"frozen" Front Wheels

[RDL]

The smart CDI would not move on Saturday after it was parked outside for the day. Thinking that the emergency brake had seized I jacked up the left rear rather than burn up the clutch. Surprisingly the wheel turned well so the jack was placed on the right side which also turned well. Since the jack lifted the entire side of the car I tested the front wheel. It was seized solid and took some force to break it free but then it turned freely. The same thing was done to the left front wheel. The car is parked inside and there was a fair amount of snowplowing required but this has not happened before. There was a bit of a "tok" this morning after spending a few days inside.Does anyone have some insight regarding this event?Raymond

[Huronlad]

If you are running OE brake pads, I would fault them. The bimetallic material rusts to the rotors fairly quickly.

[MikeT]

Also, watch for pad delamination. It might be the issue here.

[marchanna]

+1 on the brake pads. The OEM ones are horrible. I replaced mine with only 11,000kms on the car. Got rid of the black brake dust all over the rims and car.

[WudzRydr]

I find that mine stick if the roads are wet and I park it in sub zero temps for the night.

[3UP]

+1 on the brake pads. The OEM ones are horrible. I replaced mine with only 11,000kms on the car. Got rid of the black brake dust all over the rims and car.

What pads did you go with?

[RDL]

What pads did you go with?

I'll have to check. I think they were Positeks from Cyberbrake. I don't think it was rust because both wheels were locked at the same time and it seems to me things rust so much better when it is wet and hot. I had not thought of the brakes but rather ice forming on the wheel when it cooled down. It was a surprise. I could not put it into Drive because the car was close to the fence. Reverse did not have the oomph but then I was afraid to burn the clutch so it was a half hearted attempt. The wheels were freed by placing a small lever into the wheel (they are the winter steel wheels) not elegant but when it is cold ... Edited November 19, 2013 by RDL

[dmoonen]

Its a common problem with flash rusting on the front rotor and pads. My grey smart was really bad, even dragging it behind my truck didn't do it. The front breaks were one year old then I had to change them out.The rears also are the same but was Mike said watch out for them de-lamating. I had that issue before.

[marchanna]

What pads did you go with?

I bought Lomandi Ceramic Pads. After cleaning the rims I can drive over 1000 Kms without any noticeable brake dust build up.

[David_18]

What rotor you have ? The Stock one ?

[marchanna]

Yes, for now. I might change them up, but they seem decent enough for now. No issues with quality of braking. I'll see if I notice any rusting over the next few months, but that would be the only reason I would switch them up early.

[Francesco]

I've gotten about 35000 km so far out of the Posi-Quiet ceramic pads from R1 Concepts, which is reasonable in the horrible stop-and-go traffic here. They emit very little dust. The R1 drilled and slotted rotors are a bit scored. I'm going to turn them this once and have another set of Posi-Quiet pads to install next week, but I'll probably replace the rotors next summer and the pads again at that time. At $35 a set, I'm not worried about replacing the pads prematurely (about half their life). They are far superior to both OEM and EBC for stopping as well as longevity.

[3UP]

Are smart 450 and 451 pads the same, I see allot of listings for the new style but not the old style 450?

[marchanna]

According to Smartmadness the same pads fit both models.

[RDL]

The Cyberbrake site had a listing of my purchase which is good because I could not remember - Advanced Semi-Metallic Disc Brakes is what I installed. I considered ceramic pads but read about the excessive rotor wear. I noticed that Marchanna and Francesco have gone that route. I would like to here about ceramic results. There are comments about overkill for a Smart but for an extra $20 or whatever I rather not get problems later.

Edited November 20, 2013 by RDL

[marchanna]

Rotors for these cars are pretty cheap, so that wasn't a significant factor for me, but so far I've got about 4,000 Kms with the new pads and no adverse effects so far. In my case the results may different than what someone else might get because my car is electric with recuperative braking, which means that I don't use the "real" brakes as much on account of the charging "brushes" slowing the car via resistance against the motor's armature. (That's probably not an accurate representation of how it actually works - but you get the point)

[Francesco]

Yeah, and someone contending with a nice, easy jaunt on a 90 km/h back highway will have different results than someone facing constant city traffic in a major metro area like Greater Montreal or Toronto. I have no doubt Mike T could get 200000 km out of these pads and rotors.

[RDL]

... different results than someone facing constant city traffic in a major metro area like Greater Montreal or Toronto. ...

It is not clear to me if you are implying that your city driving has resulted in high rotor wear attributable to ceramic pads. Your experience is of interest to me because my Smart hardly ever leaves the city and only occasionally plays on the freeway.Raymond

[Francesco]

Mostly pad wear, but both I guess. OEM smar pads are both notoriously soft, and infamous for delaminating before the friction material is completely worn. Regardless, someone on back roads and easy drives would use the brakes a lot less than someone in bumper-to-bumper traffic every day -- especially the kind in big cities that seems to accordion. 120-dead stop-crawl-120-dead stop-crawl and on and on again for many kilometres.

[David_18]

Yes, for now. I might change them up, but they seem decent enough for now. No issues with quality of braking. I'll see if I notice any rusting over the next few months, but that would be the only reason I would switch them up early.

Ok, I change my stock rotor at 105 000 and install Red Brake Pad with Brambo Rotor (look the same as the stock one), but still have a lot of dust.

[marchanna]

I say give the Lomandi pads a try. I have white rims and so they really show the dust. With the OEM pads, after cleaning the rims I would have noticeable dust after just 5 or 6 Kms. With the Lomandi pads, I could see any dust until after 200 Kms; and even then it doesn't get bad, the road grime accumulates faster than the brake dust.