EBC Yellow Stuff: install and review
 

I've had EBC Yellow Stuff front pads in my Amazon cart for a few weeks now. Price dropped ~$20 last week so I pulled the trigger. Front pads - and only front pads - for $110 delivered. If I'm satisfied with the increased braking force, I'll buy the rear pads later on.

Figured I'd provide an install and review thread. My V10 is not my daily driver and the bedding procedure is rather long (driving at least a couple hundred miles) so it'll be some time before I get them installed, fully bedded, and my performance impressions. I'll report back from time to time on my satisfaction.

Note that I specifically purchased the Yellow Stuff pads for their alleged maximum braking force. I am not at all concerned with more-than-typical brake dust which has been reported. Washing truck and wheels is easy; I fully accept that trade-off.


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I had EBC green pads and some slotted/drilled rotors on the front of my Ford Contour a decade ago. I was very pleased with the performance.
I look forward to your review.

I finally found time to get the new pads installed last night. Now, I need to set aside a few hours for some easy driving for the next ~200 miles before I perform the final bedding procedure.

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I believe bedding procedure is to harshly abuse the brakes for the first 2-3 miles. Hard braking from 30 to 5mph a few times, then from 50-5mph a few times, but never coming to a complete stop. Is the EBC procedure different? I've done this procedure on three sets of my PowerStop brakes.

After the initial procedure above, its recommended to avoid braking to a complete stop for a few hundred miles. Actually I found this easy. Just slowly rolling forward at about 1 inch per second while at stop signs or traffic lights. I believe the goal is to not have the pads remain clamped on the rotors while stationary.

What does your instructions indicate?

Straight from EBC website, this is the procedure I'm following.


In Street use situations…

Bedding in when the red EBC surface coating (marked on the pads as Brake In) is applied.
Best procedure is to drive gently avoiding harsh braking unless in an emergency for first 100 miles. In the second 100 miles (up to 200) you can use gently increasing brake pressures when using the brakes.

Only after 200 miles urban driving (not 200 miles on a freeway where brakes are almost unused) should you attempt to apply heavy load and heat to the brakes. To do this final bedding on a QUIET ROAD in safe traffic apply the brakes and slow from 60 to 10 MPH five times in a row. Then drive slowly for a few minutes if safe to do so to allow the brakes to cool. Try to avoid coming to a rest whilst the brakes are heated.

A smell may be noticed from the warm brakes, this is normal. Repeat this procedure a second time after the brakes have TOTALLY cooled down. EBC pads get better with miles. Even after this bed in procedure it can take up to 1500 miles before the pads are at their best. In the meantime the pads will be good and safe but true potential not realised. EBC makes performance pads that last, they do not bed in within 5 minutes driving. Noises will be more likely during the first 1000-1500 miles use whilst this chemical bedding takes place.

NEVER attempt to sand or scotchbrite brake pads to assist it bedding in or noise reduction,this will only make things worse by taking the pads “Off-Flat” and require hundreds of miles driving to seat them again during which time the brakes will feel very dull. The only way to seat pads is against the rotor they will be used on and by following our bedding recommendation.

I'm just shy of my initial 100 miles for brake pad break-in, and I've noticed some shudder going on, even during light brake application - most noticeably around the 45mph speed. So I think I'm going to pause here and install some new rotors up front.

NAPA has a set of Premium rotors in stock for about $80 per side. I'll likely grab a couple on my way home tonight.

BTW, I didn't fully comprehend how painful it would be to drive this thing around like an old grandma (no offense to any grandma's that may frequent this site). I don't normally drive like a bat out of hell, but this easy on the throttle, easy on the brakes is getting old.

Don't sweat the break in so much. I was hard on mine when they first put on. I didn't overheat them but I didn't follow their procedure even close either. Frankly I wish they would just not put the coating on. Mine were making a tad of noise after driving for a while then I did a more traditional bedding to get rid of the rub. I'm fine with the bedding procedure that Hawk recommends.

These pads do create dust like no other pad I have had. The rear dust is not really noticeable but the fronts can blackened wheels fairly quick. Don't let the dust on the fronts for more than a couple weeks or it can be tough to remove. I put the rears on last year and fronts on the year before last. I'm likely going to replace th efronts again this year just because I did new rotors all around and rear pads last year. I'm interested to see how much they wore in the 10k-15k they were on the front.

Well, the wife's Pilot needed new front rotors and pads also, so I figured now's a good time to purchase and install rotors on the V10 too. Picked up a couple of NAPA Ultra Premium rotors and slapped them on. Still plan to proceed with relatively easy braking for the next 100 miles or so. I haul the camper for the first time this year in a week and a half. They gotta be ready by then!
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"Easy on the throttle" is 100% unrelated to braking.

Push the gas pedal to the floor all you want.

I returned home from 4 nights camping a couple of days ago, and I can definitely feel a difference with the EBC pads up front. Although I didn't encounter any panic stop situations, I had plenty opportunity to apply brakes while climbing over 2 passes on my journey to and from our camping destination. The EBC pads certainly bite earlier and with more force than the pads I removed. I also perceive less (that is, NONE) fade when they are hot. I'm totally sold on these EBC pads. May very well have to order up some rear EBC pads to round out the vehicle.

BTW, yes these pads do generate a lot of brake dust. Again, I don't care at all about this aspect of EBC's. I will gladly accept a little more dust in exchange for the much improved braking performance.

I am curious to know how long they typically last. With there being more dust than normal, that to me means they are breaking (no pun intended) down faster than the others. I could be wrong about this as I am not a brake scientist.

I will certainly try to report back regarding pad lifetime. Considering my rig is not a daily driver, but only a weekend hauler/tower, it may be sometime before I know what kind of a life I can expect. Similar to my take on dust, though - I would accept a reduced lifetime relative to other pads (and having to buy new ones more often) in exchange for the improved braking performance.

Thought I'd come back and update.

I continue to be impressed with the EBC pads up front. They're a definite improvement over the stock pads. My rear pads were starting to squeal and they needed to be replaced so I pulled the trigger on some EBC pads in back. I installed them about 3 weeks ago. The rear calipers looked like crap and the slide pins were shot so new calipers were installed at the same time as the pads.

Quite honestly, it feels to me like the rear pads made more of an improvement in stopping performance than the fronts! I dunno, maybe the rear calipers were so bad that they weren't really binding upon braking. Whatever the reason, I am exceedingly pleased with my new stopping capability. I can easily lock the brakes (or rather, trigger the ABS) on dry pavement. I was NEVER able to do this with stock pads.

That's good info. I recently replaced the calipers on the front and used motorcraft pads and they work pretty well. I cant seem to get all the air out of the system though. Brakes work awesome but I can pump the pedal once and they work even better.

Did you have any issues bleeding the lines?