I have some squeaking / dragging going on on the rears of my '90 Volvo 240 DL Wagon. I had new rotors, pads, and emergency brake boots in my cart but first checked the maintenance logs of my wagon. Looks like the PO put on new brembo rear rotors and new pads about 5 years 60k miles ago. At this point It really needs pads, rotors are only about $60 total and are not a problem. But was wondering how long do they usually last? I should probably take off my tire and post a picture.
The answer to this is 'Are they still in spec?' 60k miles on rear rotors seems very low. Rears usually go > 150k.
60k is a good lifespan. You could probably get them surfaced, but it would cost $30-$40 to get that done, and they'd be thinner, so why bother?
I usually do pads every 30k or so and rotors every other pad set, unless there is significant wear.
/edit/ Just noticed they are rears. Yeah, I would expect to get more than 60k out of rears.
If they are still good i'll probably take them off to just put them back on, as I bought this car to learn how to wrench haha. $70 for a rotor + pad set is really nothing, so after hearing some change rotors every other pad set, I'll just go for new rotors. Maybe I can give the brembos away on another forum.
edit - oh wow $70 for centric anti rust coated rotors with pads and replacement hardware. That's way better than the Bosch $110 set i saw on IPD.
Actually, I'll do my front rotors and pads then because if 60k about expected then those are due. I'll just do pads in the rear and new parking brakes.
I always clean the rotor with "Break Clean" and a light sanding with a rotary sander.
Gets rid of any pad residue.
One thing I found, Ford has really cheapened the rotors on the Fiesta as compared with the Escort/ZX2.
Pulsating at 35+ miles. Excessive wear for that mileage. Pad wear seemed normal.
In reply to iceracer:
I prefer "Brake Clean", but use what ya got
I usually do 2 sets of pads before replacing rear rotors. But if they aren't lipped or warped, no reason to change.
Make sure the calipers are free to move, lubricate the sliders and properly bed in the brake pads to evenly distribute pad material to reduce uneven wear and it should be fine.
The answer is yes. Or purple.
If they're not rusted all to hell, put pads on it and be happy.
iceracer wrote: One thing I found, Ford has really cheapened the rotors on the Fiesta as compared with the Escort/ZX2.
I know of two late model low mileage Explorers that needed the rears replaced at less than 20k each.
On my street legal E36 M3 I'd get 2 sets of pads to one rotor change. So... pads about 15kmi and rotors about 30k.
They never made it that long because they would spider crack from the track pads so... about 3 sets a season :)
Actually, it depends on the driving habits of the operator/where you drive/quality of the pads and rotors installed/quality of the brake replacement procedure.
To simplify the rotors are good until they are not.
When the pads convert them to dust, or they crack, or if they warp so bad turning will put them undersize.
Often rotors are assumed to be warped but really have a problem with the coating of shared material from the pads.
Turning and proper bedding of new pads is vital to having healthy brakes.
Do you use the e-brake? The set-up for it is inside the passenger side rear. I'd check that out first.
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