"Burnishing" your new brakes. WTF......... Now I've heard it all. (I'm raising the Bullsh!t flag)

[Runs With Scissors]

You ARE wrong, trailer brakes are nearly all drum brakes and the material has changed. Read the instructions from the brake manufacturer and do as instructed. When I replaced my trailer brakes they barely worked till I did the burnishing procedure.

Yes sir, I can accept being wrong. (It happened once before )

However, even Wagner realizes, and acknowledges that in real life, shops do not have the time to actually do it.

The part in red is my point I suppose. That procedure, to me at least, is basically a "test drive", and I fully support mechanics "test driving" their own work.


From the Wagner website:

"An effective burnish cycle to seat the friction materials into the opposing rotor and drum surfaces requires approximately 200 stops. The 200 stops are consistent with the burnish procedure outlined in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards FMVSS 105 and FMVSS 135. 200 stops may not be practical for many repair shops. Therefore, we recommend the following burnish procedure:

• Make approximately 20 “Complete Stops” from 30-mph

- OR –

• 20 “Slow-Downs” from 50-mph to 20-mph with light to moderate pedal pressure
• NO PANIC STOPS
• Allow at least 30 seconds between brake applications for the brake pads or shoes to cool down
• It is critical to follow cool down procedures to avoid damaging NAO, Ceramic and Semi-Met friction material as well as the rotor/drum
• No high speed stops and/or braking under heavy loads that could result in glazed or otherwise damaged linings"

I know absolutely jack $%&# about trailers.

Or gulfstream jets for that matter......My goodness that must be somethin btw. Mad props sir. Being a basic wrench chucker, I knew you were a next level kind of tech anyways with them fancy lathes and what not. Plus that sweet F350. You can't hide money LOL.



After that, you just wait for them to call complaining that their engine is misfiring, or headlight is out and the brake job you did 6 months ago is the cause of it.

Hahah....thank you sir, but a career ending injury has me just "polishing a seat with my ass" now.

I'm no longer a "real mechanic".

And I feel your pain. The 2 happiest days in my life were, "The day I opened my shop, and the day I closed it."


I suppose we can add this to "The List" of things people will have to "agree to disagree" on.

1. Best Oil to use.
2. Best grease to use
3. Best Ice Cream
4. Best President
5. Burnishing your brakes or not.

 

[Yooper]

If you buy a new trailer, were the brakes burnished/seated at the factory? Or does the axle manufacturer have a process before they leave their factory?

 

[lynnmor]

If you buy a new trailer, were the brakes burnished/seated at the factory? Or does the axle manufacturer have a process before they leave their factory?

That right there is about the best example of misunderstanding of the current manufacturing process. They will do absolutely nothing.

 

[The Evil Twin]

FWIW, the bedding process for brakes (burnishing) is to facilitate the transfer of friction material from the pad to the steel of the rotor or drum. Brake pads on steel don't provide much stopping power. The stopping power (friction) comes from the brake pad material against brake pad material embedded in the rotor/ drum steel. This is one major reason to NOT change pad types (or even manufacturers ) without turning or replacing rotors. The different friction material compounds may not work together and result in poor performance.

 

[JRHill]

I recall that back in the days of a 'drum' brake job by a professional shop that the shoes would be 'arced' so they fit the diameter of the drum at the moment installation. I really doubt anyone doing trailer brakes would bother with this. But I bet its still done on trailers pulled by a semi.

 

[Sidekick]

Yes sir, I can accept being wrong. (It happened once before )

However, even Wagner realizes, and acknowledges that in real life, shops do not have the time to actually do it.

The part in red is my point I suppose. That procedure, to me at least, is basically a "test drive", and I fully support mechanics "test driving" their own work.


From the Wagner website:

"An effective burnish cycle to seat the friction materials into the opposing rotor and drum surfaces requires approximately 200 stops. The 200 stops are consistent with the burnish procedure outlined in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards FMVSS 105 and FMVSS 135. 200 stops may not be practical for many repair shops. Therefore, we recommend the following burnish procedure:

• Make approximately 20 “Complete Stops” from 30-mph

- OR –

• 20 “Slow-Downs” from 50-mph to 20-mph with light to moderate pedal pressure
• NO PANIC STOPS
• Allow at least 30 seconds between brake applications for the brake pads or shoes to cool down
• It is critical to follow cool down procedures to avoid damaging NAO, Ceramic and Semi-Met friction material as well as the rotor/drum
• No high speed stops and/or braking under heavy loads that could result in glazed or otherwise damaged linings"

Hahah....thank you sir, but a career ending injury has me just "polishing a seat with my ass" now.

I'm no longer a "real mechanic".

