Brake fade: What it is, why it sux and how to avoid it

Brake fade can happen in any vehicle, including yours. We take a look at brake fade, what it is, why it sux and how you can avoid it.


September 27, 2022

Brake fade isn’t just something that happens to race cars, it also occurs in 4WDs, passenger cars and even your trusty (or not so trusty) towing vehicle. We take a look at brake fade, what it is, why it sux and ways in which you can avoid it.

What is brake fade?

Brake fade is when your braking becomes temporarily compromised by the added heat created from braking under heavy loads and from repeated or sustained braking. It happens more than we realise and common factors include when we kit out our vehicles with a swag of heavy accessories or when we tow a caravan or camper down a mountain road or large hill.

Many of us (myself included), are guilty of both of these things.

Brake fade usually happens because the disc brake pads have exceeded their maximum operating temperature range, causing the friction materials to deteriorate. In turn, the pads leave matter on the rotors that lubricate them and your braking is now less effective.

However, brake fade can also occur when the brake fluid overheats. Any moisture within vaporizes when the fluid boils, thus making the fluid more compressible.

brake fade
A close-up look at the brakes shows that the heat is not properly dissipating, which affects braking performance. At high temperatures, pad friction materials also begin to deteriorate, further compromising braking © Bendix

Why brake fade sux

Basically, your brakes don’t work as well when you work them too hard. Brake fluid that has become more compressible results in reduced braking effectiveness and longer brake pedal travel.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that when your brakes don’t work as well as they should, we now have an increased chance of something going wrong.  Potentially with disastrous consequences.

How to minimise brake fade

Brake fade can be reduced significantly in a number of different ways such as changing the way you drive, ensuring your brakes are in good working order and upgrading your braking components. Let’s start with changing your driving habits.

Change your driving habits

Start by changing your driving habits, particularly in conditions that are more challenging than normal. Tips on driving habits to change that will decrease wear and tear on your brakes and reduce the risk of brake fade include:

  • Give your brakes a chance to cool down and avoid riding them. If necessary, pull over and let them cool down.
  • Slow down! Why? The faster you drive, the harder your brakes have to work when you want to stop.
  • Anticipate the need to slow down by reading the road conditions.
  • Lighten your towing and vehicle load where practical.
  • When towing downhill, change into a lower gear and let the engine do some of the braking.
brake fade
After repeated hard braking applications, this test vehicle (kitted out with typical 4WD accessories) is showing longer stopping distances with each successive pass © Bendix

Ensure your brakes are in good working order 

Ensuring your braking system is in good working order is a bit of a no-brainer when it comes to brake fade. This means keeping up to date with servicing, having a check-over before a big trip and checking your brake fluid. Brake fluid with excessive moisture will erode your brake performance considerably.

Upgrade your braking components

Just like you’ve upgraded other components of your vehicle and caravan/camper, your brakes will benefit from an upgrade as well. Bendix offers packages for a range of 4WDs and passenger cars through its Ultimate, Ultimate 4WD and Euro+Disc Brake Rotors. These will help reduce brake fade and increase braking performance.

For those who use Bendix brake pads, the Blue Titanium Strip technology means you don’t have to worry about them being property ‘bedded in’, a process that deposits a thin layer of pad material on the disc brake rotor. This technology means an instant pedal feel from the first time you brake and longer-term protection to minimise fading.

As well as changing driving habits and reducing vehicle loads, aftermarket braking upgrades such as Bendix Ultimate Disc Rotors with slots and dimples to expel heat will reduce the likelihood of brake fade © Bendix

The Verdict

Most of us probably aren’t going to give up our caravans, campers and necessary accessories to save our vehicle’s brakes. However, with a few tweaks to driving style and some braking system upgrades, brake fade can largely be eliminated.

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Jessica Palmer
Jessica Palmer

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