May have waited a tad too long to do brakes

[Nick R]

Did brakes on the Focus yesterday, since I'm back in Ohio to see my mom in the hospital, and this is where my jack was. I knew I needed new pads, but the dealer mentioned it again when I got my new tires the other week, they mentioned I needed new rotors as well now.

I picked up some Carquest Wearever rotors, and Wagner Thermoquiet Ceramic pads at Advance with a 20% off coupon online. About $110 when all is said and done, plus some for brake cleaner and I needed a 7mm allen bit, and an 18 and 19mm sockets for the caliper bracket bolts and lug nuts respectively.

Did it yesterday. Definitely waited a bit too long.

Looks better now.

 

[bdcardinal]

I have seen much worse. The important part is you took care of it before the pad backing or caliper piston was rubbing on the rotor, both of which I have seen first hand.

 

[SatinSilver]

Not bad since the car is only 3 yrs old. The rotors on the 05 Matrix look similar to the old ones you had.

 

[demarpaint]

You did wait a bit too long. But if it makes you feel any better, I did my buddies 08 Kia Sportage brakes in the fall. They were a lot worse.

 

[Wolf359]

That's nothing, they look fine. I thought the pad was gone by the title. Too long is when the metal of the pad starts eating into the rotor. I think someone posted a photo once of someone who had eaten through the rotor and just the cooling fins were showing.

 

[Ojustracing]

I too was expecting to see some carnage pics. Ive had them wear down through the veins and spitting the caliper piston out or what was left of the piston.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Pad still has some friction, good time to replace.

 

[Warstud]

A few years back when my rear calipers seized up and I got time to look at the brakes. I noticed I had no pad left was braking with the piston.

 

[Bluestream]

Thats nothing, this is waiting too long!

 

[spk2000]

Good time to change not too late. I have done much worse than that.

 

[exranger06]

At least it didn't look like this

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
At least it didn't look like this

Oh god, we know that picture all too well. I recognized it right away, but the first time Joseph posted it, it really messed with my eyes, wasn't sure what was happening in that picture lol. I was wondering where the rest of the rotor was

 

[Nick1994]

You didn't go that far. My mom told me her car was making a funny noise, then told me that it hardly stopped and she had to pump the brakes.

She went so far on the brake pads, the piston was sticking out way too far from the caliper and it was leaking brake fluid.

 

[ajchien]

Educate me here. For those who say it was too long, what tips you off? Looks to me there's still maybe 2-3mm left on the pads? Few grooves in the rotor, but what's the thickness? I'd say it was a fine time to change.

 

[The Critic]

Those pads look like they have 3-4mm left, which is probably well above the minimum thickness. The rotor's wear pattern may be indicative of a sliding issue, but I am not familiar with that particular vehicle.

If I were doing those brakes, I would not have used those whitebox rotors or ThermoQuiet pads. I hope you cleaned the hub-flange very well and also checked the rotor runout and confirmed that it was within spec - or else you may see a pulsation issue soon.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Thats nothing, this is waiting too long!

People will come in with those and complain that we can't do a pad slap.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Those pads look like they have 3-4mm left, which is probably well above the minimum thickness. The rotor's wear pattern may be indicative of a sliding issue, but I am not familiar with that particular vehicle.

If I were doing those brakes, I would not have used those whitebox rotors or ThermoQuiet pads. I hope you cleaned the hub-flange very well and also checked the rotor runout and confirmed that it was within spec - or else you may see a pulsation issue soon.


What would you have used then? I bought decent enough rotors. They are similar to OE ones. I don't need or want to spend the money on some overpriced fancy rotors that I don't need. I was going to buy some akebono pads but they were out of stock in the area and the ones I had ordered on Amazon fitted the larger 12.6"
Rotors on the ST, not the smaller ones on my SE. The thermoquiets already have a better friction rating than the OE pads (FG stock, new are GG)

 

[KrisZ]

These rotors are pretty much done, just the rust on inside vanes tells me that they should not be re-used. This is the reality of living in the area where salt is used heavily during winter. I'm yet to see even the expensive OEM rotors not develop this kind of corrosion.

It is because of the rust that I use the cheapest rotors I can. My cheap generic white box rotors that are on my Mazda 3 look about the same and they are on the 5th year now and still no pulsation. My OEM ones were rusted really badly as well and they developed a pulsation. More money does not necessarily mean longer lasting.

 

[PandaBear]

Looks fine, you probably could have gone another few months before it is really too long.

 

[Donald]

I once waited way to long in an old Camry. Some of the pads were just not on the car. The rotor had ground a notch into the caliper piston and tore the boot. Did calipers, rotors and pads. I drove the vehicle with almost no brakes. Things were rough back then, would not want to go through that again.