Tuesday, August 23, 2011

How Often Should I Change My Brake Pads?

You have had your vehicle for three years, you have put 45,000 miles on it, and the only maintenance repairs that you have had to put into the vehicle are a few oil changes. You usually don't worry about your vehicle unless a trouble light comes on, but suddenly you notice your vehicle screeching whenever you come to a stop. You assume this is being caused by the brakes but you have never had to do any brake repairs before, so you ask yourself "How Often Should I Change My Brake Pads?"

If you are uncertain you should have a mechanic inspect your brake pads to see how much of the pad is left. It is recommended that you have this done every 20,000 miles. There is usually a large range for when brake pads are changed on cars. A heavy-duty truck that is driven by an aggressive driver (brakes hard), mostly in stop-and-go city traffic may have their pads wear out at 15,000 miles. On the contrary, a small car that is driven with care and mostly on the highway may not have to replace their brake pads until 45,000 miles. Other factors such as the quality of your brake pads and whether they are semi-metallic or ceramic will also play a factor in when you need to change your brake pads. It is important to note that if you have 4 Wheel Disc Brakes, you will probably have to change your front set more often than your rear set. This tends to be the case for 90% of the vehicles on the road.


Some of today's newer vehicles come equipped with an electronic wear sensor that lets you know when you should change your brake pads. If you do not have this sensor, performing regular inspections on your vehicle's brake system is important, especially when you reach 15,000 miles since your last repair. Neglecting to perform regular maintenance on your vehicle's braking system can end up costing you more in the long run. If you wait until your vehicle's brakes have worn down completely, chances are that your rotor will experience excessive damage. This would result in metal-to-metal contact that puts deep grooves into your brake rotors, greatly reducing the life of your rotors and increasing the cost of your repair job.

The cost of the repair is greatly outweighed by the benefits in this case, and it is better to be safe than sorry. I always err on the side of caution, and I often change my brake pads at the first signs that they have worn down.

1 comment:

  1. I think brake pad maintenance is very important and checking your brake pads on regular bases is important because checking brake pads on regular bases gives you good idea about when you should replace your car brake pads.
    disc brake pads suppliers
    http://asimcoglobal.com/

    ReplyDelete