Rear brakes wear down before front? 37K miles

[Peakbagger]

I was about to leave for an overnight wheeling trip when it sounded like my rear brake pad wear indicators were making noise. I didn't think it could have been my rear brake pads because my front pads were still good. Every other car I've had, the front brake pads wore out first, so I was shocked when I inspected my rear pads and found my back brake pads were worn down to the indicator.

Did some research and found this:

"Another factor that has accelerated brake wear (especially rear brake wear) in certain late model vehicles is the change to electronic brake proportioning. The proportioning valve that normally reduces hydraulic pressure to the rear brakes has been eliminated so the rear brakes will handle a higher percentage of the brake load and be more aggressive. The antilock brake system performs the job of brake proportioning by keeping an eye on how the rear brakes are behaving. If the rear brakes start to lock up when braking hard, the ABS system kicks in and cycles pressure to the rear wheels to prevent them from skidding." Knowyourparts.com

As my buddies will attest, I am not an aggressive driver and am pretty mellow on the accelerator and brakes.

Just wondering if anyone else experienced the same. Searched through 10 pages but didn't find anything similar.

My rig has lotsa after market parts, so maybe the extra weight contributed to it, assuming the 4R has electronic brake proportioning.

Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[rigtec]

"I was about to leave for an overnight wheeling trip when it sounded like my rear brake pad wear indicators were making noise. I didn't think it could have been my rear brake pads because my front pads were still good... Just wondering if anyone else experienced the same."

Hi Peakbagger,

I took my 2012 Limited in recently (20,000 mi), for and oil change and the mechanic showed me my rear brake pads (not much left), and I'm thinking... WHAT the *&%k! I already replaced the fronts at around 15,000 miles because I started to notice a shimmy when slowing down from 80 mph on the Tpk. I knew the front rotors were warped just from that, so I had them checked.

The reason they were warped was because the caliper sliding hardware was seizing due to 'Lack of use'; I drive another vehicle for work, so the 4R is usually just waiting to be used! At this time, I have NO IDEA just why the rears are wearing so soon... so I'll be very interested to see how this thread concludes, and thanks for posting this issue! 'Best to you',

rig

 

[83Mule]

My wife ate the front and rears at 28K........traction control means the old school two sets front to one set back is gone! Akebono from Amazon for about 100$ fixed it and ''feel'' better than stock for progressive power.:lever:

 

[rigtec]

My wife ate the front and rears at 28K........traction control means the old school two sets front to one set back is gone! Akebono from Amazon for about 100$ fixed it and ''feel'' better than stock for progressive power.:lever:

Hi 83Mule,

...so you believe that the A-trac is the cause? Could be IJS!

rig, cheers!

 

[MidnightOffRoad]

The brakes on the 4R are pretty undersized for how heavy the vehicle is and how most people have become accustomed to driving (and the proliferation of stoplights throughout America).

My car has much larger brakes and weighs 800 lbs less.

Such are the constraints of cost, wheel size, etc.

I'd be curious to see data on what the lifespan is for brake rotors on a hybrid car. I'm willing to bet that using the resistance of an electric generator to stop extends the brake life significantly.

 

[ECUDrummer]

Replaced my rear pads and a caliper earlier this week. Had some grinding back there for a week, tried to ride it out until the weekend. Nope - completely lost the inner pad (only the metal plate was left, I think the rest broke apart) and the outer was on the indicators.

Plenty of opportunity to put something like that off when you've got a toddler, a 36 week pregnant wife, clients to service for the full-time gig and trying to start a part-time side hustle as well.

 

[83Mule]

I pulled the wheels on a Prius for a family member that had almost 90K........and the original pads still had 50% left! Hybrid IS easy on the pads. I do believe Traction control is spreading the wear to all 4 wheels as my Express actually wears the rears out quicker than the fronts.....and that has never happened on my older non Stabili-trac Express vans.

 

[borfoo3]

Driving habits is a big factor

I just swapped all 4 pads at 70km (43k miles?) And had maybe 15% left evenly on all 4.

Im modded, drive it like I stole it, plus offroad.

 

[4Rums]

I was surprised by the wear pattern as well. I replaced the rear brake pads a year ago at 51k miles as they were starting to make noise driving down the mountains. The rotors were fine though. The front pads were at 7mm, so they had some life left.

