I didn’t bother changing it cause I don’t hear any squealing. Brakes work fine. I haven’t changed out my rear brake pads since 1998. Is this a problem? The front pads do get changed when its time because I would hear the hardware indicator scratching the rotor.
Do the rears have indicators? I have never replaced the rears myself. It was done at a shop. The fronts I have.
Is it true from what I hear from some mechanics that most of the braking power will be forced on the front pads?
So is this normal? What is the normal interval life span of rear pads? Daily driver.
Your rear brakes basically balance out the braking but don’t handle much of the actual stopping power. Its kind of like a bicycle, if you slam on just the front you’ll do an endo…If you apply both brakes at the same time you’ll stop with more balance, but because your car is heavier in the front, the front brakes do more of the work. It is normal to have them last a long time, especially if you are easy on brakes and downshift a lot. I recall mine lasting for years and years.
As far as I know the rears have the same indicators as the front (unless they have rusted over the years and broken off) so you would hear them squeal if they were excessively worn.
that’s kind of not normal. and i cant say for where you guys stay since you have much nicer weather then what i get, but if you leave pads on for 3-4 years around (if they even last that long) here they start to decompose and you have no choice but to change them.
I had the same front pads for almost 100,000 miles (almost 10 years). They were genuine Honda OEM pads that I installed myself. They lasted so long, I suppose, because I drive like a little ol’ lady. They were thin when I changed them out last fall, but still usable. Funny thing, though, I had to change out the rear pads a couple times over the years; they wore down more quickly. Maybe because they are so small and thin compared to those chunky front pads?
[QUOTE=Zenmachine;2142755]Your rear brakes basically balance out the braking but don’t handle much of the actual stopping power. Its kind of like a bicycle, if you slam on just the front you’ll do an endo…If you apply both brakes at the same time you’ll stop with more balance, but because your car is heavier in the front, the front brakes do more of the work. It is normal to have them last a long time, especially if you are easy on brakes and downshift a lot. I recall mine lasting for years and years.
As far as I know the rears have the same indicators as the front (unless they have rusted over the years and broken off) so you would hear them squeal if they were excessively worn.[/QUOTE]
actually, my friend, this is where the simplistic beauty of pascals law comes into play.
force=pressure x area.
being that the area of the front pistons is much greater than the area of the rears, force is much greater in the front. although the proportioning valve does play a role in the amount of force applied to the rear as well at times
Rear brakes are easy if you already know how to do the front. The best way to see if you have pad life left is to remove the rear pads and measure the thickness of the pad not including the metal backing plate. According to the factory manual the rear standard thickness is 7.5mm (0.3"). The minimum thickness is a 1.6mm (0.06"). I could see a set lasting 12 years without excessive mileage or hard use. I think mine had the original pads 5 years ago when I got it making them 15 years old. I changed them preemptively, 20 years old would scare me. Oh and the front brakes normally have roughly 2/3 to 3/4 of the overall braking force so the rears usually last 2x as long.
good point welfare, I would have thought the prop valve did most of the work but I guess the size of the area of the rotor/pad is the real attribute.
As for machining rotors…I pay less for new rotors than I would to have my old ones machined so i normally just buy new. Probably best to have them machined though, that way you are guaranteed not to have them warped from the factory. So far I have been lucky.
the laws of science are beautiful because they are one of the only things that are absolutely definitive.
as for rotors, i’d prefer to buy a decent set of brembo or the like and just machine them every time i’d do the brakes. i know a lot of people will just dispose of and buy new cheapies every time but they are typically constructed of lower grade metals that don’t dissipate heat as well and are much more susceptible to warping because of it.
yeah, i mean like most things they are cheaper for a reason for sure. i’ve been lucky though, they have held up like a champ. 2 years now and no warpage… I certainly wouldn’t autocross with them or anything, but for $17bucks a piece they did the trick. Thanks China!
when i got my gsr the lady before me was the first owner and never changed the front brakes.when i took the pads of there were just metal bare metal. the discs were toast as well. shame on her. the rears were fine but i replaced them too.
2 years now and no warpage… I certainly wouldn’t autocross with them or anything, but for $17bucks a piece they did the trick. Thanks China! 