P3 Brake Job

[beastmode13]

 

[EVTuning]

This tool will also retract the caliper if you need more clearance for thicker pads.

 

[SD_Engnr]

This tool will also retract the caliper if you need more clearance for thicker pads.

Have you actually tried this on the Performance 3 rear caliper?

 

[beastmode13]

EPB driveshaft still needs to be retracted before the hydraulic piston can be pressed.

 

[SD_Engnr]

EPB driveshaft still needs to be retracted before the hydraulic piston can be pressed.

Yeah, so, it seems they don't really know what they're talking about.

Curious, what did you use as a 12V source?

 

[beastmode13]

Curious, what did you use as a 12V source?

I have an air compressor with a built-in jumper battery. Great for adjusting air pressure at the track. I also happen to have some spare alligator clips.

https://smile.amazon.com/POTEK-Star...pump+and+battery+jumper&qid=1573877458&sr=8-5

https://smile.amazon.com/WGGE-WG-026-Pieces-Colors-Alligator/dp/B06XX25HFX/ref=sr_1_4?crid=13HAN30R19RHS&keywords=alligator+clips&qid=1573877561&sprefix=aliga,aps,316&sr=8-4

 

[beastmode13]

Pros:

They are magical. No fade on them compared to stock. Have not tried other pads, because I spend a lot of time chatting with @mcbarnet007, and up until these pads, his feedback had been mixed with other pads (3 or 4 different manufacturers). Knowing how frequently he's on track, and how hard he pushes the car, if he was praising the pads, I felt it was worth a shot. They are also pretty quiet on the street, with only a squeak here and there.

Cons:

1. The rear pads rattle like all heck unless you add the stock shim. This is quite annoying, and even embarrassing during daily driving. I've had time to replace one shim, and it helped quiet that side. I will do the other side this weekend. It takes a bit of elbow grease to remove the shim from the stock pad, and you'll need to hammer the shim flat.
2. Biggest issue - the are far too close to the Mountain Pass Performance Rotor hats. Without the shim, they rattle, so they can make contact with the rotor hat. Once the pad material wears, it's even more likely to contact the rotor hat. I gave feedback to the supplier, and they seemingly don't care. The only response I got was that they designed them to work with the stock rotor, so MPP's rotor must be different in size...
3. Real dusty. Though I'm sure MPP's slotted rotors contribute to pad wear, and thus an increase in pad dust.

Overall, I like the quality of the pad properties.But I am hesitant to recommend them if you are not on stock rotors.

You can see the closeness here:
View attachment 477300
And it actually made contact at some point:
View attachment 477309

Paint missing from the rattle, rattle:
View attachment 477308


Awesome. I was going to do this when adding a shim to the Endless pad, but I was also short on time, and didn't want to mess something up. I still need to shim the other side, so I will definitely do this.

I wonder if I would have the same rear clearance issue with my RB rear rotors.

 

[SD_Engnr]

I wonder if I would have the same rear clearance issue with my RB rear rotors.

Post up a picture showing the distance between your current pad and rotor hat.

I have an air compressor with a built-in jumper battery. Great for adjusting air pressure at the track. I also happen to have some spare alligator clips.

https://smile.amazon.com/POTEK-Star...pump+and+battery+jumper&qid=1573877458&sr=8-5

https://smile.amazon.com/WGGE-WG-026-Pieces-Colors-Alligator/dp/B06XX25HFX/ref=sr_1_4?crid=13HAN30R19RHS&keywords=alligator+clips&qid=1573877561&sprefix=aliga,aps,316&sr=8-4

Nice. I should probably pick one up for track days. I typically just show up with tires inflated higher than I'll need and then adjust down from there.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

What we could do with is a source for the plug used to connect to the motor so we can have a small dedicated battery pack we can just plug in...

 

[destructure00]

What we could do with is a source for the plug used to connect to the motor so we can have a small dedicated battery pack we can just plug in...

I wonder if a 9v battery or two in parallel is close enough to 12v enough voltage with enough capacity to run the motor a handful of times. I guess you could get there voltage wise with 8 AAs as well...seems like overkill though.

 

[beastmode13]

If I have spare time in the coming weeks. I might CAD up a 3d printable plug to make it easier. My current method of alligator clips is what I had at the track. There is a million different ways to do this. The important one is the first step of proving it out, which we did.

 

[FlyNavy01]

Email John at [email protected]

Thanks! My stock pads struggled at the track today, these should be the last piece of the puzzle I hope.

 

[Manksgloob]

Argh! I could really use some advice. I'm on my second weekend, still trying to install the RB rotors and I'm stuck.

Specifically I've been trying to reinstall the rear P3 calipers back over the newly installed RB rotors but just. can't. get. it. to. fit.

I've followed the instructions on removing the parking brake motor and turning the parking brake gear shaft clockwise while compressing the inner brake pad. It moves in but just not enough. (I didn't see the note about applying 12v to the wiring harness to trigger retracting until just now -- will give that a shot on the other side if/when I finish this first side.)

Nevertheless I've been unable to create enough clearance for the RB rotor.

Worse, out of curiosity I completely removed the inner brake pad just to test fit the caliper over the thicker rotor and found that the outer brake pad alone is still too thick and offsets the caliper from the mounting points.

Did I miss a step somewhere? I'm getting really frustrated -- Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all!

 

[beastmode13]

Argh! I could really use some advice. I'm on my second weekend, still trying to install the RB rotors and I'm stuck.

