What to do if your rear brake pads are bad?
Get a professional to inspect your rear brakes. Some older cars and rear brake systems may have brake shoes instead of pads. These are cylindrical metal rings that fit around your wheel’s rotors. If you suspect that your brake shoes are bad, you should take your car to a mechanic so that they can inspect them.
How long do front and rear brake pads last?
The exterior “braking material” (usually made of metal) should measure the same thickness on both sides. You can take measurements of the material with a ruler. Rear brake shoes are good for 30,000–40,000 miles (48,000–64,000 km) and can last twice as long as your front brakes.
How can I find out what my brake pads look like?
Look into the hole in the caliper to see your brake pads. They will look like two sheets of rubber pressed against each other. While your tire is off you can see both internal and external brake pads. Measure both sides of the brake pads.
How big should the backing plate be on a car brake pad?
The brake pad backing plate is about 5 millimetres (0.20 in)-thick, so you must subtract it from your number to get the accurate width of the brake pads. Your brake pads should be at least 1⁄3 inch (8.5 mm)-thick after you subtract 5 millimetres (0.20 in). 7 Replace your brake pads if they are under 1⁄4 inch (6.4 mm)-thick.
Is it possible to check brake pad wear?
Believe it or not, most of the time you can check pad wear without taking off the wheels. And you don’t need a mechanical engineering degree to do it. Usually, you can see the brake pad through the wheel and won’t need to remove it.
What happens if you run your brake pads too hard?
Many times, if pads are run too hard, too fast, the pad surface can heavily transfer (think literally melt) onto the rotor when the car is parked, which causes an uneven area of pad material deposited on the brake rotor.
When do you put bedding on your brake pads?
For most folks, the gradual wearing-in of your brake pads and rotors will be performed through natural driving, but if you want your pads to perform great right out of the gate, and minimize potential issues, doing a procedure known as “bedding in” is extremely helpful.
What causes a warped rotor on a bedding brake?
Once you drive again, new pad material is then deposited on top of and around this extra deposit, creating an un-even surface on the rotor. In a majority of cases, this very phenomenon is what is actually diagnosed as a “warped rotor” when newly installed pads and rotors quickly develop a pulsation.