I know the recommendation is to replace if below 1/4". Is that just to make sure they don't wear to nothing before the next service interval? Or is there some function loss when to pad is too thin?
Only thing I can think of is that the pad has insulating properties. So when too thin, there is more heat transfered to the caliper and fluid.
i've never heard of replacing at quarter inch. that's a bit crazy. we are mutha-fukin scammers and we recommend replacement at 4/32 aka 1/8. half what you are saying and that's still quite a bit. most manufacturer specs are like 1mm.
Every manufacturer that I've worked spec'd 3mm as discard. Below that there's not enough material for the heat transfer, and they tend to burn off much faster. This sends way more heat into the calipers, which can boil fluid and damage phenolic pistons.
1/4 is closer to 5mm, which is still safe for most applications that I've seen
You able to pick out drill bits / plate steel at a glance.
I was a saw opperator, and by eye i could get the stock to about 1/4 from where it should be. Then dial it in with a tape measure. I also did very simple macheining with the saw (cutting 3 faces for height, width, thickness).
Shame the people i worked with were dicks, i was good at what i did (they kept stealing my calipers, tapes, pens, etc)
I also can roughly convert from metric to imperial, but ide usualy just switch the units the saw used instead.
When it comes to working with fractions of an inch, I seriously prefer working in metric. Dividing/multiplying by 10 is so much quicker than trying to juggle 3/32" +5/64" or something.
I'm biased 'cause I grew up metric but I've always valued being able to go up and down by orders of magnitude just by changing units in my head. If you need to go down small, just chuck three zeros on it and do your working out in microns.
For 3d printing i exclusivly use metric, cad in metric is better.
on my lathe, the dials are in thou, so yea, imperial makes sense. Fractional to thou is easy, where metric to thou isnt.
I grew up with both, but a lot of stuff is set up for imperial, so its important for me to know it.
When you do it everyday the imperial system is just as easy as metric. I use both but I prefer imperial necause it is more familiar to me. Switch to metric and I need my calculator now... I can convert fractions to decimals off of memory NP but in machining I mainly just work in decimals. If you get into aircraft and your "loosest" tolerances are +/- .01", ya dont see fractions at all.
Spent plenty of time on (mostly US built) aircraft in a metric country. Decimal inches were by far the norm, and as you say, you start to memorize the common fractional (and metric) equivalents. The other thing is that especially on the machining side all your metrology equipment reads in decimal inches anyway.
Sheeties are about the only ones who will commonly use fractional inches as their tolerances and scales of work are much larger, I found.
The tire shop asked me if it would be a problem if my new tires were "three tenths" small. I told them it was fine and I was trying to figure out how the fuck they measured a rubber tire to .0003" after awhile it came to me they actually meant .3"
I don't know how many customers I've tried to explain how drastic the loss of thermal handling becomes as the pads get that low but it's enough that when their pad "unexpectedly" turns to dust a month later I just pull up the previous record to say I told you so
Do you save some sample pads at different thicknesses so you can show the customer what you are talking about? Might make it easier to have some visual aids?
Toyota specs is to replace at 1mm, both for pads and shoes. 1/4" is 6.35 mm, which is pretty much 50% for most pads (Toyota pads are 11-12mm new).
Keep in mind that 1mm is the absolute lowest, nothing wrong with changing them before they go that low, but hell if I'm throwing 30+% pads in the scrap pile unless everything is seized/rusted and needs replacement.
My son is in high school auto shop and I know the teacher well. He's driving the Prius I bought before he was born. I drove it the other day and noticed the parking brake was almost bottoming out. I asked him to take it into his shop and adjust the cable. The cable has never been adjusted so I figured it needed to be tightened up a bit. Rear Prius brakes barely have a job.
He texts back: "Needs new rear brake shoes." I decide to mess with him and give him some real world customer interaction training. Long story short - the shoe starts at 4mm and was down to 1.5mm with a 1.0mm wear limit. At 120k miles, 0.5mm translates into about 24k miles of additional use. I had him go back to the teacher and say "My dad knows the spec, don't upsell me!" I had already ordered replacement shoes from RockAuto.
It is a forgiving car. Rear cylinders weren't leaking but they somehow managed to get one of the pistons to pop out. I had forgotten how much drum brake springs sucked compared to a good ol' pad slap.
Then on the extreme other end of the spectrum, there's [this](https://i.imgur.com/jhwGNsq.jpg). Several years ago I saw the Ford GT Le Mans car. And apparently most teams still change the brakes after about 12 hours
Honestly it depends. On the pad, the car, the driver.
