Uneven brake wear
DRW1000
07-24-2006, 10:51 AM
Sorry for the long winded post here but I am trying to understand something here.
My wife was complaining about a noise when she applied the brakes on her Venture. She said it was not a high pitched squeal (wear indicators). I simply bought new pads and shoes and figured I would pull the wheels on the weekend to have a look.
I drove her car down the street and immediately recognized the sound of metal on metal. I went and picked up a new pair of rotors too.
When I pulled off the old parts this is what I saw:
Front Passenger – Metal on metal. The bottom of the pad (trailing edge) was metal on metal whereas the leading edge still had about 1/16” remaining.
Front Driver – Normal wear. Still had some pad left but not much.
Driver rear – Normal wear
Passenger rear – Very minimal wear.
The rears are the factory installed shoes and the fronts are now on the 4th set of pads and there is about 100000 miles on the vehicle.
Obviously I have a lot of questions about what happened so here they are:
1) Could the passenger rear not be self adjusting due to the adjustment wheel being stuck? I remember while the vehicle was under warranty that the dealer “cleaned” the rears. Perhaps they just removed the drums and sprayed brake clean. If so this could have removed the lubrication of the adjustment wheel (although they should know better).
2) Could the presumably not working RR have caused the RF to wear faster than the LF due to the rear not doing anything and causing the front to do all of the work (in lieu of the normal 90% or so)?
3) What could cause the Front Right to wear more on the trailing edge? Is it because it is actually fractionally hotter due to the rotor already being in contact by the time it reaches the trailing edge?
4) Why did she not hear the wear indicators? At first I though it might be due to the uneven wear and thus the indicator never made contact but after looking more closely I doubt the wear indicator would make contact before the fronts were completely worn. It is possible that she did not notice the noise but I doubt it. From what I think I remember is that the wear indicators make a noise when the brakes are lightly applied. If this is true then is the pad expected to rotate slightly (due to the rotor rotation such that the indicator makes contact and then the pad straightens out as more force is applied)?
Just for the record I replaced the pads and rotors about 2 years ago and I put on good quality Canadian made pads and rotors. These pads cost about $40 Canadian so they were not cheap. These pads are not remanufactured either as there is no casting charge.
When I replaced them I did not contaminate the surfaces in anyway and I used a can or 2 of brake clean to clean the new rotors.
I would love to hear some opinions so feel free to comment.
My wife was complaining about a noise when she applied the brakes on her Venture. She said it was not a high pitched squeal (wear indicators). I simply bought new pads and shoes and figured I would pull the wheels on the weekend to have a look.
I drove her car down the street and immediately recognized the sound of metal on metal. I went and picked up a new pair of rotors too.
When I pulled off the old parts this is what I saw:
Front Passenger – Metal on metal. The bottom of the pad (trailing edge) was metal on metal whereas the leading edge still had about 1/16” remaining.
Front Driver – Normal wear. Still had some pad left but not much.
Driver rear – Normal wear
Passenger rear – Very minimal wear.
The rears are the factory installed shoes and the fronts are now on the 4th set of pads and there is about 100000 miles on the vehicle.
Obviously I have a lot of questions about what happened so here they are:
1) Could the passenger rear not be self adjusting due to the adjustment wheel being stuck? I remember while the vehicle was under warranty that the dealer “cleaned” the rears. Perhaps they just removed the drums and sprayed brake clean. If so this could have removed the lubrication of the adjustment wheel (although they should know better).
2) Could the presumably not working RR have caused the RF to wear faster than the LF due to the rear not doing anything and causing the front to do all of the work (in lieu of the normal 90% or so)?
3) What could cause the Front Right to wear more on the trailing edge? Is it because it is actually fractionally hotter due to the rotor already being in contact by the time it reaches the trailing edge?
4) Why did she not hear the wear indicators? At first I though it might be due to the uneven wear and thus the indicator never made contact but after looking more closely I doubt the wear indicator would make contact before the fronts were completely worn. It is possible that she did not notice the noise but I doubt it. From what I think I remember is that the wear indicators make a noise when the brakes are lightly applied. If this is true then is the pad expected to rotate slightly (due to the rotor rotation such that the indicator makes contact and then the pad straightens out as more force is applied)?
Just for the record I replaced the pads and rotors about 2 years ago and I put on good quality Canadian made pads and rotors. These pads cost about $40 Canadian so they were not cheap. These pads are not remanufactured either as there is no casting charge.
When I replaced them I did not contaminate the surfaces in anyway and I used a can or 2 of brake clean to clean the new rotors.
I would love to hear some opinions so feel free to comment.
ademero
08-21-2006, 01:36 PM
For the RF wear, have you checked your caliper to insure it releasing all the way, could be getting seized up. RR could be simple as adjustment problem, or sezied e-brake cable. Generally the wear tabs make noise when not pressing on the brake and with light application it goes away.
Automotive Network, Inc., Copyright ©2024