TAZ1811

When I purchased my car from Acura the mechanic said my rear pads were 10mm and front were 7mm.

What is the thickness of a brand new pad ?

I understand everyone drives differently but what is the average wear and tear of break pads - should I expect to wear down 1mm per year ?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I assume the front pads wear much quicker than the rear because they do the majority of the "stopping".

FYI: I drive about 12K per year.

nj2pa2nc

The rear brakes wear out faster than the fronts. It really depends on the driving- the more braking the shorter the life. I do mostly highway driving. I will be getting the 1st rear brake pad replacement soon after 140k miles.

gideon's_test

Rule of the thumb is that front brakes last about 40k miles (std semi-metallic). Rears usually last twice as long.

If you have a manual, with Brembos, expect that the front pads will only last about 25k miles (or less).

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

depends on how you drive. OEM pads seem to wear much quicker than aftermarket pads.

my brembos lasted about 28k mi. the rears...i swapped out at 35k mi (they weren't completely worn i just wanted something different).

the TSX braking system as nj2pa mentioned (ala accord) engages the rear brakes first prior to fully engaging the front brakes (this was per a long time honda SA that was at my acura dealer), hence the rear brakes would wear quicker. i can attest to this since we have an accord in our household. he ate through OEM brake pads every 25k mi (of course he drives his car like a go kart, which i hate). i think her brake pad life is the exception rather than the norm with all the hwy driving she does.

on the TL....it will depend on the type of driving. you live in NOVA....stop/go...no such thing as cruising at hwy speeds around here. i would say burn through your OEM pads, then buy aftermarket pads which will last a lot longer. i'm now at 56k mi same driving conditions, lots of front pad left and lots of rear pad left on hawk HPS pads (more than 60%).

TAZ1811

Hmm this is all good information.

Can anyone attest to the millimeter reference?

pohljm

Non brembo and I am at 84K on oem pads! 60% city. The Oem pads are very long lasting. Aspec pads to follow.

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

Can't say the mm wear but it does depend heavily where you live. Brakes in the city streets will last a lot longer than say brakes being used in the mountains.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

New:
Front AT 10.3-11.0 mm (0.41-0.43 in)
Front MT 8.8-10.0 mm (0.35-0.39 in)
Service Limit 1.6 mm ((0.06 in)

Rear 8.9-9.5 mm (0.33-0.37in)
Service Limit 1.6 mm (0.06 in)

Parking Brake 3.2mm (0.126 in)
Service Limit 1.0mm (0.04 in)

I hate cars

The stock 5at brake pad will last a very long time. I upgraded to a bbk around 90k miles and had 70% of the front pads left. The Rotora bbk ate pads every 5-7k. Its apples to oranges since the Rotora bbk changed brake bias. I have higher hopes for the current Stoptech kit. Stock 5at pads are ceramic but "ceramic" covers a huge range from very rotor friendly pads to pads that eat the rotors. From pads that last a long time to pads like the Rotora ceramics that have a very short life.

My rear brakes were done shortly after the front upgrade because the dealer said they were about to go metal to metal. When I replaced them, not only were they not worn out but they looked brand new. I had been shooting rotor temps previously but if it weren't for the heat generated, I would wonder if they were working.

Jackass

Lots of cars engage the rear brakes prior to the front. I remember that was one of the purposes of the proportioning valves on my old Cutlass. It engaged the rear drums first to help prevent nose dive under breaking.

I got 40k miles out of the OEM Brembos on front. I haven't changed out the rear yet since they still look just fine and dandy after 55k miles. I know on one of my previous cars, I had 145k miles and had done the rear brakes once. My wife's last car has 190k miles and we were still on the original rear brakes.

Every car is a bit different depending on design and use. It looks like TurboNut posted the service limits so you should have the info you needed.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

I'm at 75k on my set from Heel Toe. 6MT to boot.

Miles will NEVER MATTER, they are simply a rule of thumb. Wear is based upon the actual kinetic force required to drop your velocity to zilch; more force, faster wear.

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

I bought my car brand new in 2006. I am at 109k miles on ORIGINAL pads! I don't know if that is a record or not. Front pads are almost done but are still going. Rear pads amazingly still could go another 20k miles minimum. All I ever did was do a bleed at 50k. I am changing out everything (x-drilled rotors, A-Spec pads, SS lines, 5.1 fluid etc.) on Wed. just for the hell of it. Hopefully it will be a huge difference.

narnia

I have 160K miles on my 2004 5AT and still have original brakes. 99% of my ride is on the highway.