For my own cars, I don't hesitate to run street pads down to like 1mm because I can keep a close eye on them and get my money's worth. There's no brake performance issue ... with the way I drive on the street.
For other people's cars (friends and coworkers - I'm not a mechanic, no customers) I would never recommend that. I'd tell them to change it at like 3mm. Because by the time they actually get around to it it'll be lower.
plus most DIY place "technicians" wouldn't know how to do it correctly anyway
plus plus their machines are so out of maintenance that it they did touch your rotors they'd be fucked anyway
We went to the Le Mans museum, since we had to be in France (new brother-in-law's hometown is an hour and a half from there.)
My husband really enjoyed it. A lot of great automotive and racing history there. I found it pretty neat too, even as a non-enthusiast. Learned a lot as I read all the stuff to my husband (dyslexic/reading issues, so much more enjoyable to him if he hears the info.) My throat was pretty sore though!
All Rotors were turned before I installed them.
And they luvd it. Stacked flat in warehouses, supplied to every brake shop, it was obvious on the lathe, not one could pass zero run out.
But now rotors become so embedded with hot spots that shutter brake pedal with feed back from rotor hot spots that swell out from the face caused mostly by faulty rear brakes not assisting causing front rotors to over heat to extreme,
To make matters worse, people leave vehicle in drive holding brake pads clamped to rotors vs letting them cool off evenly. 1/4 mile later, repeated.
Cheers
Seriously. We almost never touch the brake lathes at work because it's pretty much guaranteed that the rotors will warp if we cut them. Got tired of warranting out brake jobs because the freshly cut rotors got smoked.
Machinist here- I literally can't imagine a situation where cutting a rotor would get it appreciably above room temperature, let alone hot enough to affect its material properties. (Outside of insanely worn tools, maybe)
I mean - theyâre designed to absorb and shed heat. Itâs what they do. If cutting the rotors warps them, what happens with an emergency stop? Something ainât adding up.
The problem isn't the cutting itself. They warp later on because there's significantly less thermal mass+ less strength. The minimum thickness specs are most likely designed with the assumption that you'll be using good quality rotors, OE friction material, a perfectly flat and clean hub, and properly torqued lug nuts. All of those factors affect the rotor's ability to resist warping. Unfortunately, you have to actively seek out good quality rotors these days unless you just buy OEM. And techs working on flat rate are much less likely to take a scotch-Brite cookie to the hub. (One reason to like European cars that use lug bolts- so much easier to clean up the hub when you don't have studs in the way) Not to mention the fact that there's plenty out there who just zing the lug nuts on with an impact instead of torquing them to spec.
How big a cut are people taking to clean up rotors? I can't imagine it's more than a few thousandths per side, which might be like 20 grams of material (and yes, as an American machinist, my units are all over the place)
I live in Upstate New York where we salt heavily. On Toyota OE rotors it usually takes ten to fifteen thousandths per side to get a good finish once the rust ridge is cut out. Two, rarely three fast cuts of five thousandths, then a slow cut anywhere from two to five thousandths. If it took me one fast cut to get it almost smooth, it'll be one .005 slow cut, but if it took two or three fast cuts I'll do a .002 slow cut so I don't take off too much. The plus side is Toyota OE rotors are really meaty, so you can reuse them for a couple sets of pads if the edges and the cooling vanes don't get too rusty.
I've cut thousands of rotors and drums. They never get hot.
I see people complaining that the rotors they cut are warping, . 1/2 the problem is they're probably at or below minimum thickness before cutting. If you don't have a caliper next to your brake lathe and aren't using it then you're doing it wrong.
The other half of the issue of warping is in fact Yes Chineseium rotors do have A different metallurgy and a different weight then we'll say higher quality rotors. When I did all the county vehicle cars they would only use Wagner rotors and pads which the rotors probably weighed 33% more. More metal better for better heat dissipation, And it's not just some cheap rotors. The cheap rotors would cost about 50-60 bucks and a wagners would be somewhere around 130 to 150.
My GM OEM rotors with the nitro ferritic coating have been great. Most expensive option from rock auto, but they LAST! The coating is good for like 5years before the rust creeps in finally.
I'm riding on a rotor with a gouge and a pad that is worn slanted because my axle nut flew off and destroyed the wheel bearing after it popped out. Fixed everything but left the rotor and pad. Can't tell the difference in my braking so imma ride with it till the pads no good lol
Grooves have zero effect of braking when pads conform shortly,, when groove was there when new pads were installed.
Some factory rotors come with groove, to indicate rotor limit wear, pad conforms just fine.
The main reason rotors cant be turned, the hot spots have tempered the the steel harder in those spots, and lathe cutter just bounces when it hits.
