Hi,

I just wanted to get an answer on how much can be left on my brake pads before I MUST replace them and the rotors. The computer tells me I only have 375 miles left on the fronts. I just took a look at the actual remains of the pads and it seems like I have a decent amount left to get maybe a bit more than that out of them, but what do I know.


Front left:


Front right:



I can tell I definitely need an alignment because the wear is uneven. I'm at 42k miles right now and I'm not aggressive with my braking. Do I have more than 375 miles on that front right, or should I just replace them now?

Thanks for the help

 

the picture in the front right is the more visually worn. But that looks like a couple of mm's still, which should equate to low thousands rather than low hundreds of miles.

Importantly too, be careful about ALL the pads. Those pics are only of one side of pads (outer or inner); pad on other side of the same caliper could be worn differently, depending on any pad misalignment, mechanical hanging up of the floating nature of the caliper, and other things.

BTW I don't get your comment about needing an alignment because wear is uneven. Alignments are for tire wear and steering feel, not brake wear side to side. Hard to say why you have that side to side wear difference (and again, be sure to look at the inside pads too); could be weight distribution in car, could be a psd defect, could be...lots of shots in the dark. Regardless, it will need new pads pretty soon now.

 

checkercoop,

One other thing, if you plan on doing it yourself or have an independent shop do it, the people on here say to do it early because of the wear sensors. If they go off, they say you will have to go to the dealership to get it reset.
Also you might be able to move the "brake service" count down further out by using the reset procedure... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REyymJALb5A
....R56 service / brake lights etc reset procedure

 

Yeah I was just assuming the alignment because I've had a slight pull to the right for a while and it's present while under breaking so I'm guessing the extra pull to that side is putting more force on that brake.

Yeah that's what I was hoping for maybe an extra thousand or 2 out of them, but I didn't consider the inner pad. Maybe I can get a look at them soon

Thank you

 

checkercoop,

If the CBS is giving you an actual countdown, you may have already tripped the brake sensor.

fwiw, I got 9,000 miles out of my pads after the brake light came (meaning I had already gotten to 0). The thing is, I was always checking the depth on the pads during tire rotations every 5-6k miles, so I had a general idea of the wear rate. Thus, hard to say on yours how much longer you have.

I did read somewhere that the brake pad material should be at least as thick as the backing plate. By that, you are probably due - just a question on how low you are willing to go on the existing pads. Of course, this could be one of those "Internet truths".

 

pulling like that is a possible indication of one caliper being bound up and not working properly. So the side that has the larger amount of brake pad left (left side) is not grabbing the rotor as much as teh right side thus causing the pull to the right.

Honestly I would have them looked at as the wear should be fairly even side to side. Of course that is under full ideal conditions, but with you having one that is warn much more than the other as shown by the pictures could mean you have a brake problem.

Is it worth having an accident by not having them checked.