# When to change brakepads?



## ProDigit (Aug 31, 2015)

After how many miles should I start looking at changing my brake pads?
I have a 2011 Chevrolet Eco, and I always brake the car very mildly.
I also shift into higher gear, and have the engine engine-brake at between 2-3k RPM to aid the braking process.
I never go below 1750RPM or 2nd gear, because the engine does not aid braking there anymore, but pushes the car forward instead. So Third gear, 1750RPM is about 15MPH when I shift it into neutral, and come to a full stop in Neutral, never in gear, before a stoplight.

Lately I've noted, with the rain and stuff, that my brakes work really really well the first or second time using them from a cold start.
I'm thinking it might be the humidity, or perhaps some superficial rust.
And they squeak a bit too, mostly the rear brakes; only the first few brakes.
Once on the road, the brakes make no more noise, and brake pretty well.

I changed my tires at 48k miles; and wonder when the brake pads should be changed?
I currently have 50k miles on my car.


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## Chevy_Country (Oct 16, 2015)

Brakes are designed to start to make a sort of metal on metal grinding when they are close to requiring a change, if when the window is down you don't hear that your prpbrably good, however that's not the only sign you may need new pads even if you don't hear this sign or don't need them if you do. 

You can see the pad through the wheel, you should have at least 1/4 inch minimum of good pad










My 2011 cruze ltz 1.4T has 48k on the odo and has around 15-20k miles left on the pads, and yes the first few presses on the pads after rain is superficial rust adhering to the ceramic pads a little better that the fine metal rotor, you wear that down with only a couple turns of the wheel

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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## Chris Tobin (Feb 23, 2016)

ProDigit said:


> After how many miles should I start looking at changing my brake pads?
> I have a 2011 Chevrolet Eco, and I always brake the car very mildly.
> I also shift into higher gear, and have the engine engine-brake at between 2-3k RPM to aid the braking process.
> I never go below 1750RPM or 2nd gear, because the engine does not aid braking there anymore, but pushes the car forward instead. So Third gear, 1750RPM is about 15MPH when I shift it into neutral, and come to a full stop in Neutral, never in gear, before a stoplight.
> ...


Replacingbrakes

Replacing brakes is more of a matter of wear and condition than a specific set mileage. Most brake pads have wear indicators that begin to make a very bad scraping sound when the pads are close to done, but waiting for that sound can be misleading at times. If a caliper is sticking or any of a number of other problems can cause uneven pad wear and the one with the scraper might not be hitting yet, but the other pads could be metal to metal. Also the rotors can be worn, heat checked and glazed causing them to need to be turned and/or replaced.

The best thing to do is physically inspect all four brake rotors and pads (or drums and shoes in the rear if the Eco has drum rear brakes). Honestly if you are asking when to replace if they are drum in the rear it would probably be best to have them professionally inspected as drum brakes are much more complicated than disc brakes and also require specialty tools to change and adjust. If your car is 4 wheel disc brakes doing an inspection and ultimately a brake job yourself is pretty easy, but I wont go into that here...

Basically remove each wheel one at a time while properly supporting the vehicle with jackstands and look at the condition of the rotors and pads. The rotors should be smooth and free of any grooves or abrasive wear, they should also not be glossy or show evidence of overheating like hot spots or cracks. Then for your pads, look at the pads from the back of the caliper and/or edge of the rotor to make sure there is adequate pad thickness from the pad material not the metal backer plate of the pad. I generally would not recommend letting the brake pads wear down much more than about an 1/8 or 1/16 of an inch. If they are there or less you need to buy new pads and plan on doing a brake job pretty quickly. It is easy to check and monitor you pad wear when you are rotating your tires.

I hope this helps...


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

I would definitely check them @ 30K my car had a problem with a seized caliper and wore them down at least on one side by then. Overall you could go up to 50K but I would start checking them at 30K unless you notice something sooner like I did. Replacement is when they are worn and that will vary based on type of driving and your car.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Major problem with my Cruze and other vehicles using these metal clips on the torque plates is that they trap moisture or in our case, road salt. Expands the clips, binds the pads, and they can't return to their home position. Have to remove and clean them then coat with anti-seize. Also have to clean the caliper guide pins with a nice thick coat of silicone grease.

Just had to redo the brakes on my 88 Supra, was getting brake drag, just turned 60K miles on it. You don't jam in the pistons with a large C-clamp, the edges of the pistons have to be cleaned. But this was not my problem, just 28 years old and a lot of gum on the pistons.

