when i should replace my brakes

ive noticed my brakes are starting to squeak. i have 95k miles and have never changed them. i was wondering if i should change them out or what can i do to check if they need to be changed. i checked the discs in front and they look fine (i dont know how to check the drums), but i just dont want to wait to long. any feed back would be great.

thanks

 

Just change em, if you have to ask its time to act! Its cheap too!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOvSH-mLhRE

 

Do a brake inspection yourself or most independant shops will do a free brake inspection a la, Firestone, Midas, etc. They want that brake job. You could even have the inspection done at a shop then ask to go out into the shop and take a look at the brakes with the tech.

A new brake pad has about 10-12mm thick padding of friction material, ones that need replaced will be down to about 2mm. Think of it like a pad of post-it notes and the diminishing thickness as you use them up. Maybe have the tech show you what a new pad looks like and eyeball compare it to your brakes.

The rotors also have specifications. There is typically a "Machine to" spec which means that if the rotors are above the spec, you can put them on a brake lathe and resurface them. There is a "Discard" spec, if the rotor is at or below that number, it's junk. With 95K you may need new rotors as well.

Drums are a different story. Getting the drum off these trucks is not super hard or anything. There are 2 small holes in the drum that you can thread smaller bolts into. This allows for you to jack the drum against the wheel flange as you turn the bolts in and the drum will work off.

Drum brake "pads" are referred to as "shoes". A new shoe will not have the same type of thickness a new pad does. A brand new drum shoe may only measure 6mm, so if a tech says you've got 4mm left on your drum shoes, you're not even at half their life. 4mm on a disc pads however means you should start thinking about replacement.

 

If you are at 95k, I would say it is time. Kudos to you for getting that many miles out of a set of brakes.

 

Nice post ^

 

Quaker

 

I would change them....

I got about 65k miles on mine, and Im close to needed them done.

 

Thanks!

I can get even more technical if ya'd like. I could try to explain how to properly interpert your rotors and what you could do with them (pad slap, resurface, replace) at a brake service.

 

just had mine done yesterday at 65xxx miles!

 

How to explain this...

Start off with a few "accepted" sets of numbers as it pertains to brakes.

-A new set of brake pads will wear a rotor down by approx .030 by the time those brake pads need replaced again. If you start with a rotor that is 1.000 thick brand new, by the time the pads are worn out, the rotor thickness will have decreaed to .970.

-The typical brake lathe/resurfacing is ment to remove no more than .020 worth of metal from the rotors thickness.

So, what do to with that...

Have the rotors measured, see what kind of thickness they have. Next find out what the specs are for your truck.

We'll do 2 examples.

Machine To: 1.010
Discard: 1.000
Measured: 1.090

Take 1.090 and subtract .030 getting 1.060. Is this number above the machine to/discard specs? Yes. What does this mean? It means you could simply slap some new pads on and call it a day.

Take that 1.060 and subtract .020 getting 1.040. Still above specs? You can also now machine this rotor and replace the pads.

Machine To: 1.010
Discard: 1.000
Measured: 1.055

1.055 - .030 = 1.025. Can still slap pads on, above specs.
1.025- .020 = 1.005. Would not be able to machine this rotor since it would be under spec after resurfacing.

Does any of that make sense?

Basically, take your rotor thickness, subract .050 from it and find out if it's above machine to/discard specs. If it is, you can resurface and put on new pads. If not, you may be able to get away with just pads, but you should really consider rotor replacment here b/c the thicker the brake material is, the better it is, the better it dissapates heat.

 

Quaker, thanks for your post, It makes sense to me. would a standard micrometer work for measuring the rotor? Or is there another tool that is better?

 

I got close to 100k on my factory brakes in front. (Rears are still going strong). I wouldn't recomend getting the rotors resurfaced though. Did that and they warped almost instantly with new shoes. Ended up replacing the rotors about 10k later with slotted and drilled ones and another new set of shoes. Very happy with the replacement though so I guess there was some good in the bad.

 

BEFORE you smash into an elementary school would be kinda kool.

 

I too had my front brakes last til almost 100K. (Standard Tran) my rear breaks have 126k.
Since I replaced my fronts, they only lasted a year ( 15k) What do I have to get to make them last at least 50?

 

Did the pads simply wear out? Were they OEM, or aftermarket?

 

11 year thread dig.

NIIICE

 

Did OP replace them yet?

 

I had mine replaced and only got 12k out of them. Is there a “best” brand? Are the stealership oem’s the same as what came in the truck?

 

Broad consensus here on TW is that the OEM pads are excellent. If you’re doing the work yourself, you can buy them directly from a dealership online and generally get a nice discount. That’s probably the best way to go to avoid any chance of counterfeits. OEM rotors are also often recommended, but some aftermarket higher-end units are also well-liked. Search this forum, many discussion threads on all of the options.

My brakes were done about 4K ago, Napa premium rotors and OEM pads. All good so far.