Nasty Grinding Noise

I’ve had a busy couple of weekends at the track: first the Ticket to Ride days then the Ferrari day. A week before either of these, though, Michael and I took a look at my brake pads. The fronts were clearly getting near the end of their life. I certainly had enough for Ticket to Ride, which is more or less the equivalent to half a track day.

So right after Ticket to Ride I ordered a set.Unfortunately, they were back ordered.

We took another look and decided I’d be okay for one more track day, but no more!

This turned out to be a slight miscalculation. There’s a definite nasty grinding noise coming from the front when I apply the brakes. I need to keep the car parked for who knows how long, until my order gets filled.

Then I remembered that a few weeks ago, when looking for something else (I don’t even remember what I was looking for now), I came across a box with a used set of pads. When I found them, I said to Michael, “Why do you suppose I kept these?”

They are the stock pads that I took off the car when I first put the Carbone Lorraine pads on a few years ago. I can’t say for sure, but they may have half their life left. In any event, they’re not completely done, so that must be why I kept them.

Not knowing how long I’ll have to wait for the good pads, it was an easy decision to put these used ones back in. And it’s good instruction for me. I keep saying that I’m software, not hardware. So Michael did one side and I did the other. (Yes, I’ve gone through this exercise before, when Doug first helped me. It didn’t stick then, but I’m thinking that through repetition I’ll finally get it.)

We took it around the block to make sure all is well. They’re clearly not as sticky as the CL RC5+, but they’ll work just fine in the interim.

And, luckily, the rotors are none the worse for wear.