M

Mdragon

Active Member
Since replacing my brake pads for new (had the wheel pants off already) and installing Antisplat sealed bearings, my RV9A brakes feel much weaker than before.

They are symmetrically weak, but can hold the plane stationary at full throttle for runup. They just don't seem to grab like before, especially on landing.

I think some of the issue is the complete lack of rolling resistance now with the slick bearings, but even at low speeds, it seems I can't stop quickly if needed.

Any further ideas? Wondering if my new pads just suck.

I've got about 20 take off/landings on them, so they should be broken in by now, and I did do the initial break in after installation.
 
What kind of brakes -- Parker/Cleveland, Matco, Berringer???

What kind of pads? OEM, RAPCO??
 
Marc, 'weaker' is somewhat of a general term. Specifically, did you open the hydraulics? IF not, did you brake in the pads? Are the rotors glazed?
IF you have a spongy pedal, there is some air in the system. If you have a solid pedal, but the brakes wont slow down the plane as expected, then its a mechanical problem between the pads and the rotor.

Tell what you did--
Tom
 
Did not open the hydraulic system, simply removed old pads, safety wired , that's it. Have done it 3 or 4 times before. The pads were from aircraft spruce, threw the bag out, so forget which brand.

Doubt the rotors are glazed as the previous pads worked well, and I only replaced them bc my annual was coming up in 2 months and had the wheel pants off already, which is 90 percent of the work.

Pedals feel hard and are not spongy. Thinking of just replacing the pads again, as I agree it sound mechanical, i.e. pad to rotor friction issue. Maybe the pads are glazed over.
 
New pads require pad conditioning to get full braking performance.
After doing the conditioning procedure there often still isn't 100 % of braking performance.
One cause of this can be the slight grooving that is usually present in the disk surfaces.
Until the pads wear in a bit to match the groove profile, there won’t be full contact on the disk surface like there was with the removed pads.
 
I find the cheaper Rapco pads are thinner, dirtier and don’t grip as well as factory Cleveland pads.. what kind of brakes did you use?
 
Mdragon said:
I'll get on the brakes on the taxiway a few times and see if that beds them in better.
Click to expand...

There’s a procedure. Suggest you go to the Cleveland website to find it but something like…

Taxi 1500ft at 1500 rpm at walking speed. Let cool.

It’s important to do, good luck
 
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