# front rotors and pads at 25,000 miles?????



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

to start off i took a look around the forum(13 pages deep) and havnt found the info i needed

so, i have just over 25k miles(1LT 6 speed M/T(not sure if that makes a difference) fully loaded) and my front rotors are warped and the pads have 5% life left in them, and the rear pads(drum brakes) have 85% life left.

my question is, is this normal? 90% of my driving is on the highway with very little to no traffic. i dont ride the brakes when stopping or slowing down a bit.

my last car was a 2010 subaru legacy gt and i never had to replace the pads or rotors even with 65k miles.

and to add to that, if i have to replace the rotors and pads should i just go with a whole new front brake setup?

thanks


----------



## spacemule (Dec 7, 2014)

I bought my '13 with 53k. I assume it has the original pads and rotors. It's now at 88k and has plenty of wear left. If you wore them out so quickly, you have a problem. Either overly hard braking or defective/dragging parts. I've never worn a set of brakes out so quickly.


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

i can tell you its not from overly hard breaking. i just didnt know if it was common for a cruze or any other chevy.

this is the first chevy ive owned. ive had 7 jeeps, 2 subaru's and an infinity without every having brake issues at such a low millage.


----------



## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Are these brake parts the ones that your vehicle left the factory with - or are they service parts?


----------



## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Pad wear is determined by millimeters of thickness remaining.
Whenever I hear remaining lifespan expressed as a percentage what I'm really hearing is a opinion......also known as a WAG.

Normal replacement point is generally 3mm of material on the thinnest (most worn) pad.

Next.....warped rotor.....rotors don't warp.....any pedal vibration or pulsing is generally the result of pad material that has transferred to the rotor and is visable as a imprint, or several imprints, of the pad......looks like a photo on the steel surface.

This is often the result of a vehicle sitting for a period of time with wet rotors. The metallic pad material (the binder used in all pads) rusts to the rotor face. When the car is put back in service after a day or two (or longer), when you put it in gear the pads break free....sometimes with a audible snap.
When the pad breaks free it leaves a full face imprint and material attached to the rotor. Since that material is the same hardness as the pad itself, every time the rotor passes that imprint area through the applied pads, a surge, or pulse can be felt.....severe cases transfer through the steering wheel.

Since rotors are so thin on newer cars, as a weight reduction measure, machining generally makes the rotors too thin and, as a result, they loose parallel required between the two wear surfaces.

So much for the tutorial.

If you drive as stated, and have, since the car was new (as opposed to the previous owners driving style if there was one) I suspect the shop is trying to simply sell a brake job by overstating wear.

Although you may need pads due to corrosion or other outside influence I agree with the OP as far as the mileage/wear equation.

Odds are favorable though, that rotor replacement is a better way to go for a lasting service.

Rob


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

The rear drums on these cars were misadjusted from the factory, so pretty much 95% of the braking went to the front of the car. 

The rotors are tiny and cheap metal, and the pads overheat easily and bake themselves to the stupid rotor that doesn't dissipate heat well. It's rather heavy for its size too. 

I replaced mine around 25k as well because I just got fed up with them. There was plenty of pad left. 

There is a tutorial around the site for adjusting the rear drum brakes, after which you should pick up some good aftermarket brake pads and a good blank rotor such as the Centric Premium blanks that I used. I was extremely happy with the brakes once the front hardware was changed out - I often had shuddering in the front end from repeated stop and go traffic.


----------



## pelfrank (Mar 23, 2015)

I have a 2011 LT with 10k miles, had to change the front rotors(pulsating). It was the driver side which was at fault but changed both and keep the oem pads, all good now.


----------



## Patman (May 7, 2011)

On my 2012, I had a seized caliper so it wore out my pads by 30 K and put grooves in my rotors along with killing my MPG. I replaced the pads with a good ceramic pad I found at ORiellies turned the rotors and had no more problems. The seized caliper was also coupled with the poorly adjusted drums. 

Just recently I test drove a 2015 LT and it had the same problem. @ 25000 the rear drums were not adjusted and the front pads were "OK" but I could see thru the wheel they were going to need replacement soon because the drums. There can be a myriad of reasons why your pads wore quickly so I would just replace them and watch to see what happens in the next 25 K.


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

so in other words i should just change the front pads and not both rotors?


----------



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Verify the pad thickness on your front brakes. Also make sure your rear drums are adjusted properly.


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

jma20a said:


> so in other words i should just change the front pads and not both rotors?


No, rotors need to be changed if there's pulsation (or resurfaced - don't do this, though).


----------



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Just got centric blanks and be done with it. As stated above turning by a n00b will leave you with almost instant brake to the floor because they took too much material off trying to get it even.


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

everything is factory on my car but the intake filter and the headlight bulbs


----------



## anthonysmith93 (Jul 15, 2015)

I got my new rotors at 25,000 miles too..it's kind of a normal thing on the Cruze to have crap front rotors and not properly adjusted rear brakes so the fronts work harder than they need to.