And I feel your pain. The 2 happiest days in my life were, "The day I opened my shop, and the day I closed it."


I suppose we can add this to "The List" of things people will have to "agree to disagree" on.

1. Best Oil to use.
2. Best grease to use
3. Best Ice Cream
4. Best President
5. Burnishing your brakes or not.

You forgot the most important one
Rare, Medium, Medium Well, Well Done, or Burnt To A Crisp.
That's the one I encounter most .

 

[Shawn T. W]

Our semi-trailers still have drums, and hopefully the mechanics put all the bits in rights, they don't do any final anything, most just rattle the lugs back on, what's a torque wrench! ... We got disc's on the truck

 

[WFM]

I believe i saw a Malarkey on my deck this morning.

 

[Yooper]

That right there is about the best example of misunderstanding of the current manufacturing process. They will do absolutely nothing.

Oh believe me, I knew the answer to my questions! I thought someone would bite and bring up the CYA aspect that was insisted on by a lawyer somewhere along the pipeline.

 

[Henro]

Oh believe me, I knew the answer to my questions! I thought someone would bite and bring up the CYA aspect that was insisted on by a lawyer somewhere along the pipeline.

I think that aspect of American life is bred into people these days, and is so much taken for granted it’s not even thought of…

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

From the Wagner website:

"An effective burnish cycle to seat the friction materials into the opposing rotor and drum surfaces requires approximately 200 stops. The 200 stops are consistent with the burnish procedure outlined in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards FMVSS 105 and FMVSS 135. 200 stops may not be practical for many repair shops. Therefore, we recommend the following burnish procedure:

After the SIL toasted the brakes…If it were me, I think I would be buying the SIL an abacus and a set of pads for upcoming birthday / holiday.

getting the brake pads seated really is a thing (although I’ve never heard the term burnish until this thread, or at least not paid attention to it…I’ve heard break in and scuffin the pads), but I think some folks greatly over do these type of things…I mean for f sake, how would you get the trailer home?

Simple way is drive like you have some common sense for the first bit of use, starting with the trip home from the trailer sales lot. (I don’t think some folks have any idea how easily and quickly brake pads heat up when someone jumps on the binders.). Actually the concern would be over use / over heat new pads until they been used lightly / scuffed a little.

I think common sense / life skills covers most use cases…that’s probably why its not been a problem for you in 40ish years or whatever your number was.

there is no question stopping very important…personally I’d be more worried about making sure that somebody properly greased the wheel bearings and torqued the lug nuts on a New trailer (or repaired trailer) before pulling it home or using first time after a repair.

keep the rubber side down.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

I don't know about burnishing brakes to the level discussed, and I have done a few brake jobs in my days.

Twice I bought new ceramic pads that did nothing to stop the car after many attempts. I went and bought and installed different and cheaper pads / shoes. The more expensive the pad or drum shoe, the longer it took to get them to work. I think the pricey ones would work better eventually and last longer, but I put safety first.

I don't think Dexter burnishes their pads / shoes on their new axles. They use cheaper pads/shoes.

That's why after you buy a new trailer and initially adjust your brake force, a week later you see that you are smoking the rear tires on your trailer whenever hitting the brakes. Cuz the pads / shoes became 'broken-in'. Saw this on my equipment trailer and my toyhauler.

Guy says; " My new trailer tires wore out fast! With big flat spots on them!"
Cuz he didn't re-adjust the brake force after a few miles and never looked in his rear view when braking to see the smoke.

On a passenger car or truck it will take more brake pedal force at first with new brakes, and then gradually it will need less force. It happens gradually and we don't notice it or think about it.

On a trailer it is back there locking up and smoking your tires because it isn't felt in the brake pedal because it's electric.

 

[Sidekick]

With newer vehicles having the trailer braking tied into the Emergency Braking System on vehicles there's very little worry after the initial trailer setup. That's why you really want to start with properly seated trailer brakes. I find no more skid marks with the computer monitoring wheel speed and deceleration then adjusting brake power accordingly to the load for very smooth stops. They even know which trailer you have hooked up. It's all black magic to me but I love it.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

With newer vehicles having the trailer braking tied into the Emergency Braking System on vehicles there's very little worry after the initial trailer setup. That's why you really want to start with properly seated trailer brakes. I find no more skid marks with the computer monitoring wheel speed and deceleration then adjusting brake power accordingly to the load for very smooth stops. They even know which trailer you have hooked up. It's all black magic to me but I love it.

My current tow vehicle is a 2017 F250 XL work truck but it came with the trailer brake set up. But it isn't that high tech like the newer trucks are.

I pinched the little 'ears' on the trailer brake - dash controller once as an experiment a few years ago and the trailer tires locked up and smoked immediately.