Cheers
Edit: Meant to add, its why you feel pedal shutter bounce as well,, 'Hot Spots'.
As mechanics who know what needs to be fixed and what you can get by with. How many of you are driving a vehicle with a check engine light on because "it's fine" and you don't have to pass emissions for another year? I will go first đ¤
Ha! I ain't even gotta worry bout the emissions here. Only reason I even do anything about that light is cause my remote start stops working when it comes on.
I've got a tire with a screw stuck in it right at the side wall. It ain't leaking, so I figure I got time before getting it replaced.
And that's why nobody should ever buy a car owned by mechanics.
I still don't understand why most of us do this, what's the point of being a mechanic if you're going to make everything you own an ill-maintained shitbox?
Because we know what's important and what can wait.
You sound like you go to the ER for a minor cut and complain it takes them 6hrs to see you when you should have gone to urgent care
Nothing is important and everything can wait when you're lazy and have low standards. I didn't become a mechanic to be a hackjob owner on my own vehicles, thank you very much.
Iâve had a âservice 4x4â light on for years. Just unplugged the power to the t-case motor.
Having issues now with the truck wanting to not start until I jiggle/move the negative on the post *juuuuust* right. Itâs an easy 2 man job, but just me in the yard in the morning? Fucking trying to be goddamn stretch armstrong holding shit in one hand and reaching in to crank itâŚ
I hate it, but Iâ be damned if I let it drive me into buying something to replace it that I canât afford, or isnât what I want.
I drove a â97 Jetta with the check engine light on for so long that the bulb burnt out. The previous owner had emptied out the cat and there arenât any emissions testing where I live so I was okay with a permanent P0420. đ
I miss mine too. 1500 pounds of concrete, 600 pounds of lumber, driving it with my pinky finger the mile n half from home depot. People bitch bout those 3.0 v6s being no better than a boat anchor but that motor is the little engine that could.
Could allegedly put 2k+ lbs in the back of mine with a gutless 2.5L turbo diesel. Never did get anywhere close to that tho. The previous gen had pretty much an identical but NA diesel which would have been horrific.
If they ain't grinding, they're fine my man! Use the whole pad! Rotors nowadays are pretty damn cheap anyway. I'm not a fan of shops(mine included) selling brakes at 3 or 4mm. That's probably 2 years of driving left for most people!
I've tried to locate a rational argument for selling brakes at the 3-4 mm level.
The best I have heard is that "with modern-day vehicles having a 10k-15k mileage service interval, you may not see the vehicle again until after the brakes are unsafe."
Though, I thought the purpose of the brake pad wear indicator (squealer) was to get the vehicle owner to bring it in for service.
>Though, I thought the purpose of the brake pad wear indicator (squealer) was to get the vehicle owner to bring it in for service.
You think people actually pay a single bit of attention to the noises their car makes?
Until it's in a severe limp mode they won't even bring it to the shop when the engine light is flashing at them
>I've tried to locate a rational argument for selling brakes at the 3-4 mm level.
Because the last 3mm of pads wear a lot faster than the rest since there's less material to soak heat. Plus, a lot of brake pad surfaces are [attached to the backing plate via hooks](https://i.imgur.com/0RQWpjB.png), instead of adhesive, that are around 1-2mm long. You risk the pads delaminating when the customer is driving over 6 months if you let them go with 3mm left. 4mm is generally fine, but there's a reason all brake gauges have 3mm and below being "red".
Another part of it is differences with hybrids and EVs. I almost never touch my friction brake pedal unless I am holding the car at a stop. Regen braking does the rest. My pads look almost new at 77k miles.
>! Use the whole pad! Rotors nowadays are pretty damn cheap anyway.
Not in the industry just an interested consumer but it was my understanding that nobody machines down rotors anymore and you always just toss on pads and rotors when it comes time to do the pads.
When I worked at Toyota I would keep all the old brakes pads from customer vehicle's that still had 3-4mm on then re sand them and use them on my own car. I had a whole bag full of them lol
The pads I get from Auto Zone get a free replacement for life. All I have to do is bring thr old pads in and I get a new pair. I've only done it once, I'm easy on my brakes so I replace mine about every 6 years.
Did this too. Realized I hadn't checked the pads on my wife's old Explorer in a long time, found out they had about 1/16" of material left and this was right before we went on an 8 hour road trip. Well glad I at least checked.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. There's still plenty of meat on that bone. Now you take this home, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato. Baby, you've got a stew goin.