 

[Peakbagger]

Thanks all for your comments. I'll update when my front pads wear out. I'll do some research on the braking system and brake pad composition. #T4RNation

 

[WVhillbilly]

Any modern rear drive vehicle uses the rear brakes for traction control.
If you're causing the traction control to work, it's going to cause quicker rear brake wear.

 

[scanny]

I had to replace my rear brakes first at about 40K miles if I remembered correctly. Front brakes was replaces at about 60K miles. I was surprised about it too, but since trucks brakes well I didn't really give it a second thought.

 

[Peakbagger]

Any modern rear drive vehicle uses the rear brakes for traction control.
If you're causing the traction control to work, it's going to cause quicker rear brake wear.

Makes sense.
Thanks.

 

[Peakbagger]

I had to replace my rear brakes first at about 40K miles if I remembered correctly. Front brakes was replaces at about 60K miles. I was surprised about it too, but since trucks brakes well I didn't really give it a second thought.

Thanks. Good to know I might get 60K outta the front.

 

[Reverie]

2011 SR5 4x4 Eats Rear Brakes

My 2011 has a little over 105K and I have replaced the rear brakes twice due to wear and have never replaced the front. My parking brake is almost totally ineffective and I hear a rotational squeak at lower speeds from the rear. Any ideas? Honestly, I'm not a hotrod. I do a fair amount of stop and go traffic but that should whack the fronts not the rears.

 

[Peakbagger]

See the post from wvhillbilly above. The 5th gen 4runner is probably equipped with electronic brake proportioning.
https://www.knowyourparts.com/technical-resources/hubs-bearings/the-basics-of-brakes-and-bearings/

You got some outstanding wear on your front pads and rotors though.

 

[Senorlechero]

Well this is crap, our 2011 4Runner went 60+ K on the brakes, 32k and needs reads already. Toyota wanted $375 for it! When asked WTF? They said Toyota started using new brakes.
That’s frustrating to say the least, I’ll use OEM this time around but goddamn, if the next set only lasts 30k I’ll be exploring other options.

 

[Jetboy]

Did you "level" your suspension?

It would seem logical that if you "level" the suspension by raising the front, the position sensor will think that you have it loaded down with more weight in the rear and the base line proportioning would likely start by sending more pressure to the rear brakes. It can't identify a proportioning change requirement without some slip at one of the tires. So the default would likely be to identify the condition as being heavily loaded and wear the rear brakes much faster than it would with OEM rake. Unless you reset the sensor's zero point.

 

[nevada]

30-40k does seem a bit early. but yes, with EBC on the newer brake systems, I am seeing a LOT more vehicles wearing down the rear brakes before the front.

they just have so much more precise control of the hydraulic pressures. they can run the rear pressure right up to the point of lock-up, so the rears are doing MUCH more of the overall braking than they used to.

however rear pads and rotors are still much smaller than the fronts. I figure it wont be long before they start upping the size on the rear brakes systems. when that happens, we may yet again see fronts going before the rears.

 

[1996_Valencia_Owen]

The brakes on the 4R are pretty undersized for how heavy the vehicle is and how most people have become accustomed to driving (and the proliferation of stoplights throughout America).

My car has much larger brakes and weighs 800 lbs less.

Such are the constraints of cost, wheel size, etc.

I'd be curious to see data on what the lifespan is for brake rotors on a hybrid car. I'm willing to bet that using the resistance of an electric generator to stop extends the brake life significantly.

This is not true at all.

If you're going by diameter only, you may have a point -- but brakes aren't just about diameter.

The 5th Gen 4runner's brakes are not only pretty big diameter-wise, but also vented in front AND in back... plus they have a ton of rotor thickness, which gives them a lot more heat capacity than most passenger-car brakes.

That said, if your daily driver car is a Corvette or Z06, then maybe.

BTW, consider this -- the 5th gen brakes are the identical parts as what the Lexus GX460 has on it. Considering the Lexus is 500+ lbs more than the 5th gen, and has to meet Lexus' higher level of performance and feel standards, that means the brakes must be pretty darn good on a car that's essentially carrying 2-3 passengers less in weight.

As for rears wearing so fast -- my guess is you tend to do a lot of light braking while in traffic. Do you have long commutes where you're on and off the brakes but only doing light braking?