Specifically I've been trying to reinstall the rear P3 calipers back over the newly installed RB rotors but just. can't. get. it. to. fit.

I've followed the instructions on removing the parking brake motor and turning the parking brake gear shaft clockwise while compressing the inner brake pad. It moves in but just not enough. (I didn't see the note about applying 12v to the wiring harness to trigger retracting until just now -- will give that a shot on the other side if/when I finish this first side.)

Nevertheless I've been unable to create enough clearance for the RB rotor.

Worse, out of curiosity I completely removed the inner brake pad just to test fit the caliper over the thicker rotor and found that the outer brake pad alone is still too thick and offsets the caliper from the mounting points.

Did I miss a step somewhere? I'm getting really frustrated -- Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all!

RB rotor is only 1mm thicker then stock, even so, you need to fully retract the EPB. Sounds like you already removed the EPB motor, use a star wrench, turn clockwise to retract the EPB inner piston all the way. Then push in the hydraulic piston, it should be flush with the caliper body when it’s fully retracted.

 

[SD_Engnr]

Argh! I could really use some advice. I'm on my second weekend, still trying to install the RB rotors and I'm stuck.

Specifically I've been trying to reinstall the rear P3 calipers back over the newly installed RB rotors but just. can't. get. it. to. fit.

I've followed the instructions on removing the parking brake motor and turning the parking brake gear shaft clockwise while compressing the inner brake pad. It moves in but just not enough. (I didn't see the note about applying 12v to the wiring harness to trigger retracting until just now -- will give that a shot on the other side if/when I finish this first side.)

Nevertheless I've been unable to create enough clearance for the RB rotor.

Worse, out of curiosity I completely removed the inner brake pad just to test fit the caliper over the thicker rotor and found that the outer brake pad alone is still too thick and offsets the caliper from the mounting points.

Did I miss a step somewhere? I'm getting really frustrated -- Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all!

You've pulled the motor off the caliper, retracted the parking brake, and then compressed the piston?

Did you open the brake fluid reservoir?

 

[Manksgloob]

RB rotor is only 1mm thicker then stock, even so, you need to fully retract the EPB. Sounds like you already removed the EPB motor, use a star wrench, turn clockwise to retract the EPB inner piston all the way. Then push in the hydraulic piston, it should be flush with the caliper body when it’s fully retracted.

You've pulled the motor off the caliper, retracted the parking brake, and then compressed the piston?

Did you open the brake fluid reservoir?

After retracting the parking brake motor I also ended up ever-so-slightly angling the inner pad to create a large enough gap to accept the thicker rotor. Sliding the caliper on at that point was enough to compress the piston the fraction of a mm needed to position it.

Also, 12v to the parking brake motor is a huge time saver. At least for the second side, after having struggled with the locktited screws on the first.


Thank you both for the replies and previous posts. So very helpful.

 

[destructure00]

Are all aftermarket rear outer pads coming with adhesive rather than a factory style clip to secure it to the caliper? Any thoughts on how this is going to hold up to being adhered and removed frequently during pad swaps for track days? Does it even matter?

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Are all aftermarket rear outer pads coming with adhesive rather than a factory style clip to secure it to the caliper? Any thoughts on how this is going to hold up to being adhered and removed frequently during pad swaps for track days? Does it even matter?

I'm reusing the inboard OE spring clips and they're lasting well so far. I haven't yet worn any outboard pads down enough for them to rattle but when I put the 910 pads in to try, I didn't bother removing the backing from the outboard pads as I knew they wouldn't be in there long. When I took them out the backing and adhesive was melted and useless anyway, so in practise I can't see how double backed tape is going to work but happy to be proved wrong.

I can't see any other pad manufacturers going to the trouble of fitting the OE spring clips as the production volumes must be tiny at the moment. A set of Tesla rear pads cost me £258 (fronts were £137) so Tesla must be paying a premium for them to be made.

I wish Tesla had used a more common rear caliper/pad on the P3D.

 

[destructure00]

I'm reusing the inboard OE spring clips and they're lasting well so far. I haven't yet worn any outboard pads down enough for them to rattle but when I put the 910 pads in to try, I didn't bother removing the backing from the outboard pads as I knew they wouldn't be in there long. When I took them out the backing and adhesive was melted and useless anyway, so in practise I can't see how double backed tape is going to work but happy to be proved wrong.

I can't see any other pad manufacturers going to the trouble of fitting the OE spring clips as the production volumes must be tiny at the moment.

I had to pry my 910 pads out with a flat head screwdriver to get the adhesive to release, so it seems to hold even after being heated up quite a bit. Not sure how it will hold up to being released and re-adhered though.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

I'm reusing the inboard OE spring clips and they're lasting well so far. I haven't yet worn any outboard pads down enough for them to rattle but when I put the 910 pads in to try, I didn't bother removing the backing from the outboard pads as I knew they wouldn't be in there long. When I took them out the backing and adhesive was melted and useless anyway, so in practise I can't see how double backed tape is going to work but happy to be proved wrong.

I had to pry my 910 pads out with a flat head screwdriver to get the adhesive to release, so it seems to hold even after being heated up quite a bit. Not sure how it will hold up to being released and re-adhered though.

Hmmm OK, well I stuck the 970 pads in as I expected to leave them in for longer, although I'm hoping to have some different pads to try before I next go on track, so I guess I'll find out soon if they're sticking well. The 3M tape they use will be available somewhere so it's just a matter of getting some more of that if it actually works.