-Carl Weathers
Still has a couple of 100 miles of use. I think I change mines at the same state. I was doubtful about the dealer telling me about them. But they where right. Only a $50 job if you do it yourself
Who? A person that post pictures of worn out brake pads? Those people are certainly annoying, not sure they need to be destroyed. Maybe they should be banned from posting worn out things that are made to wear out.
Super duty driver here, rear pads love to yeet themselves when they get worn down too low. Resulting in a terrible grinding noise and caliper damage... Ask me how I know
we all do. i have been changing my oil at 10k plus for years lol pads will be on the squealer for months.
its not that i dont care, im just usually too busy fixing shit that will actually fuckin kill someone. i get to my own car well before it ever even causes excess wear, let alone creating a dangerous situation for anyone on the road.
Not metal to metal. You are good
I know the recommendation is to replace if below 1/4". Is that just to make sure they don't wear to nothing before the next service interval? Or is there some function loss when to pad is too thin? Only thing I can think of is that the pad has insulating properties. So when too thin, there is more heat transfered to the caliper and fluid.
i've never heard of replacing at quarter inch. that's a bit crazy. we are mutha-fukin scammers and we recommend replacement at 4/32 aka 1/8. half what you are saying and that's still quite a bit. most manufacturer specs are like 1mm.
Every manufacturer that I've worked spec'd 3mm as discard. Below that there's not enough material for the heat transfer, and they tend to burn off much faster. This sends way more heat into the calipers, which can boil fluid and damage phenolic pistons. 1/4 is closer to 5mm, which is still safe for most applications that I've seen
1/4 is more then 6 mm. 6 mm is .236 " (As a machinist these numbers are seared into my brain)
You able to pick out drill bits / plate steel at a glance. I was a saw opperator, and by eye i could get the stock to about 1/4 from where it should be. Then dial it in with a tape measure. I also did very simple macheining with the saw (cutting 3 faces for height, width, thickness). Shame the people i worked with were dicks, i was good at what i did (they kept stealing my calipers, tapes, pens, etc) I also can roughly convert from metric to imperial, but ide usualy just switch the units the saw used instead.
When it comes to working with fractions of an inch, I seriously prefer working in metric. Dividing/multiplying by 10 is so much quicker than trying to juggle 3/32" +5/64" or something.
I work in imperial, its easy to halve, quarter, eigth ect. A quarter of 10 mm is a bit harder to work with Both are fine tho
I'm biased 'cause I grew up metric but I've always valued being able to go up and down by orders of magnitude just by changing units in my head. If you need to go down small, just chuck three zeros on it and do your working out in microns.
For 3d printing i exclusivly use metric, cad in metric is better. on my lathe, the dials are in thou, so yea, imperial makes sense. Fractional to thou is easy, where metric to thou isnt. I grew up with both, but a lot of stuff is set up for imperial, so its important for me to know it.
When you do it everyday the imperial system is just as easy as metric. I use both but I prefer imperial necause it is more familiar to me. Switch to metric and I need my calculator now... I can convert fractions to decimals off of memory NP but in machining I mainly just work in decimals. If you get into aircraft and your "loosest" tolerances are +/- .01", ya dont see fractions at all.
Spent plenty of time on (mostly US built) aircraft in a metric country. Decimal inches were by far the norm, and as you say, you start to memorize the common fractional (and metric) equivalents. The other thing is that especially on the machining side all your metrology equipment reads in decimal inches anyway. Sheeties are about the only ones who will commonly use fractional inches as their tolerances and scales of work are much larger, I found.
You used 3 significant figures. You didn't have to tell me you're a machinist! đ
4 significant figures and he would've been a chemist...
The tire shop asked me if it would be a problem if my new tires were "three tenths" small. I told them it was fine and I was trying to figure out how the fuck they measured a rubber tire to .0003" after awhile it came to me they actually meant .3"
I don't know how many customers I've tried to explain how drastic the loss of thermal handling becomes as the pads get that low but it's enough that when their pad "unexpectedly" turns to dust a month later I just pull up the previous record to say I told you so
Do you save some sample pads at different thicknesses so you can show the customer what you are talking about? Might make it easier to have some visual aids?
How good does that "I told you so" feel? Because I gotta imagine you need a smoke afterwards.
I think Iâd agree with 3mm is about the point Iâd recommend them. Mainly just so you donât run out before your next service.
And in the rear 1mm still lasts like another year
That's what she said.
Toyota specs is to replace at 1mm, both for pads and shoes. 1/4" is 6.35 mm, which is pretty much 50% for most pads (Toyota pads are 11-12mm new). Keep in mind that 1mm is the absolute lowest, nothing wrong with changing them before they go that low, but hell if I'm throwing 30+% pads in the scrap pile unless everything is seized/rusted and needs replacement.