Had to remove each one and clean the gum off the pistons, looked like new again, quick hone on the cylinders, and paid four bucks per caliper for new rubber. Pads are still original, very little wear, guide pins needed cleaning, that silicone was getting hard. Does have an AT, can downshift that just like a MT to save on brake wear, but just about everybody in town flies up to a stop sign and slams on their brakes. They don't last very long driving this way. 

They also slam on the gas pedal when taking off, not good on the powertrain. But somehow manage to stay ahead of them by judging traffic about a half mile ahead, without wrecking my vehicles in the process.


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## Vetterin (Mar 27, 2011)

Had 86,000 miles on my 11 Eco with original pads.


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## Gus_Mahn (Aug 16, 2011)

Vetterin said:


> Had 86,000 miles on my 11 Eco with original pads.


I changed them on my '12 about the same mileage. The pads had about half left, and the car was used as a comuter car into Chicago daily. The only reason they were changed was the inboard rotor surfaces had rust pits causing lots of noise on stops. I changed them as a set.


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## Alex V. (Sep 20, 2013)

The pads on my '13 LT have 79,500 on them and there's a good 50% left. The brakes are getting a little less crisp lately, but I'm going to change the rotors only and see if that brings them back - they're wearing smoothly and I want to see how long those factory pads will last.  The rotors always have been easy to warp and they've been turned once. But as has already been said, brakes don't get changed based on mileage, only wear on the pad or rotor.


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## Chris Tobin (Feb 23, 2016)

Alex V. said:


> The pads on my '13 LT have 79,500 on them and there's a good 50% left. The brakes are getting a little less crisp lately, but I'm going to change the rotors only and see if that brings them back - they're wearing smoothly and I want to see how long those factory pads will last.  The rotors always have been easy to warp and they've been turned once. But as has already been said, brakes don't get changed based on mileage, only wear on the pad or rotor.


Alex, I wouldn't recommend using old pads on new rotors. I know you want to see how long those pads will last, but you will get much better braking performance with new rotors AND new pads. No reason to run worn and possibly irregularly surfaced pads on new rotors as the braking surface might not be square and even. Going with new ones I'd recommend the EBC Red Stuff pads and their slotted and dimpled rotors for great brake performance. That is what I will be upgrading to on my Cruze diesel soon.


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## Alex V. (Sep 20, 2013)

Duly noted, Chris. Thanks for the recommendation, I'd have gone with standard Napa replacement parts but will certainly upgrade if I have the money when the time comes. IMHO that's one of the least adequate parts of the Cruze for any kind of aggressive driving.


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## jmory (Sep 15, 2016)

106000 on my 2012 eco. Mostly interstate though. Had them inspected by the dealer at 100,000 and they said they were good to go for a good while longer.


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## dhpnet (Mar 2, 2014)

I check the front pads every time I rotate the tires. Only takes a few seconds. I check and clean the rear shoes about once a year. So far they all look great at 26K miles. And I do mostly urban driving with a lot of hills.


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## winks79 (Dec 20, 2013)

Have a 13' LTZ/RS with 66k on it. As stated, check mine every time tires are rotated. I fully expect to get 120-150k miles out of them easy. Never had a vehicle that was as easy on pads as this car.


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## Chris Tobin (Feb 23, 2016)

winks79 said:


> Have a 13' LTZ/RS with 66k on it. As stated, check mine every time tires are rotated. I fully expect to get 120-150k miles out of them easy. Never had a vehicle that was as easy on pads as this car.


Honestly, braking takes wear, and I would rather have 40-50,000 miles of great braking than 100,000 miles of mediocre braking!!! That is one reason we will be upgrading the brakes on our Cruze!!!

Some goes for brake dust, it is a byproduct of good braking performance. One high end brake manufacturer told me when I asked if the were working on a low-dust pad that "The only dustless brake pad is a brakeless brake pad!!!" I would rather clean the wheels and have great braking than have clean wheels and marginal braking...

Think about it, even a moderate improvement in braking like 10-foot less from 60 MPH can be the difference between a totaled car and no accident at all. I am one that always want the best tires and braking possible on all my vehicles!!!


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## sailurman (Sep 29, 2016)

So I just hit 97K miles on my 2015 Cruze CTD. I swung by BrakesPlus today to get things checked out and something miraculous happened. The Tech came out and got me to show me I didn't need ANY work done and that I have thousands of miles of meat left on those pads. He was astounded when he saw OEM pads.


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## ProDigit (Aug 31, 2015)

My oem pads glazed by 50-60k miles.
At least, the front disc pads.
And I almost always brake gently, save for an emergency, which happens perhaps once a year.


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