What sort of life do Backroomers get from front brake pads these days?
Our Fabia tdi has done 76,000 KM, (47,500 miles) and ours are, according to the dealer OK.The first ITV (MOT equivalent) is now due, so I particularly asked for them to be checked. I would have expected no more than 30-35,000 a few years ago - or am I getting slower in my old age?
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Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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40,000 miles so far on the front of the Landcruiser. I had some other work done recently and the guy in the garage had a look while he was there. He said that they were about half done.
The original rears just replaced at 80,000.
10,000 on the Galaxy with no noticeable wear.
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40,000 miles so far on the front of the Landcruiser. I had some other work done recently and the guy in the garage had a look while he was there. He said that they were about half done.
Spot on - I had the original front pads changed on the LC at 80K just before Xmas. According to the service history the rear still has the original pads.
IIRC, the Omega's front pads only tend to last about 40K.
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Depends on car use. I mainly drive around the town and do not expect more than 30,000 miles. Mark IV Fiestas seem to need pads and discs every 20,000 miles due to, I think, being heavy little cars.
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40k on rears of Passat (due to sticking calipers) and 50k on front, warning light came on.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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I seem to average about 36k fronts
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Just had the Honda serviced and need new pads so thats 28,000 miles.
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I did 80k miles in a 2nd hand mk2 Micra and never needed to change the pads/disks/shoes. There was still plenty of material left on the fronts when it was sold.
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I heard that since they took the asbestos out of the brake pads both discs and pads are wearing more quickly due to poorer heat disapation!
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Really depends completely upon how it's driven.
I got my Passat 18 months ago at 91,000 and I now have 126,000 on the clock.
I measured the pads recently, and compared with the same time last year (so probably some 20,000 miles) there has been less than a 1mm reduction in material thickness.
Mind you, I probably only brake about 10 times a day with my straight dual-c/way commute.
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BTW it passed its ITV today. Next is due in two years, and then annually I think.
Here the test stations are operated by the provincial governments, so there is I think, less chance of dodgy practices. All the original paperwork has to be presented and your test and results are logged into Trafico's computer. A very streamlined operation on a production line system, with the car progressing from visual inspection of lights, belts, washers etc, to brake tests on a roling road and an alarming series of bumps when over the inspection pit! Finally came the emission test and a nice little date stamped sticker which must be displayed on the windscreen. I was lucky and hit the station with only about three or four cars in front of me so I was done & dusted in around 40 minutes. Cost - just under 35 Euros or about 24 quid.
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Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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80k on my Xsara with original pads - over half the friction material left as of December last year when I had them checked.
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"80k on my Xsara with original pads - over half the friction material left as of December last year when I had them checked."
160k on a set of pads?
Nope!
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yep!
Vectra SRi, 2.0 litre, sold at 80k with original pads all round, barely half worn. Depends on usage, and that one did lots of motorway miles. In the same vein, my currrent BMW has barely worn pads at 49k.....
JS
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Like others have said, it depends upon how and where the car is driven. Mine does most of its miles on the dual carriage way with about 35% being town/urban driving, but I go so slowly anyway, I sometimes don't have to use the middle pedal all!
The ones that are currently fitted to my Polo were put in at about 75k, and I?m now at 104k, so that?s nearly 30k and they are about half worn, so I should expect about 60k out of them. That's quite good considering it's previous owner (my sister) used to coast everywhere which is very heavy on brakes, and the fact its a polo, which some say "eats" disks and pads!
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Our Picasso - 10% reported used at the first service 12,500, 20% at the second service 26,500 miles. Our mileage is probably two thirds motorway, one third town and short journeys. I'm with "malteser" on the age theory too - I definitely drive a bit slower than I used to and IMO experience helps with anticipation of conditions resulting in lighter and less frequent braking.
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Volvo 240 - Disks original at 314,000 miles. Pads last about 60,000 miles.
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I probably have pads changed every 12 months. That equates to 17-20k miles. However, I drive down 3 20% gradients every day, country roads, motorways, town centres...everywhere really. I use the car every day but don't think I brake all that hard to be honest. I'm guessing the ommission of rear discs on my car doesn't help.
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Adam
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3 gradients each way! I should also point out, I don't coast to a junction, arrive at a junction in 5th or stamp on the anchors all the time. I usually have someone in the car too. I didn't think it was that bad but with people claiming 80k...well - you can imagine how I'm feeling!
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Adam
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Is it necessarily a good thing to have low wear on the brake pads?
I was taught to drive on the "gears to go, brakes to slow" principle, on the grounds that it saves wear on the engine and gearbox etc.
That style of driving probably wears out brake pads a bit more quickly, but the idea is that they are a much cheaper and more easily-replaced item than the gearbox etc.