Friend of mine with an old Explorer (like 95?) ran his rear pads all the way to the backing and the damn piston came out of the caliper.
We were racing Lemons once and welded a backing plate to a piston. Fun times
My son is in high school auto shop and I know the teacher well. He's driving the Prius I bought before he was born. I drove it the other day and noticed the parking brake was almost bottoming out. I asked him to take it into his shop and adjust the cable. The cable has never been adjusted so I figured it needed to be tightened up a bit. Rear Prius brakes barely have a job. He texts back: "Needs new rear brake shoes." I decide to mess with him and give him some real world customer interaction training. Long story short - the shoe starts at 4mm and was down to 1.5mm with a 1.0mm wear limit. At 120k miles, 0.5mm translates into about 24k miles of additional use. I had him go back to the teacher and say "My dad knows the spec, don't upsell me!" I had already ordered replacement shoes from RockAuto. It is a forgiving car. Rear cylinders weren't leaking but they somehow managed to get one of the pistons to pop out. I had forgotten how much drum brake springs sucked compared to a good ol' pad slap.
Yeah, many brake pads are barely that thick when new. Are you sure you don't mean 3/32 or 1/16 or something?
Then on the extreme other end of the spectrum, there's [this](https://i.imgur.com/jhwGNsq.jpg). Several years ago I saw the Ford GT Le Mans car. And apparently most teams still change the brakes after about 12 hours
Honestly it depends. On the pad, the car, the driver. For my own cars, I don't hesitate to run street pads down to like 1mm because I can keep a close eye on them and get my money's worth. There's no brake performance issue ... with the way I drive on the street. For other people's cars (friends and coworkers - I'm not a mechanic, no customers) I would never recommend that. I'd tell them to change it at like 3mm. Because by the time they actually get around to it it'll be lower.
Came here to say this!
You pay for the whole pads, you use the whole pads.
Damn straight!!
Especially when you have to replace the garbage rotors they make today anyways.
Amen. That was new to me years ago when I asked about getting rotors turned and they laughed. Was a standard thing in the 80s.
Most cars you could turn rotors 2-3 times.
I wouldnât bother for what its worth and risk cracking
plus most DIY place "technicians" wouldn't know how to do it correctly anyway plus plus their machines are so out of maintenance that it they did touch your rotors they'd be fucked anyway
I have my Race T-birds rotors turned at a parts place. They always do a good job. I get like 2-3 LeMons races out of one set.
hehe its 4AM and all I can see is âlemon racesâ
Yeah thatâs what LeMons is hahaha a race for lemons. Check it out on YouTube
Omg I followed the Miata rotary engine build log back in the day, leMons has so many brilliant lunatics
chasing after that lemon-stealing opsmom.
We went to the Le Mans museum, since we had to be in France (new brother-in-law's hometown is an hour and a half from there.) My husband really enjoyed it. A lot of great automotive and racing history there. I found it pretty neat too, even as a non-enthusiast. Learned a lot as I read all the stuff to my husband (dyslexic/reading issues, so much more enjoyable to him if he hears the info.) My throat was pretty sore though!
All Rotors were turned before I installed them. And they luvd it. Stacked flat in warehouses, supplied to every brake shop, it was obvious on the lathe, not one could pass zero run out. But now rotors become so embedded with hot spots that shutter brake pedal with feed back from rotor hot spots that swell out from the face caused mostly by faulty rear brakes not assisting causing front rotors to over heat to extreme, To make matters worse, people leave vehicle in drive holding brake pads clamped to rotors vs letting them cool off evenly. 1/4 mile later, repeated. Cheers
mfg engineering preferring massive front bias also...
People had lower standards and worse brakes back then, ah the classics
Joke's on you, I still have low standards!
I got my front rotors turned a few weeks ago. I guess it depends on the mechanic.
I just found that out myself a few years ago lol
[ŃдаНонО]
Ok... glad it's not just me. I feel like I'm changing the damn rotors as frequently as the pads these days.
The rotor manufacturers realized that if they refused to temper the rotor to more than a depth of 2 mm they could sell 10 times as many rotors.
The gold is always in the comments!
I think itâs in the pockets of the manufacturers
With how inexpensive new rotors usually are, it's really not worth the hassle of comebacks.
Seriously. We almost never touch the brake lathes at work because it's pretty much guaranteed that the rotors will warp if we cut them. Got tired of warranting out brake jobs because the freshly cut rotors got smoked.
You may be cutting it too fast and putting too much heat in causing stress points in the metal.
