Matsui

I got all brake pads replaced two years ago at 110k miles and now I'm at 135k miles. Got the brake inspection done this morning and found out that both front are at 10mm, but the rear ones are at 3 mm. Actually, on the right rear, the inner one is at 1mm and the outer one is at 3mm. I didn't expect the rears to wear out so quick. I got the Akebono Pro Act front and rear. Actually, there was a bit of vibration when braking when I got them installed but I continued to ignore it. The indy who installed the brakes last time had said that the rotors were fine and didn't even required resurfacing. Do you know why the rear ones wore out so quick?

Which brake pads do you recommend to replace the rears with? I don't think I want to go with Akebono since I didn't have good experience with them. If anyone has recommendations based on their experience, please let me know which ones you got and a link to where you got them from. I'll be ordering them this weekend to prepare for a very long road trip ahead.

BlackCat81

You ALWAYS need to machine or replace rotors when replacing pads. Not doing so can cause unusual wear, not to mention noise. My Akebono pads are wearing great.

Matsui

Yes, I think you are right. I'll try Akebono again this time with resurfacing rotors. Not sure how much resurfacing cost by Indy to see if it is worth just changing the rotors and be done with it.

tz693

OP, seized front calipers?

Matsui

The fronts are fine. The rears are worn out - I doubt it's the calipers since both rears have worn quite evenly.

chiph9

Early wear on the rear pads is very unusual - most brake wear is on the fronts. You'd normally see that on a pickup, not an SUV.

Are you sure they were replaced at the last service? Perhaps they didn't do it (but charged you anyway).

Agree on the need to either resurface or replace the rotors at pad-change time.

Chip H.

Matsui

I bought my own pads to the indy and watched him do it. Something seems very wrong - I hope it doesn't happen again after resurfacing the rotors.

Matsui

Any recommendation on rotors? I'm thinking of replacing the rears instead of resurfacing if the price difference isn't much. How much do you think an indy would charge to resurface them?

Matsui

Based on the price of rotors at Amazon it seems very tempting. Brands like Raybestos and Centric have them selling from $30-$45. I wonder how the quality is of those. Based on some reading on the internet it seems there are lots of low quality Chinese rotors available online which are of very low quality and crack easily. Not sure what to do...

If anyone has good experience with non-OEM rotors, please provide some feedback.

BlackCat81

Rear brake pads wear first on most cars/SUV's. It's partially due to how they're proportioned, and partially due to rear pads typically start out much thinner than fronts.

Matsui

Yesterday I got the Akebono ProAct brakes and Centric StopTech Sport Slotted rotors installed in the rears. So far really liking its stopping ability. The Centric rotors seemed very high quality in terms of look and feel - only time will tell if they are the real deal.