Pads Wear Rotors Through Normal Use? Am I crazy?

[Mufasa]

@Hanzo here are links to front and rear brake pad maintenance and front rotor replacement along with brake bleed and bedding procedures.

The rear pad change procedure is important for you or your friend to be familiar with so not to ruin the calipers. I messed mine up the first go around so can attest to this. I use an Autel AP200 to put the EPB in and out of brake maintenance mode. There are also additional methods.

Have had to replace pads at around 22k miles. Street + some track.

Upgraded front rotors to Girodisc @22k miles. No more rock/dust noise since doing so.

First attempt @22k miles:

• Girodisc brake pads Post #9
• Rear brake pad and caliper change. Post #11, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17
• Sakebomb SST brakelines Post #18, #192
• Brake Safety tip when downsizing from 20’s to 18’s Post #91
• Gyrodisc front rotors and Front pad change Post #19, #20, #21, #22, #33
• Brake Bleeding Sequence Post #23
• Brake bleeding (1) person method w/Speedi-bleed Post #476
• Brake Bedding Procedure Post #23
• wheel lug torque specs Post #23

——————————
2nd cleaner attempt - revised write up @45k miles

• Front brake pad change Post #841, #842, #846,
• Gyrodisc front rotors and Front pad change Post #19, #20, #21, #22, #33
• Brembo front caliper rebuild Post #841, #844, #845, #846,
• Rear brake pad change Post #847, #848, #849, #850, #851, #852, #853, #854, #855
• Brake bleeding (1) person method Speedi-bleed kit Post #476
• Brake bleeding (2) person old school method Post #23
• Brake Bedding Procedure Post #23
• wheel lug torque specs Post #23

Now that's good to know an Autel works with the rear calipers for retracting the parking brake! Pretty cheap way for DIY.

Sponsored

 

[Cornercarver]

$ 1,900 for both front and rear with new rotors on the front and turning the rears - you can't turn the slotted rotors on the front - would be a lot. If that was for just one axle, forget it.
Also, I ran into a situation where a Honda dealer said the brakes were due - but another garage inspected them and they weren't even close to needing replacement. 29,000 miles on my 2018, original pads and rotors unless the dealer replaced them at 13,000 miles before selling the car, which I doubt.
I am fairly easy on brakes. Once in a blue moon I have to hit them hard to avoid stupid driver tricks, but usually not.

 

[FK8CW2019]

I used alot of the brake hold feature which probably contributed to rear going faster

 

[todda]

Took my Type R in for new brake pads today and was informed that "Type Rs' rotors have softer metal and just naturally wear down with pad use" at which point the dealership claimed, yep, you'll be replacing both the pads and the rotors today. $1900.

Uh, is this normal? Should I be expecting to replace the rotors EVERY brake job?

What's the true deal here?

PS. I paused the maintenance until I get the straight story.

This price and recommendation do seem inappropriate; I had never had to replace any part of my brakes on my 3 previous vehicles all with manual transmissions prior to owning the CTR, which had to have its rear pads replaced at about 25k mi. Someone on this forum mentioned previously that the rear pads work with the traction control to aid in braking and are soft, which is why they wear out relatively soon. Unfortunately and similar to having performance tires, this seems to be one of the disadvantages of owning a car like ours.
Part of me would like to get a more long-lasting pad but I only take my car for service to the dealer, whom I trust, so I do not really see any alternative options as I doubt they would install an aftermarket pad.
Why do I trust my dealer? I recently had a 30k mi service and instead of trying to upsell me on all of these services that the car truly did not need, they only serviced what the manual required at that interval which gives me confidence in their work.

 

[Type Rocket]

Just fyi, Rock auto has the BREMBO 09C33811 Front Rotor (OEM) for $80 which is still about $30 cheaper than Majestic's price if you don't want to go with an aftermarket front rotor. As others have said it is unlikely that they need to be replaced, but just in case.

 

[-JP-]

Measure your rotors and make sure they are within spec. Learn to swap your pads since it is pretty easy.
My rear rotors survived 25 trackdays with really aggressive pads. The front held up pretty good too.
You could buy some really cool stuff with $1900.

 

[tinyman392]

This price and recommendation do seem inappropriate; I had never had to replace any part of my brakes on my 3 previous vehicles all with manual transmissions prior to owning the CTR, which had to have its rear pads replaced at about 25k mi. Someone on this forum mentioned previously that the rear pads work with the traction control to aid in braking and are soft, which is why they wear out relatively soon. Unfortunately and similar to having performance tires, this seems to be one of the disadvantages of owning a car like ours.
Part of me would like to get a more long-lasting pad but I only take my car for service to the dealer, whom I trust, so I do not really see any alternative options as I doubt they would install an aftermarket pad.
Why do I trust my dealer? I recently had a 30k mi service and instead of trying to upsell me on all of these services that the car truly did not need, they only serviced what the manual required at that interval which gives me confidence in their work.

I agree with needing pads at this mileage (it depends on driving style), but needing rotors with the first pad replacement is pretty BS IMO. I had my rear pads replaced around 35k miles and did the fronts as well since I wanted a quieter pad (which I ended up regretting for another reason). I'm currently at 65k now and the pads are nowhere near shot like the stock would be at this time.

 

[JohnInATL]

Nobody is addressing the glaring issue that pad slapping causes brake noise more than it doesn’t. If you pad slapped, please let us know if you experienced brake noise after the fact. This is pertinent information for some owners.

 

[BrandonSmith]

Now that's good to know an Autel works with the rear calipers for retracting the parking brake! Pretty cheap way for DIY.

But not all Autel's do... There have been several people that have complained about Autel not working. Do a search for Autel and check others' experiences. My AP200 works great.

 

[FifStreet]

my dealership tried something similar with me, and it would have worked if they actually had the parts in stock. They tried to get me to buy the parts and wait like 4 weeks for them. I told them I would check back with them. I started researching it and discovered I could do the job myself (with the help of this forum) and with slightly upgraded parts ad about half the price.

 

[-JP-]

Now that's good to know an Autel works with the rear calipers for retracting the parking brake! Pretty cheap way for DIY.

Takes about 90 seconds to complete.

 

[Hanzo]

Here are some photos I took during the brake replacement last week.

What do you all think?

 

[MadMage]

Measure the thickness. Get a $20 pair of calipers (accurate enough for rotors) and measure the actual thickness, that's the most important thing to know when to replace rotors (unless you have cracked them.)

 

[Fountainhead]

My rotors have ridges on them, about 1mm each side, at the most. The minimum thickness of the rotor is stamped somewhere on the edge of the rotor.

 

[RTC975]

I used alot of the brake hold feature which probably contributed to rear going faster

None. Just did second set new akebonos front & rear. Rotors in great shape. No noise.

Sponsored