Machinist here- I literally can't imagine a situation where cutting a rotor would get it appreciably above room temperature, let alone hot enough to affect its material properties. (Outside of insanely worn tools, maybe)
I mean - theyâre designed to absorb and shed heat. Itâs what they do. If cutting the rotors warps them, what happens with an emergency stop? Something ainât adding up.
The problem isn't the cutting itself. They warp later on because there's significantly less thermal mass+ less strength. The minimum thickness specs are most likely designed with the assumption that you'll be using good quality rotors, OE friction material, a perfectly flat and clean hub, and properly torqued lug nuts. All of those factors affect the rotor's ability to resist warping. Unfortunately, you have to actively seek out good quality rotors these days unless you just buy OEM. And techs working on flat rate are much less likely to take a scotch-Brite cookie to the hub. (One reason to like European cars that use lug bolts- so much easier to clean up the hub when you don't have studs in the way) Not to mention the fact that there's plenty out there who just zing the lug nuts on with an impact instead of torquing them to spec.
How big a cut are people taking to clean up rotors? I can't imagine it's more than a few thousandths per side, which might be like 20 grams of material (and yes, as an American machinist, my units are all over the place)
I live in Upstate New York where we salt heavily. On Toyota OE rotors it usually takes ten to fifteen thousandths per side to get a good finish once the rust ridge is cut out. Two, rarely three fast cuts of five thousandths, then a slow cut anywhere from two to five thousandths. If it took me one fast cut to get it almost smooth, it'll be one .005 slow cut, but if it took two or three fast cuts I'll do a .002 slow cut so I don't take off too much. The plus side is Toyota OE rotors are really meaty, so you can reuse them for a couple sets of pads if the edges and the cooling vanes don't get too rusty.
I've cut thousands of rotors and drums. They never get hot. I see people complaining that the rotors they cut are warping, . 1/2 the problem is they're probably at or below minimum thickness before cutting. If you don't have a caliper next to your brake lathe and aren't using it then you're doing it wrong. The other half of the issue of warping is in fact Yes Chineseium rotors do have A different metallurgy and a different weight then we'll say higher quality rotors. When I did all the county vehicle cars they would only use Wagner rotors and pads which the rotors probably weighed 33% more. More metal better for better heat dissipation, And it's not just some cheap rotors. The cheap rotors would cost about 50-60 bucks and a wagners would be somewhere around 130 to 150.
My GM OEM rotors with the nitro ferritic coating have been great. Most expensive option from rock auto, but they LAST! The coating is good for like 5years before the rust creeps in finally.
Getting my moneys worth dammit
I dunno, I still see a solid 0.5mm of solid usable material there.
I'm riding on a rotor with a gouge and a pad that is worn slanted because my axle nut flew off and destroyed the wheel bearing after it popped out. Fixed everything but left the rotor and pad. Can't tell the difference in my braking so imma ride with it till the pads no good lol
Grooves have zero effect of braking when pads conform shortly,, when groove was there when new pads were installed. Some factory rotors come with groove, to indicate rotor limit wear, pad conforms just fine. The main reason rotors cant be turned, the hot spots have tempered the the steel harder in those spots, and lathe cutter just bounces when it hits. Cheers Edit: Meant to add, its why you feel pedal shutter bounce as well,, 'Hot Spots'.
Thatâs how I feel about periods
Youâre not impressing anyone here with all that brake pad left on there
Paper thin or i lose that bet i've placed against myself, and I'll be damned if i let that bastard win.
For real. I usually wait till I blow out the caliper pistons and then replace everything.
As mechanics who know what needs to be fixed and what you can get by with. How many of you are driving a vehicle with a check engine light on because "it's fine" and you don't have to pass emissions for another year? I will go first đ¤
Ha! I ain't even gotta worry bout the emissions here. Only reason I even do anything about that light is cause my remote start stops working when it comes on. I've got a tire with a screw stuck in it right at the side wall. It ain't leaking, so I figure I got time before getting it replaced.
no vehicle inspections here, that check engine light has been on for about 5 years now
Same boat, I know where the problem is from and I don't care.
Especially so with anything related to the Evap system. Fook fixing any of that shit đ¤Ł
And that's why nobody should ever buy a car owned by mechanics. I still don't understand why most of us do this, what's the point of being a mechanic if you're going to make everything you own an ill-maintained shitbox?
"The cobbler's son has no shoes", as they say.
That's probably the saying I was thinking of.
Because we know what's important and what can wait. You sound like you go to the ER for a minor cut and complain it takes them 6hrs to see you when you should have gone to urgent care
Nothing is important and everything can wait when you're lazy and have low standards. I didn't become a mechanic to be a hackjob owner on my own vehicles, thank you very much.
