Brake fade heeeeeeeeeeelp

[andyjanet]

Fiat ducato maxi, 9000 miles when i bought it 15 months ago, now done 24,000
Went to switzerland in the summer brakes faded, so had the pads replaced with genuine fiat , brake fluid changed and front and rear on a mot rolling road and no problems , we are now in south of italy doing some of the italian coastal villages and nountain roads and we have brake fade again , yes the van is slightly over the 3.5 ton but its a maxi chassis plated to 4 ton, my driv8ng is sedate compared with the italians who are passing me in all sorts of vans and trucks , two questions
Have they really had there brain removed the speed they are going at,
Has anyone fitted performance pads /discs to a ducato and are they any good

 

[trevskoda]

Fit green race pads, big problem is they dont work well when cold, proper way to use brakes is low gear and of and on pedal at slow speed down hills.
This allows the discs to cool, driving instructions given foe a cup of coffee and a choc bicy or two.
You want to try going down the Glengeash pass in Donegal.

 

[The laird]

Andy my daughter has vans Fiat pug and Vauxhall .ive had a few at 9k needing to replace ft pads for various issues im fitting Delphi pads the original pads were brembo as you know are meant to be goid but as I say had issues with oe hope this is of help

 

[barryd]

Used to sometimes but very rarely get it on my old 1996 Kontiki despite letting it scream its tits off in 2nd and sometimes even 1st coming down huge mountains (and we did the highest passes in Europe). The brakes would smoke still but I only remember them fading once or twice. Will have to see how the 2015 Ducato 4.25t gets on this summer! Only thing I can suggest is like what Trev says. Use the gears as much as you can but I presume you already do that? Would be interested to see if there is an upgrade option though as mountains are our thing.

 

[mistericeman]

Have a chat with these guys ...

Brake Discs and Pads for Ducato 2.3 Mjet (110bhp) (Van) 3500KG 05/2014-04/2018

Brake Discs and Pads for Ducato 2.3 Mjet (110bhp) (Van) 3500KG 05/2014-04/2018

www.mtecbrakes.com

Fiat Ducato Maxi Van Front Brake Kit - 16" - CompBrake

Fiat Ducato Maxi Van Front Brake Kit - 16"

www.compbrake.com

 

[colinm]

There have been times when I've been driving our Maxi chassis Ducato in mountainous areas where I've concerned about brake fade, but it's never happened.

 

[andyjanet]

We have hill decent thatcutsin at 15 mph ive started using that and the gears and cups of tea during the decents , first time ive has problems on any vehicle with brakes even the ducato 2008 on a aclass dethleffs 5ton didnt have this problem im wondering about load sensor as thevan was empty when i put it on mot rolling road

 

[mark61]

Modern van, well maintained, driven properly, shouldn't be getting any significant or noticeable fade.

Long shot, but wondering if there is anything specific to your van that may have reduced air flow to discs?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Used to sometimes but very rarely get it on my old 1996 Kontiki despite letting it scream its tits off in 2nd and sometimes even 1st coming down huge mountains (and we did the highest passes in Europe). The brakes would smoke still but I only remember them fading once or twice. Will have to see how the 2015 Ducato 4.25t gets on this summer! Only thing I can suggest is like what Trev says. Use the gears as much as you can but I presume you already do that? Would be interested to see if there is an upgrade option though as mountains are our thing.

I wonder if they upgrade the brakes when they up the weight by 750 kilos?

As Barry says drop a gear or three to get some engine braking, do the slush autos have bigger brakes?

 

[colinm]

I wonder if they upgrade the brakes when they up the weight by 750 kilos?

As Barry says drop a gear or three to get some engine braking, do the slush autos have bigger brakes?

Ducato's have two brake sizes, smaller on the 'light' chassis, and larger on the Maxi chassis.

 

[yeoblade]

on my maxi chassis I've not experienced fade coming down some Pyrenees passes but they didn't half smell and needed changing soon after.
My passenger suggested when we were overtaken so dangerously in Italy they had put 'I' for idiot on the back of offending cars

 

[mark61]

I wonder if they upgrade the brakes when they up the weight by 750 kilos?

As Barry says drop a gear or three to get some engine braking, do the slush autos have bigger brakes?

No idea about other makes but from factory the 3.5 tonne and 4.1 tonne Sprinter do have a slight difference, callipers I think. Biggest difference would be in Diff ratio.
Doubt anything on the brakes are changed when the upgrade is done after manufacture.

 

[andyjanet]

Driven close to a million miles in 20 years as an AA man, ive boughtnew cars and motorhomes and put tens of thousands of miles on them , and only usuallychange the pads at anout 30,000. Miles managed 45,000 on my 2008 rapido auto sprinter , gonna look into load sensor when back in uk . Thanks for all replys

 

[guerdeval]

The only time I’ve actually seen someone ‘shake with fear’ was descending the glossglockner in Austria when my citroen relay based Wildax van had complete brake loss, it was so bad I had to jump out while my wife stepped on the pedal to put rocks from the side of the road under the wheels as it was still sliding with the handbrake on, took over a hour to cool enough to get to a campsite and I promise the discs were actually glowing, and before anyone comments I was a HGV driving instructor.

 

[RSD7a]

Ducato, not maxi, some years ago brakes overheating/smokin' in Switzerland. Turned out, unbeknownst to me, the brakes were binding all the time, so I was starting descents at already higher temps, so they didn't stand much of a chance.

 

[mark61]

The only time I’ve actually seen someone ‘shake with fear’ was descending the glossglockner in Austria when my citroen relay based Wildax van had complete brake loss, it was so bad I had to jump out while my wife stepped on the pedal to put rocks from the side of the road under the wheels as it was still sliding with the handbrake on, took over a hour to cool enough to get to a campsite and I promise the discs were actually glowing, and before anyone comments I was a HGV driving instructor.

Mate did similar in his G Wagen on the grossglockner.
One of my favourite roads.

 

[UFO]

Our 2009 Ducati 6m has done 72,000 miles on the original brakes. Everytime at the annual service I ask them to check and they always say 'brakes are ok'. We did a lot of mountain roads this summer in France and Italy. I use engine braking as much as possible and never had any sign of brake fade. The pads low warning light has flashed on a couple of times so I reckon next service they will need replacing.

 

[trevskoda]

Brakes wont fade if you slow to about 15/20 mph and use a low gear, good idea to stop now and again letting them cool.

 

[barryd]

Brakes wont fade if you slow to about 15/20 mph and use a low gear, good idea to stop now and again letting them cool.

I agree Trev. I remember coming down the Col de la Bonette which is the highest paved pass in Europe I think or one of them (Roof of Europe). Its never ending and about half way down we noticed a small village so stopped to have a look around. I had pretty much come down like you say using the gears and probably holding people up but even half way down when we got out some French bloke pointed at my rear wheels and there was smoke coming out of them. Gave it half an hour and carried on.

The worst thing was the old two stroke Peugeot Scooter which was an automatic with no real engine braking. If you over did it on that in the Alps or Pyrenees the front brake would fade quickly followed by the rear one. Then you were basically fubared.

 

[mark61]

How do you expect your brakes to cool down if you don't go above 20 mph.
You have to go as fast as possible on the straight to get as much air as possible round the discs, then bang on your brakes at the last minute for the hairpins, if you do it right all tyres will be screeching, then floor it till the next corner.



Obviously no-one should use this method.