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<< I'm guessing the ommission of rear discs on my cardoesn't help. --
I wouldn't worry unduly about the fact that your car doesn't have rear discs. Because of weight transference onto the front wheels the rear brakes are only designed to provide about 30% of the total breaking force at maximum retardation, and drums are quite capable of achieving that. The main advantages of rear discs are that discs (a)are less prone to fade (b)dry out quicker after they have been immersed in water and (c) are more compatible with ABS and other electronic braking aids. Even you shouldn't get brake fade during your daily commute! You really need long Alpine passes for that.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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My 300,000 mile Sprinter is only on its second set of pads, which are sixty percent worn according to the mechanic last week. A chap I know who has a fleet of the same bemoans the fact that his need pads every 30,000 miles.
He also has a high turnover of staff that probably don't drive as considerately as they could.
Eurocourier
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I think driving style must make an enormous difference to the life of pads and disks.
If you try watching the brake lights of not just the car ahead but 2 or 3 ahead, and anticipating their actions by easing off the throttle, it is quite easy to be touching the brake pedal only about 25% as much as the drivers ahead.
So if they only get 30,000 miles from a set of pads, you will get 120,000 miles.
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"I think driving style must make an enormous difference to the life of pads and disks"
Nail right on the head there Cliff. Decent distance from the car in front - eyes focussed a good way ahead produces a situation where the necessity to apply forceful braking does not arise. Not saying you do not have to stop sharply on occasion but for me its very rare. Friend followed me for some 13 miles on the way to town. Remarked when we parked up "thought your brake lights were broken Phil - till we got here. ":-))
Used to take part in Mobil Economy runs long ago just for fun.
Happy days long gone. Phil I
PS First time ever have had edit by swear filter. Took me by surprise. Substitute "a good way ahead" with "f***her ahead" and the filter strikes.
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Anticipation makes a huge difference to fuel economy and brake life. Every time you break you waste fuel. I try to brake as rarely as possible, by watching a long way in front *AND* behind, you can remove the need for braking significantly.
On the way home from university last week I followed a Vectra down the M40 from where he join (High Wycombe) to where he left the M25 to go down the M3. In that section which includes of course the 40mph restriction from Heathrow to the M3 he braked at least 40 or 50 times sometimes with no reason at all it seemed. I didn't brake once. He was driving approximately a foot off the bumper of the car infront, regularly changing lane. I was sat at a constant speed in the NSL more or less the whole time with plenty of gap. From the moment he joined the M40 (braking as he did so to slot in between me and the car in front) to when he pulled off for the M3 he was never more than a hundred yards in front of me due to the traffic. I can only assume the car was one where he didn't pay for the servicing.
Chris
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>I was sat at a constant speed in the NSL<. When does NSL mean Nearside Lane, and when National Speed Limit? More care with the casual overuse of acronyms please?
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Substitute "a good way ahead" with "f***her ahead" and the filter strikes.
Or alternately use further instead of farther.
You say potato, I say potarto.
You say tomato, I say tomarto.....
;o)
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tomarto, tomato,
potarto, potato,
Let's call the whole thing off.!!
3/6d seats, back row, Ginger + Fred.:-))
Sheer bliss
Happy Days PhilI
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Just a question out of interest. I had the rear brake pads on the Alfa replaced yesterday. When i picked the car up the service guy told me to "take it easy for a couple of hundred miles to let the new pads bed-in".
Now I recall that I was given this advice 30 or 40 years ago whenever the pads (or shoes in those days) were changed.
I know what it means, but how are you supposed to do it? I'm a driver that tends not to over-use the brakes, so what do I do? Is it even necessary these days, assuming it ever was? Or is it just one of those sayings that just keeps being repeated?
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I remember this advice as well. I was always told that it meant to avoid emergency stops for the first hundred miles or so as there was a potential to warp the pads. A mechanic I worked with about 12 years ago was adamant that he had seen this happen on several occasions and always wrote the warning across every invoice for brake replacement.
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>the necessity to apply forceful braking does not arise<. On the downside, if there is never any forceful braking, one's rear discs start to pit and corrode.
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Had my original pads changed at around 50k.Not too bad for a car which spends half its mileage around town. (306 diesel)
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Just had the back pads changed on my automatic Accord for what I think was the first time (can't find any mention of them being changed in the history) at 102,000m. Fitter said the discs were fine.
I thought I might be told to take it gently to bed in the new pads but they felt fine from the word go - should I have done something else?
Why do I keep reading about people who take their cars in for 12,000 or 18,000 mile service to be told they need new pads AND discs?
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I suspect quality has improved:
OEM Peugeot 106 (2 in family) front pads lasted 20k and 21k respectively. Replacements (Halfords/other) over 20k and 40k and half worn at worst.
Mark 4 Fiesta 1,6 20k miles , 10% wear.
Audi A4 tdi 50k 70% left.
Rover 800 1st set 25kmiles, second 60k and half worn
Very hilly - we live halfway up/down a hill - lots of salt.
Note: we always brake hardish before we turn into drive so brakes are dry when parked: and car wheels are not washed with a hose so disk faces do not go rusty.
I suspect lot of pad wear is due to rsuty disks: car washing.left parked in damp conditions or when wet and not dried out. I think hard but not overused use is good for disk faces: keeeps off rust.
madf
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