod cruisers and then spent $400 on Carbotechs overnight shipped to me and I still ate up most of a $200+ set of front pads in two days.

I would of run much cheaper WW pads, real track pads, but could not get them in time, I have a couple of more sessions left on the front Carbotech and plenty on the rear(custom WW front and rear BBKs) so will match the right WW with the rear CT pads until they are gone then just use WW after that as they make many versions and all are less than other brands that I have found so far.

If a vendor told you or advertised the BBK as a track ready setup with the parts shipped including pads then that helps a bit but still your responsibility to check, everything. Perhaps if so they would help you get your brakes back in shape, never hurts to ask and if they are partially at fault, they should.

-------------------

NOTE:

GET GT ROTORS with your kit if you are going to track the car, they will last far longer as have better venting, better metal, more precisely machined and have more weight so deal with heat better, pulling heat out of the pads and thus calipers, fluid......

If a real track junkie add brake cooling, fog lights or if a TR splitter, I have both worked out if interested.

 

[RAAMaudio]

More fuel in the tank will keep the rear end more stable under hard braking at speed

 

[razorlab]

I agree with the check list but as an FYI, this was the guys first track event and he was in the driving school.

To his defense, there is A LOT to think about at that level. I was a instructor for a couple years and my students always where walking around in a daze. I was too when I first started out.

That said, I do always check my equipment and my pads where at almost full height before starting the session that I had my brake failure in, so sh*t can still happen.

I'm pretty sure he learned to keep an eye on his brakes now.

 

[RAAMaudio]

I did not catch it was his first event, sucks it went so badly for him as it is very costly with nothing going wrong then have this happen.

I have ran with many organizations and do not recall ever seeing a check list, just safety check at the event and or going to a shop for an inspection. A check list could be a mandatory item for new drivers though more manpower to enforce at least a guidance tool to help things like this from happening.

======

JOZER,
Terribly sorry this happened buddy but I hope you learned a valuable lesson and continue to do events like this as it is the most fun outside of all our racing you can do and far less costly and a hugely safer solution to letting it all hang out that you can ever do on the street. And, if you do get carried away, or in an emergency situation it can save your butt on the street, autocross is even better for urban defense training so both are recommended.

Most sincerely,
Rick

 

[westcoaST]

If he blew his seals, he should be able to rebuild his calipers, especially if Brembo will not help. Zeckhausen racing has all of the parts necessary to fix a Brembo setup for less than most places. I used them for my Mustangs caliper rebuild.

 

[razorlab]

Brembo? They are wilwoods. Lol

 

[RAAMaudio]

And they should be pretty easy to rebuild.

If the rotors are scuffed up a bit you can just use them, the new pads will smooth them out, if grooved they can be surfaced unless really deep or run like they are and the pads will wear to fit the grooves.

Some might find that a bit unsettling to consider but I have seen it done many times and never known of a problem.

 

[westcoaST]

Brembo? They are wilwoods. Lol

Brain freeze, I had Brembo on the brain. They have rebuild kits for all the major brands.

 

[RAAMaudio]

We all do that at times

 

[Joszer]

Your WW brake system did not almost kill you, using the wrong pads that did so, and not checking your pads

After ever run you should go over the car, especially the first time out with a mod, tire temps, wear patterns, air pressures, nuts and bolts, shake the wheels to see if the bearings, tie rods, etc are tight, torque the lug nuts at least once if not after the second session as well.

I found out before running the BP20 pads they are made for hot rod cruisers and then spent $400 on Carbotechs overnight shipped to me and I still ate up most of a $200+ set of front pads in two days.

I would of run much cheaper WW pads, real track pads, but could not get them in time, I have a couple of more sessions left on the front Carbotech and plenty on the rear(custom WW front and rear BBKs) so will match the right WW with the rear CT pads until they are gone then just use WW after that as they make many versions and all are less than other brands that I have found so far.

If a vendor told you or advertised the BBK as a track ready setup with the parts shipped including pads then that helps a bit but still your responsibility to check, everything. Perhaps if so they would help you get your brakes back in shape, never hurts to ask and if they are partially at fault, they should.

-------------------

NOTE:

GET GT ROTORS with your kit if you are going to track the car, they will last far longer as have better venting, better metal, more precisely machined and have more weight so deal with heat better, pulling heat out of the pads and thus calipers, fluid......

If a real track junkie add brake cooling, fog lights or if a TR splitter, I have both worked out if interested.

Thanks for the tips Rick. This indeed was my first time at the track and oh boy was it an eye opener. I ended up purchasing new rotors, pads, and pistons/seals for my Car. I got the Slotted only rotors with Curved vanes ($150 each, ouch). Little did I know until one of the instructors told me, that cross drilled rotors are not supposed to be used at the track. I ended up purchasing my kit through 2JR Racing and I assumed that it would be track ready. It was totally my fault for not looking into it more.
I keep on kicking myself in the butt for not stopping earlier. The Last session before my brakes gave out I was thinking to myself, "These brakes don't feel that good, I should pit in", but the adrenaline rush was so toxic that I HAD to go for another lap or two without thinking about the safety implications.

Thankfully I didn't hurt anyone at the track and I walked away with it with a bruised ego and a hard lesson learned. I'm thankful that I have a good enough job that enables be to jump back from this relatively quickly.

I signed myself up again for a Solo run at Laguna Seca. I can't wait.

I agree with the check list but as an FYI, this was the guys first track event and he was in the driving school.

To his defense, there is A LOT to think about at that level. I was a instructor for a couple years and my students always where walking around in a daze. I was too when I first started out.

That said, I do always check my equipment and my pads where at almost full height before starting the session that I had my brake failure in, so sh*t can still happen.

I'm pretty sure he learned to keep an eye on his brakes now.

I'm definitely taking my portable jack and cordless impact with me next time! I'll be going to Laguna Seca in Janurary, will you be going?