[FWDLK] Brake fade

[David Charles Gedraitis <dcg@xxxxxxx>]

Me again. To be specific...

"excessive use of the service brakes results in overheating and leads to
brake fade. Brake fade results from excessive heat causing chemical
changes in the brake lining which reduce friction and also causing
expansion of the brake drums. As the overheated drums expand, the brake
shoes and linings have to move farther to contact the drums, and the force
of this contact is also reduced. Continued overuse may increase brake fade
until the vehicle cannot be sloed down or stopped at all."

Also if one gets their brake fluid hot enough, it will boil, and same as
when you boil water, it becomes full of air. We all know how well air
stops us. Well, unless you have air brakes-nevermind that.

The really simple way to look at it is to reduce the kinetic energy of
your automobile, you need to transfer energy via friction to heat. This
doesn't work near as well if you have to heat up something that's already
hot. It won't work. This is why you see cross-drilled, slotted rotors sold
as high-performance, and bigger brakes with better ventilation stopping a
car so much better. Most likely other stuuf, but that's the meat of it (or
my understanding of it anyway). Good luck, and don't tailgate things that
smoosh easily :-P

~dave

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