# Brake pads !!!



## abhylash831 (Sep 13, 2013)

How would I know when to replace brake pads? Is there a way to check it or just wait for the brakes to squeak?
I currently have 70k miles on my car and of-course the brakes are not as tight as when they were new but they seem to work fine. I don't want to wait till the last moment to change my brake pads where in I would risk causing damage to my disks or some other part.

Thank You folks,
Abhi


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## DMC1.4LTurbo (Sep 29, 2014)

OEM Brake pads last much longer than the ones you buy from Advanced/Autozone ect. I typicaly wait until I hear the squeak. If you are really worried about it. Just pull off your wheels and examine them. You should be able to feel the gap that remains between the rotor and brake pad backing.


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## cruze01 (Mar 25, 2011)

abhylash83 said:


> How would I know when to replace brake pads? Is there a way to check it or just wait for the brakes to squeak?
> I currently have 70k miles on my car and of-course the brakes are not as tight as when they were new but they seem to work fine. I don't want to wait till the last moment to change my brake pads where in I would risk causing damage to my disks or some other part.
> 
> Thank You folks,
> Abhi


I'm suprised you havent heard the wear indicator squiking yet. I'd say your real close, wouldn't hurt to go ahead and do it.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Depending on the driving you do I could see the pads lasting that long. I take you drive mainly highway. If you are more mixed driving(70% city 30% hwy) I would say you would be looking @ 50 K I would pull off a front wheel and see how much room you have between the caliper and the rotor. It is probably close but you would also hear your wear indicator soon.As far as damage, the most you would be looking at is having to have your rotors turned if not replaced. Depends on how grooved they get if they wear down to the backing plate. You will hear your wear indicator before then which may cause you to pull the rotors and have them turned which is always a good idea when changing pads and not too expensive either.


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## neirfin (Oct 18, 2012)

My oem pads are still good but the rotors need to be resurfaced. And the drums turned. I'm at 60k miles


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

To answer the OP's question......they should be inspected and measured (there is a inexpensive tool) with every tire rotation.
Thats for the front/rear pads.

For cars with disc/drum combinations, the rear drums should be pulled at every rotation, cleaned of accumulated brake dust to reduce squeaking, and, if needed, manually adjusted.
For the disc/drum design, rear brake maintenance will help the front pads last much longer than those that aren't serviced.
Thats because the front brakes end up doing a inordinate amount of the work.

Rob


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

Hmm, and I bet there are about 100 people in all of the USA that would do that. ( I know I've never done it ) I do sometimes take a peak at the pads if they are disc brakes, but I , and most others just go till they start to chirp, or make metal to metal grinding noises. I guess since my wife's car has about 70K miles on it, I should take a pretty good look at them when I put snow tires on in a few weeks, fortunately both my Cruze have 4wheel disc brakes.



Robby said:


> To answer the OP's question......they should be inspected and measured (there is a inexpensive tool) with every tire rotation.
> Thats for the front/rear pads.
> 
> For cars with disc/drum combinations, the rear drums should be pulled at every rotation, cleaned of accumulated brake dust to reduce squeaking, and, if needed, manually adjusted.
> ...


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Ha, even my 30 Olds had wear indicators, when the linings worn thin, copper rivets would hit the drums and generate a squeal. Had to replace the linings quick or would do damage to the drums. Hmmm, this was 61 years ago when I purchase a riveting tool from Warshawski's for a couple of bucks. Didn't replace the shoes back then, just the lining. Has a special bit with it for drilling out the old rivets. Still have this kit, use it for other things. New linings were something like 50 cents each.

Practically every pad has wear indicators on them, going back to the 70's, just a piece of sheet metal riveted unto the pad that makes contact with the disc when the pad wears. Seen some aftermarket pads that don't have these, those are left on the counter. 

But usually run into other brake problems well before that wear indicator makes contact, failure to self adjust, rotor out of line, and rust binding the pads so they cannot retract, or a hose that collapses internally acting like a check valve. At a rest stop, get in the habit of holding the back of my hand around each brake, if I feel excessive heat, time to do some work on them.

Sure don't like those pad clips used on the Cruze, corrosion builds up under them binding the pads so they won't release. If the idiot that adapted these and knew a tad of history, was a disaster when Honda and Toyota came out with these years ago. Even got negative reviews from Consumer Reports. So here we go again with repeated ancient problems.


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## abhylash831 (Sep 13, 2013)

Hi fellow cruzers,

Thanks for your quick response. Yes my typical driving is 80-85% highway and rest city. And even in city its not much stop and go. I haven't heard the squeal yet but I might just go ahead and change it before I hear the squeal. I have a 2LT with all for disc brakes so how much expense am I looking at considering I change all four from a GM dealership?

Thanks again


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Rear Delco ceramic pad are 27 bucks for the pair, but Raybestoes also has ceramic pads for 18 bucks. Look like Delco's, Delco does not make brake pads.










Rears last a very long time, fronts get the wear with about 80% of the braking effort. Delco ceramics with clips run about 33 bucks.










Raybestos is the same price, flip a coin.

Front rotors run about 30 bucks each at rockauto.com, normally get better prices at my Fleet Farm store. What they are charging for turning rotors today, no longer brother fooling with this. Besides the vents on the inside are solid rust, they don't clean these. Just as cheap to replace the rotors as to have them turned and have the original thickness. Typically only replace the front ones, rare to replace the rear ones, but clean those off.

Saw an ad at my Chevy dealer, 99 bucks for front pads only, but the kind of work they did on replacing my rear calipers, no way am I paying that. Redid everything, and did it right. It's my life, not theirs, seen these idiots pound in pads with hammer.


