Worn-out brake pads

[kssalawu]

For the past 1 week, I noticed that anytime I apply the brake, the car will wobble, vibrate a little, make some noise before it finnally stops.
On Sunday, 5th Sept, I took the car to my mechanic who removed the 2 front tyres and diagnosed worn out brake pads. The 2 front pads were changed.

My questions are:-

1. The worn brake pads removed did not wear out evenly. The one on the drivers side was badly worn, infact the iron almost touching the brake disc while the one on the passengers side still had a lot of "beef" on it.

2. The Toyota manual for 91 states that brake pads can stay for up to 24 months but why are they wearing out fast on my car. The worn ones were changed in March, 2004.

3. What will make my pads wear out fast and how do I avoid this?

Responses and tips will be appreciated.

 

[4runnerbeginner]

Well, hard to say for sure, but the first thing that jumps to mind is that the front brakes are being forced to do all the work of stopping the vehicle, thereby wearing out very quickly. This could be due to:

1. The rear drum actuator cylinders could be siezed. This would mean you are not getting the stopping power you should from the back and that you will naturally compensate by pressing the brake pedal harder and using the front.

2. The porportioning valve that distributes the hydraulic pressure between the front and back brakes may not be functioning properly.

I think that #1 is more likely than #2. When you brake, do you notice the nose of the truck "dive"? That could be a symptom. Also the drivers side wearing more than the passenger also indicates that one side is doing more work than the other. The cylinder in the passenger side caliper may not be moving freely. The symptom would be a noticable "pull" to the driver's side when braking.

These are dangerous situations as you do not have the braking power available to you that was intended for the vehicle. You really need to do a full brake service that inspects, rebuilds, or replaces all the cylinders for all wheels. At the same time a brake fluid flush would happen.

Not something to take lightly, take care.

Rick

 

[TranceKrayz]

i agree with 4runnerbeginner......make sure all your brakes are functioning properly. also, your driving habits have an affect of brake wear (no brainer). i see people in the city who speed from one stop sign to the next and slam on their brakes, and them do the same thing to the next stop sign. if you're going to have to stop again anyways, why go so fast.

 

[TechWrench]

For the past 1 week, I noticed that anytime I apply the brake, the car will wobble, vibrate a little, make some noise before it finnally stops.
On Sunday, 5th Sept, I took the car to my mechanic who removed the 2 front tyres and diagnosed worn out brake pads. The 2 front pads were changed.

My questions are:-

1. The worn brake pads removed did not wear out evenly. The one on the drivers side was badly worn, infact the iron almost touching the brake disc while the one on the passengers side still had a lot of "beef" on it.

2. The Toyota manual for 91 states that brake pads can stay for up to 24 months but why are they wearing out fast on my car. The worn ones were changed in March, 2004.

3. What will make my pads wear out fast and how do I avoid this?

Responses and tips will be appreciated.

I suspect you are not very familiar with braking systems, so I am going to make an attempt at this given your description above.

I am going to assume the mechanic did replace the brake pads on both the front assys. Each wheel has two pads, an inner and outer pad make up a set per side. If both pads on the left (drivers) side were worn almost to the metal and the right (passenger) side were still good, that indicates a problem with the left side caliper. When one wheel wears significantly faster that the other in most cases, the caliper on that side is not releasing pressure when you stop pressing the brake pedal. If it is just one of the two pads on one wheel assy that is worn, then the problem is usually rust or binding in the slider or a frozen piston. If the mechanic did his job correctly, he should have seen the cause of the abnormal wear and fixed it. Without more info, that is the best diagnosis I can offer.

 

[kssalawu]

Re-Worn Brake Pads

The mechanic did not make any corrections. All he did was to change the pads. What I will do is to keep an eye on the brake pads.Anytime I am going to replace the pads again, I will then tell him to check the entire brake system. Thanks all,