That was almost a lot more expensive

74k on the original 4-runner - dog hauler front pads - maybe a mm left - got new Hawk LTS pads bedded in and new tires - significant improvement in feel. To the powers that be - I buy stuff from GRM advertisers....

I remember once seeing the brakes on a contractor's work pickup. I was pumping gas at the local station in college when it happened. It only came in when they lost ALL brakes..

basically, the pads got worn down to the backing plates, the plates ate through the rotors, the vanes inside the rotors ate the backing plates, and then the caliper itself.

It was only after the piston inside the caliper got eaten and it lost all pressure.. did they bring it in for a brake job

I had a customer bring in a 280Z (I think, this was about 30 years ago) with pads worn so badly the backing plate had worn down the disc to expose the vaes on the out board side of the rotor. He was adamant that all I needed to do was replace the pads and turn the discs. I explained to him how it all worked. Showed him a good rotor and pads, etc. He decided he didnt want the work done and would just come get his car. The corporate lawyer and local police both said it was acceptable for me to disable the car so it had to leave on a hook.

Once while driving my Brat a heard a "clunk" while pulling out from a redlight. I check the mirror and it looks like a brake pad bouncing across the pavement... I pull over and check, sure enough, the friction material on one of the rear pads had worn far enough down that the caliper pushed the plate out of the bracket.

Luckily the hand brake works the front brake. I re-installed the "pad" and made it home using the handbrake and downshifting. I did have the normal brakes available for one time use if I had to stop quick.

My dad once had an EBC green pad (that wasnt that worn) fall out of the caliper while driving, the other pad still was thick enough it didnt push the piston out though. I have seen lots of really scary brakes in the junkyard though.

mad_machine wrote: I remember once seeing the brakes on a contractor's work pickup. I was pumping gas at the local station in college when it happened. It only came in when they lost ALL brakes.. basically, the pads got worn down to the backing plates, the plates ate through the rotors, the vanes inside the rotors ate the backing plates, and then the caliper itself. It was only after the piston inside the caliper got eaten and it lost all pressure.. did they bring it in for a brake job

I saw that once too. The piston was acting against the vanes of the rotor, blew my mind. The piston came out of the bore, thus brakes were gone. Though by my measure, brakes were gone thousands of miles before....

I once put pads on the front of a Ford van, which came back a day or so later with noise, and the complaint that once the pedal went way down and he had to pump the brake pedal. One of the four new pads had not had the rivets installed- the glue held for the first couple of stops, then all the friction material came off.

I had a pad come off on me one day. A girl at work gave me a 96 Thunderbird LX, because she didnt want to repair it. It had been vandalized, and they broke all the windows, slashed all the tires, broke the steering column, and keyed a bad word into the hood. Her insurance put in new glass, a new steering column and new tires. However the paint was still screwed and she mentioned that the brakes were going. What an understatement. It had horrible brakes and on the way home I was slowing down and then the car jerked to one side. The brakes went to the floor and I almost went into oncoming traffic. I limped the car the next 2 miles back to the house and inspected what was left of the brakes. The pad was gone on the passenger front and the pad was worn to the backing plate on the driver side. I was lucky to get it home.

I bought an 88 Scirocco and thought the rotors looked really small. I had plas do new pads and rotors anyway.

Turns out you can fit a 9.4" rotor on a 10.1" system. The PO must have run it that way for awhile because the pad had worn into a real funny L shape.

That's pretty scary, because eventually the pads will wear enough that the unworn part of the pads clamp together and don't put pressure on the rotor.

Me too!

First full day with my new Buick Century, after my BIL fixed the radiator fans (long story). I was at Carquest at the time, and on really good terms with about five shops in the area. Took it to one bunch I knew well, cause I was worried about the brakes and their habit of pulling one way when stopping. I'm not a newbie, you see.

Sure enough, the pad had worn down to the metal studs on one side, which had dug about 3/4's of an inch into the rotor. I had to pick up a rotor and new front pads from work.

Brakes are serious business...

I get upset when someone buys the cheap stuff when it comes to brake pads/parts. Even worse is when they ignore the problems and then spend more to fix it than if they had taken care of the issues when they first appear. People don't realize they are driving a 3000 lb weapon and it's important to be able to stop once in a while.

on the subject of brakes and being able to stop. I have noticed the last ten or so years since anti-lock brakes have been standard on almost every car sold in the US.. that people are waiting longer and longer to brake and then just slam the pedal down.. letting the electronics do the work.

I actually had this conversation with a g/f when she asked why I started to slow down so soon before a light or a stopsign

Just tell her it saves gas.

I once went to replace pads/rotors on a then girlfriends samurai. Sounded ugly. Pull it apart, calipers are seized on. Rotors were solid- no vanes. But they were thin enough that I actually got one off of the car without removing the caliper...... Pads fell out on their own. Needed a hot wrench to get the caliper off the car, and I vowed never to touch that vehicle again. Broke two craftsman ratchets in the process.

How about this? These racing pads were on our NC Miata for less than one full track day. We pulled the wheel to check them out after one of the other FM drivers noticed the clouds of material coming out of the front wheels. Like I said, racing pads.

We decided not to add them to our product line.

Erm... you're not supposed to have grooves in the backing plate. At least that's what i've been brought up to know.

mndsm wrote: Broke two craftsman ratchets in the process.

Not to hijack, but if that was criteria for avoiding working on a vehicle, I doubt that any car would ever get fixed again

Keith, you might save the rest of us some potential problems ... what pads ?

Hocrest wrote:

mndsm wrote: Broke two craftsman ratchets in the process.

Not to hijack, but if that was criteria for avoiding working on a vehicle, I doubt that any car would ever get fixed again

See.... these were the good ones, older than me, when Sears gave a E36 M3.

wbjones wrote: Keith, you might save the rest of us some potential problems ... what pads ?

Normally I try not to specifically mention other brands, but in this case that's hard to justify: Racing Brake. These were either 800s or 900s IIRC. They were mounted in Racing Brake calipers and grabbing Racing Brake rotors. We didn't experience this level of wear with all their pads, but we did find that most of them evaporated pretty quickly.

thanks.. when I tried to access their web site this is the result

An error has occurred. Please try your request again, or contact customer service for assistance. Thank you. Please provide Reference #34278185 if contacting customer service.

neckromacr wrote: . Turns out you can fit a 9.4" rotor on a 10.1" system. The PO must have run it that way for awhile because the pad had worn into a real funny L shape.

We have a customer with a MkIII TDI Jetta who has us do the drivetrain work and another shop do the brakes/suspension work.

First time it came in, we noticed that it had 9.4 solid rotors in a 10.1 system. Pads were making contact with each other above the rotor. We told him it needed new pads and rotors, he took it back to the guy.

20-30k later, the car came back to us. The doofus put new brakes on... 9.4 solid rotors.

I imagine the conversation goes something like this:

"Autozone." "I need rotors for a (1995?) Jetta." "Single overhead cam?" "(checks) Yep."

We told him it needed brakes, the wrong rotors were installed. Guess what the other shop installed. GUESS.

BTW - I do have pictures of this.