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

update: the rear brakes are properly adjusted. i went the full length and took off the caliper and pulled the pads, the pads still have some life left in them so im not going to replace those yet, when i get some cash together(about a month) i am going to replace just the rotors in the front. i talked to my mechanic about it and he agrees that the pads are fine and the rotors need to be turned or replaced. it just so happens that im up for an oil change and he agreed to install the rotors for no extra charge(only because one of his technicians put the wrong type of oil in for my first oil change)(dont worry i only drove the car 8 miles and looked at the invoice to notice it was the wrong oil, that was quickly changed over to the correct oil)

now we come to the point in witch i decide on what rotors to purchase. this car is a lease(dont think it matters) but i have a smart buy lease(if i keep it, witch i 100% plan on that there is a good drop in the overall price of the car blah blah blah...)

im looking to spend under $125 or close to $125

suggestions?


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Centric Premium (each). That's even under your budget!


----------



## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

I second the centric premium blanks. 

Sent from my BlackBerry PRIV using Tapatalk


----------



## aperry1996 (Dec 13, 2016)

Has anyone used Power Stop brake pads and rotors?


----------



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

aperry1996 said:


> Has anyone used Power Stop brake pads and rotors?


I ran just the pads on the Premium Centric blanks everyone is suggesting. They didn't dust much at all compared to oem. My only personal downfall was they needed to be heated up as if they were almost a track pad. Now when they did heat up, yikes! Everything in the trunk would shift on a panic stop. I'm not saying this was the equivalent of a BBK but it showed the factory parts left plenty on the table for improvement. I also did brake fluid same time frame since it was around that 2 year mark. 



















I needed to do this at 19-20K but since the wobble wasn't that bad unless I used more than 50% brake pedal travel I kinda just braked lighter and earlier to avoid what seemed like a $400 brake job. When I went RA and got my parts I said I'm going ceramic against others recommendation because I felt like I could replace the rotors and pads in an instant compared to the average just take it somewhere folks for the price I got everything shipped to my front door.


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

i found this kit at my local pepboys that i think i might go with

https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/20050325/00222/2014/CHEVROLET/CRUZE/0/4-1364%201.4L%20DOHC


----------



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

jma20a said:


> i found this kit at my local pepboys that i think i might go with
> 
> https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/20050325/00222/2014/CHEVROLET/CRUZE/0/4-1364%201.4L%20DOHC


New to leasing, will they accept such a "Visual brake upgrade" as cross drilled & slotted rotors? 

Here is a better link to that vs the generic info that Pep Boys is giving you "Faster stops" since these aren't a Big Brake kit and drilled/cross is surface area lost for pads to grab for this application. 

More Information for POWER STOP K5550


Depending on shipping, this would be a decent cheaper option with quality parts. 

More Information for CENTRIC 90962054

At the end of the day, it's your money and your experience gained from this. I'd ask around if they will let a lease come back with such a radical "Visual Mod" before fully committing to it. Either way, Both kits above are cheaper than just going GM OEM.


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

centric it is than


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

ordered the centric pads through auto anything, can't complain about free shipping.

one last question, can i use a regular socket for the caliper bolts or do i need special ones?


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

bueller....


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

Can anyone tell me if i need a special socket for the caliper bolts


----------



## Fmx05 (Jan 4, 2017)

My girlfriend's 2011 has 115k miles on the factory brakes. I checked them when it was having the trans rebuilt and they still have a long way to go. Needless to say I was very surprised. She does 75/25% hwy/city but has 0% regard for anything mechanical. She just gets in and drives. I guess we got lucky.


----------



## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

jma20a said:


> Can anyone tell me if i need a special socket for the caliper bolts


http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/153-...8122-how-replace-front-brake-pads-rotors.html

Only"Special tools" possibly needed is the T30 used for the coil pack bolts and this...


----------



## jma20a (Dec 3, 2016)

so my mechanic didnt hold his word on putting on the rotors for free with an oil change. so, did the rotors(centric premium) and i picked up a set of prostop platinum pads and installed everything today including an oil change.

i do have to say that with was by far the easiest rotor and pad change i've ever done. took less than 45 minutes to pull it off.

theses rotors and pads are very grippy, not much effort to bring the car to a smooth stop.

thanks for all the help fellas


----------



## Toothless (Apr 7, 2013)

I replaced my front pads and rotors at about 40k miles(2013 1lt manual) as they weren't working very well and were pulsing. I did the work myself so it didn't cost more than the Pads and rotors and a can of brake cleaner. I upgraded to Hawk Performance drilled and slotted rotors with HPC pads for around $174 if i recall correctly. I'm going to have a mechanic friend adjust the rear brakes in a little bit, but I'm thinking I'm going to get a new car and dump the cruze anyways.


----------