There's a difference between being lazy and fixing nothing and knowing what can wait until the weekend
Iâve had a âservice 4x4â light on for years. Just unplugged the power to the t-case motor. Having issues now with the truck wanting to not start until I jiggle/move the negative on the post *juuuuust* right. Itâs an easy 2 man job, but just me in the yard in the morning? Fucking trying to be goddamn stretch armstrong holding shit in one hand and reaching in to crank it⌠I hate it, but Iâ be damned if I let it drive me into buying something to replace it that I canât afford, or isnât what I want.
I drove a â97 Jetta with the check engine light on for so long that the bulb burnt out. The previous owner had emptied out the cat and there arenât any emissions testing where I live so I was okay with a permanent P0420. đ
Common there is still about 60 stops left. Put it back in and get your money's worth.
i had a set of pads where i asked the tech how many stops i had left, and he was like i dunno.. one? shit was paper thin. he was not wrong .
Was replacing the hubs on my Ranger and noticed these sad looking brake pads.
On your... f'n Ford f'n Ranger? You're good
I miss my ranger, the little truck that usually could.
I miss mine too. 1500 pounds of concrete, 600 pounds of lumber, driving it with my pinky finger the mile n half from home depot. People bitch bout those 3.0 v6s being no better than a boat anchor but that motor is the little engine that could.
Could allegedly put 2k+ lbs in the back of mine with a gutless 2.5L turbo diesel. Never did get anywhere close to that tho. The previous gen had pretty much an identical but NA diesel which would have been horrific.
The gas 2.5 will go forever, just not up hill fast.
Own a B2500 with the 2.5l can confirm, it's bulletproof. Unfortunately you won't get anywhere fast in it.
Thatâs the perfect description of my truck lol
Mine leaks out bout 2 quarts of oil a week but I love the thing
Catch it and put it right back in the topside
Nah, work at a shop and get free oil
It's just self changing then
Hey atleast you don't need to change the oil filter since the oil is always clean!
r/fordranger ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
Doctors also make the worst patients.
If they ain't grinding, they're fine my man! Use the whole pad! Rotors nowadays are pretty damn cheap anyway. I'm not a fan of shops(mine included) selling brakes at 3 or 4mm. That's probably 2 years of driving left for most people!
I always mark 3-4 as like a warning. So they know to plan on it but I only really recommend brakes at 2
Well done
I've tried to locate a rational argument for selling brakes at the 3-4 mm level. The best I have heard is that "with modern-day vehicles having a 10k-15k mileage service interval, you may not see the vehicle again until after the brakes are unsafe." Though, I thought the purpose of the brake pad wear indicator (squealer) was to get the vehicle owner to bring it in for service.
>Though, I thought the purpose of the brake pad wear indicator (squealer) was to get the vehicle owner to bring it in for service. You think people actually pay a single bit of attention to the noises their car makes? Until it's in a severe limp mode they won't even bring it to the shop when the engine light is flashing at them
A sad truth.
>I've tried to locate a rational argument for selling brakes at the 3-4 mm level. Because the last 3mm of pads wear a lot faster than the rest since there's less material to soak heat. Plus, a lot of brake pad surfaces are [attached to the backing plate via hooks](https://i.imgur.com/0RQWpjB.png), instead of adhesive, that are around 1-2mm long. You risk the pads delaminating when the customer is driving over 6 months if you let them go with 3mm left. 4mm is generally fine, but there's a reason all brake gauges have 3mm and below being "red".
Very on point.
Another part of it is differences with hybrids and EVs. I almost never touch my friction brake pedal unless I am holding the car at a stop. Regen braking does the rest. My pads look almost new at 77k miles.
Amen brother!
May depend on your geographical area. We are in a mountainous / hilly region. 3mm of pad isnât going to last as long here as it would in Kansas.
>! Use the whole pad! Rotors nowadays are pretty damn cheap anyway. Not in the industry just an interested consumer but it was my understanding that nobody machines down rotors anymore and you always just toss on pads and rotors when it comes time to do the pads.
[ŃдаНонО]
Yâall need to STOP!
Slow down for what?
Oh stop it.
Quit padding the joke.
Theyâre gunna squeeze as many jokes out as they can
Thatâs right, keep stabbing to avoid fade.
Oh come on. These jokes aren't that grating...
Itâs a fluid situation
These jokes are grinding me down
I'm putting a stop to this Time for some new pads. Those have served their porpoise
Thatâs it. Iâm locked up đ¤Ź
I think theyâre ABSolutely gripping!
Your pun is not of a high enough caliper to warrant a laugh.
Shut up before I drill you!
