Remaining Front Brake Pad Life

Hey all - I recently had my car inspected and the shop said my front pads have 25% remaining. Naturally I pulled a wheel off to take a look, and....I am an idiot and didn't measure before putting the wheel back on.

I suspect this is a good bit more than 25%, but figured folks on this forum would likely know. The pads are original and the truck has ~45k.

 

damn those look near new. if those are toyota pads id estimate those are more like 50-75%.

 

You have lots of pad left. Those notches are indicators with a long way until the disappear

You might have 'used' 25%

 

You've got life left, and those pads normally have a pad wear indicator.

What's up with that rust though? I literally just replaced my rotors an hour ago and with the many miles they've got on them....not a bit of rust anywhere.

 

Thanks for the quick and helpful replies all! Maybe the shop meant 25% was used and it was mistranslated or I misunderstood. Given the mileage I was surprised if they were down to 25% remaining, although most of the use is in town rather than highway.

Educated guess - from washing the truck frequently and not driving it enough. It's lived it's life in Central VA and has almost no rust on the underbody.

They're definitely Toyota. I'm the original owner and they've never been replaced.

 

I beleive min thickness of pad is 1mm before replacement. I belive new is in the 11mm thick range. 25% left would mean you have 1 mm + 2.5mm = 3.5mm of pad left. Looks like a lot more than 3.5mm left.

 

I'd call that about 40-50% remaining..

 

You have a lot of pad life left,I would change them out in say a year or so depending on how much driving you do.

 

Shame on them for not trying to sell you some rotors instead. That pic would sell itself.

 

Ha, good point. I’m wondering if they removed the wheel. The rotor faces are clean - the rust is only on the outer perimeter as seen in the pictures. I’m thinking that’s fine but I could be mistaken.

 

. You’re right, those pads are definitely good to go for a while.

Just want to mention that anything less than 2mm of remaining friction material is dangerous territory because some brake pads have NRS to aid in bonding the friction material to the steel plate. The NRS is created by basically “scratching” into the steel plate which creates a raised burr. Those burrs are typically 1-1.5mm in height.

The best visual indicator is the depth of that center slot, which is typically about 2.5-3mm off the steel plate. If you can’t see the slot(s) anymore, or it’s getting close, it’s time to replace for sure.

However, those pads should have a mechanical “squealer” wear sensor that will audibly let you know when it’s time to replace. At least the 0976 pads we made at PFC had them. The squealers are standard on any pads that don’t have electronic wear sensors. Although some do have both. The squealers can be on both inboard/outboard pads or just 1 of the 2. Can’t remember which side they are on from the factory on our trucks. I want to say they’re on the outboard side but can’t recall. These pads are symmetrical tho so don’t think it matters...I spent a few years in the brake pad engineering department at PFC Brakes.

It does appear that the outboard pad in the pic may have a crack in the friction material at the center slot. It’s probably just a crack in the paint/powder coat, hard to tell. Wouldn’t worry about it unless you experience any issues.