Ok, so recently I've noticed my braking doens't seem as good as it used to be, and isn't as smooth either. It could just be in my head, but it got me wondering how often I need to change my brake pads and how I would go about checking if they are still good or not. I bought the car used from a reliable Lexus dealership in my area about may 14th with 47,8xx miles on it. I just hit 49,000 two days ago. I know, i don't drive too much, but at least I'm saving money on gas :P.

So basically:

1.) How often should brake pads be changed depending on conditions? (mileage, occasional hard braking, time, city/highway driving)

2.) how can i tell whtehr they need to be changed or not? Obviously I need to jack up the car and take off the tires, but what to do after that, and what not to do (I remember reading something about someones friend pressing his brake while the caliper was open and fucking up the brake.)

thanks in advance guys.

 

On my 98 you can acutally see thru the rim to see if you have much of the padding left. Once it start squeaking you need to change the pad. Other than that you pretty much be ok. It all depends on how u drive. My co worker is a granny and she drives like one. Had the car 10 yrs pads didn't need to be changed. My friend with the mustang cobra drives like an ass and has to change his pads within 8 months.

 

Brake pads should last you a long time. The best way to know is to have the width remaining on the pad measured. On the 01' CLS the pads are 10 mm new. I'm not sure what actual life of the pads is but I bought my car with 23k miles on it and now I have 39k and am no where near needing new pads. I believe they recommend that you replace the pads when they get down to 1 - 2mm. Last I checked a few thousand miles ago I still had 5mm. As for checking the brake pads. Take the tire off, look at pad .. that's it. There's no need to press the brake just to check the pads. For some cars you can see the pads without taking the tires off. But if you don't know what to look for just ask the mechanic to check the brake pads the next time you get an oil change. It's a small charge at best.

 

30k w/ average mileage, i would assume.

if they need to be changed, they'll squeal/screech. they ahve a metal indicator on them and when the pad wears down so far, the metal screeches too. that's how you'll know. it's obnoxious.

 

3 times daily along with an oil change and vacuum

 

um, they are designed to squeek when they need to be changed, if you are going to get new ones get some nicer rotors at the same time....

 

that is VERY UNTRUE

sqeeking can be caused also from brake dust and glazed over pads and rotors, i know this from working doing brakes for over a long summer at Big O Tires

Metal on metal sqeeking is the sign of needing new pads, this is a safety mechanism to let you know you are down to less than nothing, if you let it go too much you can damage the rotors as well, so sqeeking is not the sign, i have brand new pads on my rotors that are raybestos STS pads and they are only 7 months old but i dont do that much driving and plus i had the car sit for over 3 months cause of a broken tranny, so only technicallly 4 months

if you replace pads and you dont want to spend extra money see if the rotors can be turned, they will know what this means, but just ot let you know this is done by a lathe machine which takes off layers of metal off your rotors usually in a dual swipe method, you go over it once and then follow over it again to make sure its all even, the first time will get most of it but the second time is needed for sure

you can get about 3 turns to a rotor thats if you dont wrap it by slamming hard on your brakes and making the rotor warped, rotors will run you about 70 for the front and about 70 for the rear give or take, thats for stock, then for slotted or drilled i know there was group buy for pads and rotors that i got for 250 shipped for from and rear driled and slorred

hope this can help ya out

 

Me... I change brake pads with new ceramic ones every time I cahgne the oil (2,000 miles). But im the idiot who always speeds up 80+ between stop lights and has to slam on the breaks every 30 seconds

 

umm what about the rotors how often should they be re surfaced?

 

Depends on the driver.. I got mine resurfaced on sat, 9/17 after 2000 miles since the last time. I do it for my personal satisfaction. every or every other time I change the oil.

 

I am also a frequent customer to buy new rotors tho

 

yeah my brakes are down so far that i have grooves in my rotors from having the pads so low... good thing i have new rotors to put on but im to lazy perhaps i should change them braking is important.

 

braking is fun too

 

that is WAY TOO OFTEN and you are wasting your money in the long run

i have not had a resurfacing since october of last year and they are still fine

i slam on my brake sometime but not often enough to make it damage them

you are wasting your money and those shops you take it to are making way too much off you

 

you are the person that they automotive industry loves, someone who knows nothing about their car and does what ever the machanic tells them to do, like change pads every oil change

jesus laughs at you

 

rofl don't forget to get a transmission flush every time you bring it in for an oil change... and get a new air filter too every 3000 miles or so... use a fuel additive every time you fill up your gas tank... and if your air pressure in your tires is to low it means you are due for new tires.

 

dont forget when your car feels slughish change your transmission everytime and when you lose traction when trying to race add a big steel wing to your trunk so you can be fast and furious

 

after adding the 3rd aluminum wing the downforce might be to much and your front end might lift off.. so then add some carbon fiber splitters to the front and that should hold the front end down... don't want to lose that front traction. also if you feel like ur going to fast feel free to add NSX side vents to increase you drag so you slow down a bit...

and if your stock headlights aren't bright enough for safety reasons put some neons under your car so people can see you and not run into you... be sure to put the neons where everyone can see them... no sense in hiding them under your car u paid good money for them.

 

@ the thread

 

wow, this thread sure turned into a joke fast!

How could anyone possibly wear out a set of brake pads in one oil change?

 

hehe this is a funny thread .. nwayz .. for the main question with the lexus im pretty sure u have a sensor on probebly front driver side pad and the rear passenger side pad .. if the pad is down to the metal the sensor will turn a light on (dash light).. but if u feel that the breaking is not as good a before thats obviouse !! wear and tear ... if u like to alwayz have a brand new breaking sensation then personal prefrence u can change ur pads more often .. unless the breaks are making the metal to metal noise which is very different from pads sqeeling, as many people explained .. by lookin at the calipers if u look at the pads u can easily tell if there's anythin left or not without even taking out the tires ..
as for rotors you can easily drive for couple of years (normal driving) with one set of rotors and each 9 month u can get the surface mashined (has to be done at a mechanic shop) as for the 3.0 cl first gens this can only be done with a special machining tool that mounts on the car while the rotor is still on the car .. for most other cars and all 2.x 's u can easily take the rotor out and take it to a shop so they can mashine it for u .. depending on the rotor you can probebly mashine them twice or 3 times maximum(not recommended) and obviously you cannot mashine cross drilled or slotted rotors .. you can check the condition of ur rotor by simply looking at it and maybe touching the surface (when its cold) so see if its wearing out evenly or if it has grooves .. another way to find out if u need mashining or a new rotor is when u break hard from 100 120 down to 50-60 km u will feel the steering wheel raddeling or shaking which is very annoying imo !!
changing rotors every oil change or even pads every oil change is very very UNnecessary

 

If u go to the track and do a lot of runs. Yes

 

you would need to change your oil faster than 3000 miles if u did a lot of track runs which makes it even funnier that you would change your brake pads every oil change.

an additional roof spoiler and m3 vents might make it a reality though... im not sure since ive never experienced it myself but those might be the kicker and make it a need to change the pads every time the oil got changed.

perhaps the chrome oil cap would increase the brake pad wear and the chrome battery tie down with the Mugen emblem on it would increase the volts to the subwoofers therefore creating a lot of vibration and the need to press the brake pedel faster. In that case the LED tire stem caps would heat up the rotors a lot and then since they would expand when heated up... the brake pads would be worn out.

maybe that was the reason?