ralphyboy6

Has anyone had issues with brakes and rotors wearing out prematurely ?

JSracer

Quite a vague question
​​​​​​

ravenuer

Depends on your definition of "prematurely". If you live in a city and are hitting your brakes every 50 feet or so, then they aren't going to last as long as if you lived out in the country where the roads are miles long without cross streets.

mikemu30

I generally get 50k miles from front brakes and usually longer for rear. Plenty of highway driving of course

ravenuer

I also got 50 out of the fronts on my 2010 RAV4 V6, but 60 out of the rears.

GSFRX350

Years ago when I was a youngster (18) I managed 4,000 kms out of a set of pads on a Honda Accord. After that the local dealer offered to show me how to change the pads, fluid etc - I think they were sick of me coming in.

mssca

My 2008 RAv4 V6 has 85,000 kms and still has the original pads and disks for breaks. Toyota service people said, I can go for at least another 3000 kms before switching them out. I do hear a faint noise when breaking sometimes.

mikemu30

Normal to hear a noise if you're Breaking but not Braking😁

billh556

I started having pulsing in the brakes around 15k miles, which was quite surprising. Had the front rotors resurfaced at the 20k service, no problems since then. I told the service advisor that seemed too early for so much wear, and he said it is dependent on how you drive it. I told him I'm not doing track days in my RX, but didn't push it beyond that.

coolsaber

How did you conclude premature wear? Visual inspection, driving symptoms, or SA told you recommended service

mssca

You can actually visually inspect for wear by yourself. Jack it up and remove the tire and see if the pads have uneven wear. If you see slight uneven wear, you can adjust the pads to fix that problem.
You can also see a groove on the inside of the pad. If the grove is completely gone and the metal pin is either making a contact with the disk (or about to make a contact), then you need to replace the pads. I thought that's what happening on my Rav4 because I hear a faint noise when I breaks. They told me it is just uneven wear and nothing to worry about. But when the pads are almost completely gone, it also make noise because the metal pin contacting the brake disk rotor.

billh556

As I said, pulsing behavior when braking was the symptom,not inspection or anyone's recommendation. In fact, the service advisor recommended against doing the resurfacing, but I told them to do it. That solved the problem.

ravenuer

Generally if your brakes are getting on in years/miles, it's recommended to just replace the rotors. In your case with just 15k on them I would have had them turned as well. Glad it worked out.

mikemu30

The problem with resurfacing is it will only provide a short term fix since the rotors are so thin to begin with, the turning makes them even thinner and the heat will warp them.

coolsaber

Glad to hear it solved, but in the future just a couple tips. If you are on the brakes constantly, try not to lets the pads soak on the rotors on one spot for too long, it usually will create ridges that you can feel. In addition, if you feel it happen again try and do a couple of panic stops in a danger free area (disclaimer not responsible for foulish behavior and do at your own risk) it should run those rotors deposit off.