SouthernBoy

I have two 3G TL's; an '04 manual and an '05 automatic. I am on my third set of front pads for my '04 but that was to reduce the dusting. The stock pads for the 6MT Brembo brakes can last anywhere from 20,000 miles to well over 100,000 miles. I have a neighbor who has an '05 manual with over 105,000 miles on his original pads. Granted his commute is mostly highway but still that is quite impressive. I could have easily gotten 50-60,000 miles on my stock (manual) pads and I say this because I still have them.

My '05 still has the original pads and it has over 80,000 miles.

I hate cars

I heard if you don't rev match your downshifts, it makes your brakes last longer. Maybe that's why yours are lasting so long...



Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Just out of curiosity, are you pretty happy with the repeated hard stopping power of the Brembos?

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

Unlimited because I have Duralast CMAX Gold pads.

J Dubya

I love it when people talk OUT OF THEIR ASS!! In Feb 2010, I traded in my 2005 AM 6-MT that had 55,000 miles on the odometer (which I purchased with 12 miles on the odo in Sept 2005), it had 45% left of front pad life.

So no, expect 25k or more with Brembos!

YeuEmMaiMai

I guess you haven't been around here much eh? There are plenty of people with bremo's replacing them with that milage on them.....it was and still is a major complaint about the car......

obiedi

With my '04 6MT I get between 20-25K mi on OEM pads in the front. The rears have never been replaced and have about 50% remaining at 86.5K mi! I am the original owner.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

bottomline....brake life is dependent upon how much you brake and how your drive your car. there are no real mileage rules.

lemonade

I don't exactly remember the new thickness, but I did a pad change on the front last week, at 83000 miles, I still have about 35% left at front and 40% left at rear. The first 40K see lots of freeway driving, the last 40K lots of local. And I don't accelerate and brake aggressively.

SouthernBoy

An update to my post #14 above. I mentioned the neighbor's '05 manual with over 105,000 miles on his stock pads. Well make that over 131,000 miles. I just talked to him yesterday about this.

nj2pa2nc

Had the oil changed on Thursday. They checked the brakes. Told me they were still good after 140k+ miles. I do mostly highway driving including conjested áreas.

SouthernBoy

It's double clutching, not rev matching. Of course I know you just couldn't resist a slight jab. (hint: I can laugh at myself).

How are you this fine and solemn holiday weekend? Don't forget to fly your flag proudly for those who can not do this.

The stock pads used with the Brembo brakes on my '04 manual were very good if you could put up with the dusting. Had I been of a mine to be a hard driver on the car, I would have left those pads in place. But I'm not hard on the car and the dusting was a real pain so on went the Rotex Gold Kevlars in the car's early mileage life.

As for repeated hard braking, the only time I have ever done that was when I was bedding in my first set of Rotex pads. Fade started to set in around the 6th or 7th hard brake pass but that is what's supposed to happen when doing a bed in.

So in general, I would say that the Brembo setup on my '04 TL is quite good... almost as good, but not quite, as the brakes on my 2000 SVT Contour. And believe it or not, my '66 Chevelle 396 brakes were right up there, too because that car had sintered metallic linings and those were excellent.

For normal driving, the manual TL brakes are superb with the stock pads.

SouthernBoy

Bingo.

Though I would add two more criteria to your post. Where you live (think cities such as San Francisco) and the load put on the car (think people and/or towing).

SouthernBoy

I replaced my stock OEM front pads on my '04 manual TL at around 15,500 miles because of the dusting. Judging from the amount of wear on those stock pads, I would guess they would have gone for somewhere around 50-60,000 miles. I still have them in my garage.

SouthernBoy

I suspect you may hold the record.

nj2pa2nc

narnia seems to be the record holder with 160k miles.

nj2pa2nc

Drove on San Francisco streets in the TSX. I think driving down the West Virginia Turnpike is a excellent highway to check out the brakes especially during a downpour

T16

The specs you have indicated above are for Acura pads? The reason I ask is because new Autozone Duralast Gold pads measure 7mm for the fronts, and
5mm for the rear. Given the difference in pad thickness wouldn’t I be better off buying the Acura pads? Thanks

csmeance

Those sound pretty thin, my EBC ones were much closer to 10mm for both front and rear