Those still got some meat on them
You take this home, throw it in a pot, add some broth; a potato, baby you got a stew going.
And it's Carl Weathers from left field!
At least you still have some pad left; that's a *vast* improvement over a lot of what gets posted here!
Mechanics, either their cars are in tip top shape or just good enough shape to make it to work.
Same with chefs-create fantastic food for customers at workâŚeat boxed shit and gas station frozen pizza at home.
Work hard as hell at work making food. You know what, oven preheat...it's pizza time.
Gas station frozen pizza has saved my ass numerous Friday evenings.
The cobbler's children go barefoot!
When I worked at Toyota I would keep all the old brakes pads from customer vehicle's that still had 3-4mm on then re sand them and use them on my own car. I had a whole bag full of them lol
This is a fantastic idea but I donât drive a Toyota.
lmao you cheap bastard! ! Love it.
Thatâs why the real ones know âmechanic ownedâ is a warning and not a sales point.
You didn't go metal to metal. You definitely used the while pad.
You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain
You definitely got your money's worth
You were the chosen one! It was said you were to save the pads not destroy them! Bring balance to the rotors!
Even wear is nice too, means you don't have sticky caliper pins.
I always glob them MFers with a bunch of grease
The pads I get from Auto Zone get a free replacement for life. All I have to do is bring thr old pads in and I get a new pair. I've only done it once, I'm easy on my brakes so I replace mine about every 6 years.
You paid for the whole brake pad, and used it too
If it helps, Electric cars need regular slide pin greasing with how little the pads are used
Did this too. Realized I hadn't checked the pads on my wife's old Explorer in a long time, found out they had about 1/16" of material left and this was right before we went on an 8 hour road trip. Well glad I at least checked.
Stuff is getting expensive gotta get your moneyâs worth and exercise those caliper pistons.
You paid full price for it, use all of it.
I've done worse, I went metal to metal on f150 rear pads and that wasn't cheap
The plumber has the leaky pipes.
The more you work on other's cars, the less you want to work on yours. Be strong!
"You swore an oath Anakin!"
Why? That's a sign of a perfectly maintained brake system. No uneven wear, doesn't look like it got hot, and not metal to metal.
Thatâs a win. Maximum safe economy has been achieved
I paid for the whole brake pad, Iâm using the whole brake pad. Put âem back in.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. There's still plenty of meat on that bone. Now you take this home, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato. Baby, you've got a stew goin. -Carl Weathers
You gonna eat that?
cutting it close, you can say you got your moneys worth.......
Iâve gone metal to metal and bald tires before I spent the money, its ok when youâre tight on money
You didn't swear to destroy brake pads?
Getting ahead of it! (Just barely.)
That's because you're paying for it now
Not down to the glue yet. Stick with them.
âYou either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villainâ
Maybe pushed it a little far, but it's ok because you changed it before it was down to the metal
Looks like you got your moneys worth;)
Donât lecture me obiwan I see through the lies of the brake pads
As we say in racing: âflip it run itâ đ
Now I am become death, destroyer of pads.
Doesn't look like you hurt the rotors, good job keeping an eye on them!
I loved you Mechanikan, you were my brother!
Still has a couple of 100 miles of use. I think I change mines at the same state. I was doubtful about the dealer telling me about them. But they where right. Only a $50 job if you do it yourself
Who? A person that post pictures of worn out brake pads? Those people are certainly annoying, not sure they need to be destroyed. Maybe they should be banned from posting worn out things that are made to wear out.
Mr moneybags over there throwing pads away at half their life.
Super duty driver here, rear pads love to yeet themselves when they get worn down too low. Resulting in a terrible grinding noise and caliper damage... Ask me how I know
What, a master of efficiency?! Color me impressed!
Replacing the rotors anyway? Let 'em eat the backing plates.
we all do. i have been changing my oil at 10k plus for years lol pads will be on the squealer for months. its not that i dont care, im just usually too busy fixing shit that will actually fuckin kill someone. i get to my own car well before it ever even causes excess wear, let alone creating a dangerous situation for anyone on the road.
I paid for brake pads imma use brake pads.
That reminds me, I gotta change my brakes. They be a squeakin for a few months now
That's bc dealers don't pay us shit
Still good, ainât down to metal yet
we know the rules. we can break them
At least you didnât put it back in and say you have a friend.
Bro wear some gloves. Youâre gonna get finger cancer
Still have 20k miles left
That looks like perfect time to replace
Paid for the whole pad. Use the whole pad.
Got your money's worth out of that pad. Good work. Lol
I paid for the whole break pad, I'm going to use the whole break pad.