Reading brake wear

[bob]

Here's a photo of my impreza WRX brake wear window:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/17059014_dTc29c

The labeled areas:
A: base of the brake pad
B: wearing portion of the brake pad
C: brake rotor

When is the brake pad due for replacement? When area B is down to 1mm?

 

[Illuminated]

Correct area B, I would suggest changing sooner than at 1 mm left, to
protect your brake discs

 

[Victor R]

Here's a photo of my impreza WRX brake wear window:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/17059014_dTc29c

The labeled areas:
A: base of the brake pad
B: wearing portion of the brake pad
C: brake rotor

When is the brake pad due for replacement? When area B is down to 1mm?

Area B. It looks half worn to me. Certainly do NOT allow it to go
down to 1mm. The material could flake off the pad base and potentially
damage the rotor while reducing braking capability.

Trust the judgement of your mechanic in replacement. The shop has your
safety, and others, in mind.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

Here's a photo of my impreza WRX brake wear window:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/17059014_dTc29c

The labeled areas:
A: base of the brake pad
B: wearing portion of the brake pad
C: brake rotor

When is the brake pad due for replacement? When area B is down to 1mm?

There's certainly no downside to changing them 'early' (other than
loss of value) and, if the vehicle has seen 'extreme duty' or the pads
are very old, you might change them.

If you are changing pads, consider Stoptech Street Performance pads
(got mine from KNS brakes online) or, Centric Ceramic. Put the
Centrics on my wife's Outback and it was an improvement. Put the
Street Perf. on the front of my WRX and they are awesome.

Do not neglect flushing the brake fluid if old.

 

[Nobody > (Revisited)]

There's certainly no downside to changing them 'early' (other than
loss of value) and, if the vehicle has seen 'extreme duty' or the pads
are very old, you might change them.

That reads better if you change "loss of value" to just "cost".

If you are changing pads, consider Stoptech Street Performance pads
(got mine from KNS brakes online) or, Centric Ceramic. Put the
Centrics on my wife's Outback and it was an improvement. Put the
Street Perf. on the front of my WRX and they are awesome.

I'm not adverse to using aftermarket performance pads (back when all you
had were drum brakes on all 4 corners, they *always* got changed out to
Velvettouch semi-metallic shoes on any personal vehicle).

But, the OEM Subaru pads are probably the best choice unless you are
really into heavy braking as in real racing. Even the local independent
S00bie specialty shop says the same, even tho they sell and install the
fancy stuff.

What they've seen with putting 'fancy pads' on "daily driver" cars has
been (varies on pad brand & line):
1) Much higher rotor wear
2) Shorter pad life
2) Uncurable squealing (other than "driving off the night-rust" by
riding the brakes)

The *true* OEM Subaru pads are also well-liked by most of the decent
brake and tire shops in this area. I hate to admit it, but I often
listen to the desk folks ("aural shoulder-surfing ?) after they've
written up brake jobs on s00bs, and the first call after the writeup is
to a local soob dealer who does good wholesale parts prices..

(But we know *1 Lucky Texan*, methinks you have the need for 'fancy

Do not neglect flushing the brake fluid if old.

This *by itself* can be amazing. We all get progressively used to what
the brake pedal feels like, and it's hard to believe how we think that's
OK.

I flushed/purged the whole brake system on a Bronco II a few years ago.
There weren't any outright brake fails, but one front-axle brake line
had taken a few too many rock dings, so I replaced it 'just in case'.

I didn't do as good a job on bleeding as I thought I did, so I proceeded
to flush just that corner. The "funky color" of what came out from well
up the lines sorta scared me, so I ended up flushing the whole brake
system. It took over 3 quarts of fluid, but the end result was a much
more responsive pedal.



--
"Shit this is it, all the pieces do fit.
We're like that crazy old man jumping
out of the alleyway with a baseball bat,
saying, "Remember me motherfucker?"
Jim “Dandy” Mangrum

 

[bugalugs]

Here's a photo of my impreza WRX brake wear window:

http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/17059014_dTc29c

The labeled areas:
A: base of the brake pad
B: wearing portion of the brake pad
C: brake rotor

When is the brake pad due for replacement? When area B is down to 1mm?

A large number of brake pads have a "tell-tale" which is a measure which
is attached to the pad. When the wear gets down to the last couple of mm
it scratches on the disc. You still have brakes but the scrapping noise
lets you know that you had better do something about it.

 

[synthius2002]

Trust the judgement of your mechanic in replacement.  The shop has your

safety, and others, in mind.

A point of clarification; "your mechanic" is the one you have a
personal relationship with. I respect my mechanic a lot. A random
business you've just stepped into might be the bad guys who sabotage
your car thinking that you'll bring it back for more work.

 

[AS]

For regular driving and a lil of performance driving, I prefer the OEM
pads because:
- They come with the shims and grease needed
- I never had a squealing brake pad problem
- The wear on the disk has never been excessive.
- They bring the wear indicator tabs.
- They have the right braking feel

Using after market pads, at one point or another I have had problems
with one of the items above.

I think the brake pads are made by Fuji. A friend of mine once bought
pads at the autoparts and they looked exactly the same as the OEMs we
were taking out, with the manufacturer's markings, etc. They did not
come with the shims or grease though.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

For regular driving and a lil of performance driving, I prefer the OEM
pads because:
-  They come with the shims and grease needed
-  I never had a squealing brake pad problem
-  The wear on the disk has never been excessive.
-  They bring the wear indicator tabs.
-  They have the right braking feel

Using after market pads, at one point or another I have had problems
with one of the items above.

I think the brake pads are made by Fuji.  A friend of mine once bought
pads at the autoparts and they looked exactly the same as the OEMs we
were taking out, with the manufacturer's markings, etc.  They did not
come with the shims or grease though.

I the OEM pads off my car were marked Akebono. Some folks have
reported OEM pads made by Sumitomo. It may depend on what model you
have, what market you're in, or what model year you have as car makers
do occasionally change suppliers.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

For regular driving and a lil of performance driving, I prefer the OEM
pads because:
-  They come with the shims and grease needed
-  I never had a squealing brake pad problem
-  The wear on the disk has never been excessive.
-  They bring the wear indicator tabs.
-  They have the right braking feel

Using after market pads, at one point or another I have had problems
with one of the items above.

I think the brake pads are made by Fuji.  A friend of mine once bought
pads at the autoparts and they looked exactly the same as the OEMs we
were taking out, with the manufacturer's markings, etc.  They did not
come with the shims or grease though.

the OEM pads off my car were marked Akebono. I don't recall if there
was any manufacturer marked on my wife's car's pads. Some folks have
reported OEM pads made by Sumitomo. It may depend on what model you
have, what market you're in, or what model year you have as car makers
do occasionally change suppliers.