DE-BUNKING THE NOISE MYTH
Brake Noise is a regular and irritating problem. It's something the team at Bendix takes very seriously, which is why Bendix are particularly proud of its General CT brake pads, which offer superior performance with negligible brake noise, and now the top moving range comes with stealth advanced technology.
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Tim Paton is an applications engineer at FMP Group Australia, manufacturer of Bendix, where he has been testing the reliability, efficiency and noise levels of Bendix brake pads for more than five years. According to Tim, Bendix General CT are the quietest brake pads the company manufacturers, and with the addition of the new innovation STEALTH Advanced Technology to the top moving range it virtually eliminates noise at the source . Yet, despite being the quietest aftermarket brake pads on Australian roads, misconceptions continue to exist about brake noise produced by this market leader. ?It still happens that we get pads returned to us because of noise, such as the DB1331 (most commonly fitted to Holden Commodores). However our extensive testing reveals that pads such as these are incredibly quiet, and what?s actually happening is that the front pads are being blamed for rear pad noise. The rear brake on these models of Commodore is notoriously noisy.? Tim says it?s easy to see how the confusion occurs.
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?Front brakes do around 75% of the braking, so many mechanics fit quality, Bendix General CT pads to the front of the vehicles they service, opting for cheaper, lower performance pads at the rear. The perception is very much that the front pads do all the work and the rear brake pads are just ?along for the ride?, so the first assumption when brake noise problems occur is that the sound must be coming from the front pads.? Extensive testing at FMP?s testing laboratory, the largest and best equipped testing laboratory in Australia, reveals that Bendix pads are exceptionally quiet, while imported; competitor pads are responsible for creating substantial brake noise. ?One of the interesting points here is how difficult it is to accurately diagnose or attribute brake noise using the human ear,? explains Tim. ?Even for our test technicians, who have years of experience testing brake pads for noise levels, it?s virtually impossible to successfully tell whether brake noise is coming from the front or rear pads, without using microphones and a spectrum analyser.?
Tim says that the advanced testing procedures and equipment used within FMP?s testing facility ? which features signal processing and analysis systems, spectrum analysers and a brake noise dynamometer ? reveals that when Bendix General CT pads are fitted to the front of a vehicle and inferior, cheap pads are fitted at the rear, it is the rear brake that is always responsible for noise. ?In fact, we also find that regardless of pads used, rear brakes generally make more noise than fronts?.
?Even though the rear brakes are often considered less significant than the front brakes, it is simply not worth fitting cheap, inferior pads at the rear. The potential for noise, as well as other general wear-and-tear and reliability problems, is considerable. The only way to totally eliminate brake noise is to use a top quality brake pad like Bendix General CT on both fronts and rears,? says Tim.
Recent analyses conducted in the Bendix laboratory prove the point. Tests reveal time and time again that Bendix General CT pads are quieter than almost any other pad on the market. As accompanying graph illustrates, when tested under the same conditions, a typical aftermarket DB1332 pad records over 80% more noise than a General CT DB1332 pad and a typical aftermarket DB1331 pad records over 16% more noise than a General CT DB1331. The graph also shows a higher incidence of noise on the rears compared to the fronts.
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The exclusive ceramic formulation used in Bendix General CT is an inherently quiet material, because it uses cohesive, rather than abrasive friction. While most brake pads use an abrasive friction to slow a vehicle, Bendix General CT pads transfer a thin film of friction material to the rotor surface and the braking force is achieved by continuously breaking the adhesive bonds between the brake pad and the friction film on the rotor. In addition, only Bendix General CT DB1332 pads feature a wrap-around shim, a key feature to minimise noise on this brake. ?Bendix General CT is the only pads on the market that really work under Australian conditions,? says Tim. ?We find that most competitor pads simply don?t work as well here, because they are manufactured and tested to suit foreign cars and foreign conditions.?
At Bendix, we invest considerably in the research and development of brake pads for Australian cars on Australian roads. While competitors can easily copy the shape or look of our pads, there is no other brand out there that has the knowledge of, and commitment to, the Australian market, as well as the required technology, to produce anything that comes close to the Bendix General CT product.? ?We put real effort into Australian cars on Australian roads,? says Tim. ?And this is why Bendix General CT is unique.?
DB1331 and DB 1332 are top sellers in the Bendix range suitable for use on a range of vehicles including Holden Commodores.
For a complete listing of the Bendix range visit www.bendix.com.au