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## abhylash831 (Sep 13, 2013)

Sorry if I am asking a very stupid question but do I have to replace the rotors with the brake pads or just replacing the brake pads would be sufficient? or is it like rotors have to be replaced with brake pads?


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

It all depends... the main reason a rotor would need replaced, is if it's warped... you'd notice that when applying the brakes, you'd feel a vibration or shake.

The other typical reason a rotor would need replaced would be if it was badly grooved. That typically wouldn't happen unless you'd driven the car with pads that were so worn that the rivets were grinding on the rotor.

Generally, if you change your pads before they get worn down to rivets, your rotors shouldn't need replacing. Rotors typically get warped if they are really hot and then you drive through a puddle and/or water splashes on them while they are hot. It's been years since I've had any warped rotors on a car.

Heck on older cars I've owned, even with some grooves in the rotors , I just put new pads on. If you do this, the pads wear out a bit quicker. With the price of rotors being so cheap these days, it's not that expensive just to replace the rotors if they are bad, but again... your rotors shouldn't need replaced except for the two issues I mentioned above.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Ha, my 30 Olds used rivets, how old is your Cruze. Do a TIR check on my rotors and check the thickness with with a micrometer, and judge visually the surface condition and the rust, these things sure love to rust.

Was a bit surprised at my machine shop, took in my motorhome rotors that took a strong man with a small boy to carry in. Said I just wanted 4 mils taken off the outside and 3 mils off the inside, was mostly scale, cleaned up nice and was only five bucks per rotor.

But with a tiny rotor you can carry in your coat pocket was 18 bucks where a brand new one was 22 bucks. Some brake shops really get carried away. Just set the cutter randomly to where the rotor is below the minimum thickness level. Most rotors have this stamped on the rim, if you can find it under all that rust.


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## 87 (Nov 2, 2010)

I know this is an old topic but I thought I'd add to it instead of starting a new one.

I've put 75,000 KM on my 2011 1.4 LT over the 5 years that I've owned it. I'm just needing to replace my brake pads now. The dealership reccomends that I get my rotors machined as well, but seeing as I can get 2 rotors for $99.99 and the machining would cost me $119.99, I think I'll just replace the rotors while I'm at the brake pads.

I do about 50/50 highway and city.


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## abhylash831 (Sep 13, 2013)

moobox said:


> I know this is an old topic but I thought I'd add to it instead of starting a new one.
> 
> I've put 75,000 KM on my 2011 1.4 LT over the 5 years that I've owned it. I'm just needing to replace my brake pads now. The dealership reccomends that I get my rotors machined as well, but seeing as I can get 2 rotors for $99.99 and the machining would cost me $119.99, I think I'll just replace the rotors while I'm at the brake pads.
> 
> I do about 50/50 highway and city.


I just reached 100k miles and I haven't yet replaced my brake pads. However my rotors need to be resurfaced or changed.


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## Poje (Aug 2, 2012)

I change pads every year and i have only 50k miles, lol.

Hawk HP plus ftw. :grin:


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## Qball (Aug 11, 2013)

I have 67k miles on my '13 LT 6a. I just looked at my front pads and there's about .250 left. I do about a 50/50 mix. I'm pretty easy on the brakes, too.


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## jmsanti (Feb 4, 2015)

My rotors were completely warped at 50k miles so I replaced them including the pads with Napa brand.​


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## Handles (Oct 8, 2012)

I'm at 90K and my brake pads and rotors are fine (80% highway), so it really is about driving conditions and how you drive/brake. That said, when it's time, no doubt I'll replace both rotors and pads, it's simply cost effective to do so vs having rotors turned, or just adding pads.


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## 30 Ounce (Nov 18, 2012)

moobox said:


> I know this is an old topic but I thought I'd add to it instead of starting a new one.
> 
> I've put 75,000 KM on my 2011 1.4 LT over the 5 years that I've owned it. I'm just needing to replace my brake pads now. The dealership reccomends that I get my rotors machined as well, but seeing as I can get 2 rotors for $99.99 and the machining would cost me $119.99, I think I'll just replace the rotors while I'm at the brake pads.
> 
> I do about 50/50 highway and city.


Machining rotors is usually $10-20. I have never heard of anyone charging that much to machine rotors. 

My ECO has nearly 100k miles and the original pads are fine. I'm sure they'll have to be done soon though.


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## Handles (Oct 8, 2012)

I guess my point is that by replacing everything it's like starting out at zero miles, paying to have the rotors turned, they are still rotors with 100K on them and in another 50K you will need new ones. So considering the cost, plus time and hassle, just replace them and not worry about it for another 100k.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Handles said:


> I guess my point is that by replacing everything it's like starting out at zero miles, paying to have the rotors turned, they are still rotors with 100K on them and in another 50K you will need new ones. So considering the cost, plus time and hassle, just replace them and not worry about it for another 100k.


I replaced my pads and wanted to replace my rotors but I just settled for the pads and turning of rotors. This was done @ 35K. For some reason my front rotors were grooved and my calipers were sticking(getting @ 25 MPG out of my Eco). Since then it seems I get a lot of brake dust on my front wheels from after market pads(Napa and Advance). Only thing stopping me from replacing the rotors was not being able to remove the caliper bracket. It is one of those odd sizes(18 mm) not included in socket sets and not using my impact to break the bolts loose and the angle I was at with my broken shoulder didn't allow it to happen. I would like to do it preferably before winter but time and necessity has been the deciding factor on that. Maybe today(off work for Veteran's Day) Yes I work for the govt. I always love "Starting over" with brakes. Other than replacing shocks or tires, it is about the only thing you can do to your car to make it like new again.


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