How far can I drive with 2mm on my rear brakes?
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 81
Likes: 0
How far can I drive with 2mm on my rear brakes?
I just had my tires rotated, I'm at around 30,500 miles for my 06 TSX and they told me I have 2mm left on my rear brakes.
I do not have time to get them changed over the next couple days and I'm scheduled do go on a weekend trip on Friday to LV from LA about (500 miles) that will mostly consist of straight driving without much stopping since it is mainly open highway in between.
Is this a bad idea to drive with 2mm on this trip? How many miles can I expect to get out of the rear brakes with that much left?
Thanks.
I do not have time to get them changed over the next couple days and I'm scheduled do go on a weekend trip on Friday to LV from LA about (500 miles) that will mostly consist of straight driving without much stopping since it is mainly open highway in between.
Is this a bad idea to drive with 2mm on this trip? How many miles can I expect to get out of the rear brakes with that much left?
Thanks.
The service limit is 1.6mm. So as long as all the pads are wearing evenly and the rotors are not damaged by any uneven wear, you should be fine for a good couple of thousand miles. Btw, unlike most cars, the TSX wears out the rear brakes faster than the front brakes.
it's a car-drive it
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 5,375
Likes: 262
From: North Carolina
I just had my tires rotated, I'm at around 30,500 miles for my 06 TSX and they told me I have 2mm left on my rear brakes.
I do not have time to get them changed over the next couple days and I'm scheduled do go on a weekend trip on Friday to LV from LA about (500 miles) that will mostly consist of straight driving without much stopping since it is mainly open highway in between.
Is this a bad idea to drive with 2mm on this trip? How many miles can I expect to get out of the rear brakes with that much left?
Thanks.
I do not have time to get them changed over the next couple days and I'm scheduled do go on a weekend trip on Friday to LV from LA about (500 miles) that will mostly consist of straight driving without much stopping since it is mainly open highway in between.
Is this a bad idea to drive with 2mm on this trip? How many miles can I expect to get out of the rear brakes with that much left?
Thanks.
Weird...
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,593
Likes: 20
From: St. Louis
This is apparently true for me too! At 73k miles, my rears are down to 3mm (but I swear I keep hearing the wear/squeal tabs) while the fronts are still at 7mm -- all this according to my local Honda dealer. This is the first vehicle I've owned where the rear brakes have worn out faster than the front. I had a 95 Civic EX with ABS (which also got you an upgrade on the rears to discs instead of drums) and the front pads on it lasted until almost 100k and then I had to replace the rears at about 120k. I wonder why the TSX is so different? I guess they designed the car with more brake bias towards the rear (than most cars have) -- but why?
Old Guy
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 2,873
Likes: 161
This is apparently true for me too! At 73k miles, my rears are down to 3mm (but I swear I keep hearing the wear/squeal tabs) while the fronts are still at 7mm -- all this according to my local Honda dealer. This is the first vehicle I've owned where the rear brakes have worn out faster than the front. I had a 95 Civic EX with ABS (which also got you an upgrade on the rears to discs instead of drums) and the front pads on it lasted until almost 100k and then I had to replace the rears at about 120k. I wonder why the TSX is so different? I guess they designed the car with more brake bias towards the rear (than most cars have) -- but why?
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,877
Likes: 128
I was inspecting pads on my 06 TSX and noticed that although easy to inspect rears, the fronts require the wheel to be removed, and even then you need a mirror to observe the outboard pad thickness. Anyone else do this differently?
regards
regards
Trending Topics
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,593
Likes: 20
From: St. Louis
With some deeper digging I found the following explanations in other threads:
and
My 95 Civic's parking brake was done the same way; so that leads to to believe the faster wear on the TSX's rear pads is likely to due to the VSA -- and/or perhaps the rear brakes are just too undersized for the car (because they look no bigger than the ones on my 95 Civic and it weighed about 800 less).
I noticed something else on my old worn-out rear pads: on both, the inside pads (the ones with the indicator/squeal tabs) were significantly more worn than the outer pads.
Does that suggest anything to anyone?
I agree with the discussion about driving style having an effect on brake wear. (In fact, I initially brought it up in post #16, above.)
I'll add one more thing regarding the excessive rear brake wear in the TSX and recent Accords...it has been well-documented.
In the past most cars, especially front-drive cars, had their front brakes wear out first because of the added weight up front. (And that is why many cars had superior disc brakes in front and inferior drum brakes in the rear.) But these days, if you see premature rear brake wear you can bet it is a car with VSA.
Several car magazines have studied this and it has been shown that when you have stability control engaged, even the simple act of going around a corner utilizes the rear brakes to some extent, in an effort to keep the angle close to perfect. If you go around a corner fast, it really engages the rear brakes. (Actually one of them more than the other.)
Csaba Csere, the former Editor in chief of Car & Driver suggested that except for inclement weather, one should switch off VSA...not only for reducing brake wear but for more predictable handling -- especially during spirited driving.
I'll add one more thing regarding the excessive rear brake wear in the TSX and recent Accords...it has been well-documented.
In the past most cars, especially front-drive cars, had their front brakes wear out first because of the added weight up front. (And that is why many cars had superior disc brakes in front and inferior drum brakes in the rear.) But these days, if you see premature rear brake wear you can bet it is a car with VSA.
Several car magazines have studied this and it has been shown that when you have stability control engaged, even the simple act of going around a corner utilizes the rear brakes to some extent, in an effort to keep the angle close to perfect. If you go around a corner fast, it really engages the rear brakes. (Actually one of them more than the other.)
Csaba Csere, the former Editor in chief of Car & Driver suggested that except for inclement weather, one should switch off VSA...not only for reducing brake wear but for more predictable handling -- especially during spirited driving.
From my understanding there are several reasons for this. One is the parking brake mechanism built into the rear calipers (many other Honda models use seperate "shoes inside a drum" for the parking brake) can cause a slight amount of pad drag on the inside rear pads. Also the rear pads are very small in area and not nearly as thick as the fronts, so they tend to wear faster. I've also been told that Honda/Acura uses a very soft pad compound, mainly to improve parking brake holding power.
I noticed something else on my old worn-out rear pads: on both, the inside pads (the ones with the indicator/squeal tabs) were significantly more worn than the outer pads.
Does that suggest anything to anyone?
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
mada51589
3G TL Problems & Fixes
80
Jan 9, 2025 04:40 PM
