Brakes

[DonM]

I had my brakes replaced at all four corners, three years and 52,000 miles ago with Power Stop drilled & slotted rotors and their "Z-something" pads. Yesterday I took the car in because the rears were making noise and starting to grind, just like they did when I had my brakes done three years ago.

So basically, I had the rears done, but the fronts are still at 5mm (which is 50% life left). I'm an "Old fart with a young car," So I'm used to the front's doing 80% + of the braking and wearing out twice as fast as the rears.

This "reverse of normal" is still strange to me. At least (it appears anyway) that the rear brakes still control the height of the brake pedal since the new pads & rotors were installed yesterday, I can tell a difference in the height of the pedal as well as a better "feel" to it when depressing the brakes.

Just a few odd thoughts at quarter of five in the morning.

[redcoats1976]

i have a couple of questions for you then.how many miles did you get out of the original pads and rotors? do you consider the power stop pads and rotors to be equivalent of OEM?i have 72,000 miles on my car and currently running the original pads and rotors,im wondering how long they will last.

[tomlink]

I had new front pads and rotors at 78K miles. They had plenty of life on them, I just changed for a front end vibration. I've never touched the rear but they looked good to me. SS owners might have a different story.

[DonM]

Originally Posted by redcoats1976

i have a couple of questions for you then.how many miles did you get out of the original pads and rotors? do you consider the power stop pads and rotors to be equivalent of OEM?i have 72,000 miles on my car and currently running the original pads and rotors,im wondering how long they will last.

I had 101,000 miles on the car when the rears went and I changed over to Power Stop all the way around. Yes the OEMs lasted longer, but I think the Power Stops are much more aggressive in bite and you can feel that in even light braking (without excessive dusting). At the time (3 years ago), the Power Stop brakes were less expensive than OEM replacements by a couple of hundred dollars.

The rears ran me $556 out the door yesterday, which I didn't feel was bad for brakes that lasted 3 years ~51,000 miles.

[Rock-It Man]

With about 80,000 miles on my car, the gap to the wear indicators is about the same front and rear. However, it's an SS with mono block calipers front and rear, plus I don't drive it during salt season.

In cars that have floating calipers, like yours, I have experienced early rear brake wear. The rear brakes are more vulnerable to salt spray and corrosion, resulting in dragging and premature pad wear. When you had your last brake job, were the calipers rebuilt or replaced, or even cleaned and lubed?

[DonM]

Originally Posted by Rock-It Man

With about 80,000 miles on my car, the gap to the wear indicators is about the same front and rear. However, it's an SS with mono block calipers front and rear, plus I don't drive it during salt season.

In cars that have floating calipers, like yours, I have experienced early rear brake wear. The rear brakes are more vulnerable to salt spray and corrosion, resulting in dragging and premature pad wear. When you had your last brake job, were the calipers rebuilt or replaced, or even cleaned and lubed?

They were cleaned & lubed and checked out OK. The shop knows how anal/OCD I am and that if something is not right, they let me know and give me the option of repair or replace (along with their recommendation). They initially wouldn't do a diff service on the car because the plug was corroded and starting to round out unless I OK'ed replacing the plug...THEY are also anal/OCD about their work.

[ADVMax]

Originally Posted by DonM

I had 101,000 miles on the car when the rears went and I changed over to Power Stop all the way around. Yes the OEMs lasted longer, but I think the Power Stops are much more aggressive in bite and you can feel that in even light braking (without excessive dusting). At the time (3 years ago), the Power Stop brakes were less expensive than OEM replacements by a couple of hundred dollars.

The rears ran me $556 out the door yesterday, which I didn't feel was bad for brakes that lasted 3 years ~51,000 miles.

I’ve got the same on my car, my brakes are Brembos. The pads I have are the “Carbon Ceramic” and are really low dust.

And damn straight on the stopping power, I tell people I can late brake a corner and sling the bugs off the front bumper!

[FASTFATBOY]

Activating traction controls eats rear brake pads like a fat kid at a buffet