Guys,

I am considering replacing the brake pads on 2009 V8V (with Carbotechs) and wondering how tough this is. Has anybody here done it personally, is there anything in particular to watch out for, and is this something a reasonably competent person with a set of tools can do?

Thanks in advance for your insights and advice.

 

Replacing brake pads on these cars is SO easy, the hardest part is jacking the car and removing the wheel. All you need to swap out pads is a flat blade screwdriver, a small punch and a small hammer to tap the punch with.

However, if you are going to go to a different pad, be prepared to pull the rotors and either have them re-surfaced or replace them. The material build up from the stock Pagid pads may be incompatible with the Carbotechs and if so they will squeal like a School Bus. The Carbotechs may require a fresh surface facing.

 

If you bed in the new pads with 10-20 very hard stops from 80mph, you should wear all the old material off no problem. Which carbotechs are you running? The 1521 compound I assume?

 

Yes. They were great and drop shipped them out to me, got them in 2 days.

I will go after the rotor with some emery paper and a wire brush. Will take some pics and let you guys know how it goes.

 

Awesome, ya some sand paper/ wire brush should help get most of the old compound off. You still have to bed the new pads in. For 1521, they usually recommend 10 hard stops from 80-20 and cool for 30 min, then repeat if necessary until they really bite sharp.

 

So I have now replaced the rear pads. The process is pretty straight forward, but I offer a few observations.

1) After removing the retaining pins pry back the old pads in place to move the piston caliber back. This will avoid damage. Also, do one side first, the keep it retracted with something (I used a screwdriver) so when you press back the other side it just doesn't move back.

2) In terms of resurfacing I used a fine wire wheel on a drill. Seem to work great, no squeeking. This was Carbotechs following OEM pads.

3) Wire brushing the front side of the rotor is straightforward, but the back side has limited access so you have to do a small section at time and rotate the rotor.

The biggest issue by far is that the Carbotechs fit fine, but have no slots or holes for the wear sensor to be reinserted. Thus, I found myself drilling and creating a slot by hand. I huge pain in the a*s. These guys make great pads but they fit several vehicles. They need a specific subtype for the Aston Martins.

I got them hot and bed them in with about 5 panic stops from 80 on the freeway. The feel changes significantly when they are bedded in, and they now feel like the OEM pads.

I will see how much dust they generate and let you know.

 

My original prototype pads I had custom made by them had the wear sensor grooves, but for some reason the mass produced set doesn't. You an always tie them off if necessary, they are not absolutely essential, especially since the pads will probably last way longer than your ownership of the car.

Bed them in a few more times and see how they feel. Dust and noise should disappear completely

 

my V8V squeals so bad, i'll try bedding them again but any other solutions? anyone bevel the leading edges of the pads to dumb down the squeal?

 

I would just switch to Carbotech, mine are silent.

 

Aston addict is right, I figured out 2 years ago that its the actual stock brake compound that was the problem. The only way to truly cure it is switch to the Carbotech 1521 pads. Afterwards they were 100% silent. The EBRAKE pad can squeak once in a while, you can get those custom made by Carbotech too in the 1521 compound as well for a full matching set.