Disc brake pad slap in the rust belt - can't be done

I just replaced all the brakes on my 2017 MINI Clubman with 38,000 miles. Minnesota car. The front wear sensor triggered but there was still a fair amount of life left on the front pads. Rears had a lot left. The problem was the rotors were so badly rusted I just replaced everything.

Interestingly the official repair guide said not to mechanically clean the pad contact sections on the caliper bracket Just blast with brake cleaner if possible because those areas had a special coating that would get damaged. My car was way beyond that. Tons of rust. Ended up hitting it with a nylon abrasive wheel and a thin coating of brake grease.
 
I just replaced all the brakes on my 2017 MINI Clubman with 38,000 miles. Minnesota car. The front wear sensor triggered but there was still a fair amount of life left on the front pads. Rears had a lot left. The problem was the rotors were so badly rusted I just replaced everything.

Interestingly the official repair guide said not to mechanically clean the pad contact sections on the caliper bracket Just blast with brake cleaner if possible because those areas had a special coating that would get damaged. My car was way beyond that. Tons of rust. Ended up hitting it with a nylon abrasive wheel and a thin coating of brake grease.

The bracket still has the SS clips?
 
Yeah, the newer minis have the clips and TIS does say not to clean the bracket. THe coating just doesnt stand up to road salt and brine in the rust belt and will need mechanical cleaning.
 
Around here Mavis Tires does brakes for $89/axle. It use to be $69 a year or two ago. I assume that is a pad slap with a hard pressure upsell of replacing the rotor and maybe the caliper. Never watched but I assume there is not a lot of cleaning and lube going on for that price.

In California, depending the city, its $50 for pad slap for both sides.
 
That's why I advocate taking the brakes apart every year. Twice a year may be overkill but then one knows it will all come apart.
That really eats into your time if you take care of more than one daily driver for the family. I wait until the pads have worn down, or if a problem develops like pulling to one side.
 
That really eats into your time if you take care of more than one daily driver for the family. I wait until the pads have worn down, or if a problem develops like pulling to one side.
How do you figure that? It's like a Saturday or so. Wait for tire rotation, preferably with snows coming on/off. If you have a busy schedule, sure, but I view it as a maintenance item. Whenever I fail to do this, I am sad some time later.

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That really eats into your time if you take care of more than one daily driver for the family. I wait until the pads have worn down, or if a problem develops like pulling to one side.

That is true it will be time consuming if you got many vehicles.

How worn do you wait until you start to service it?

When it is pulling to one side, isnt it too late already? Especially when it is wearing unevenly.
 
After 47 years wrenching on cars I figure I know when my cars need maintenance and when I'll regret not doing it.
Likewise here--after 15 years of NH, I have come to learn this needs to be done yearly on my vehicles. One vehicle I let go for 2 years and it ate a rotor (pads were fine--except the one that got stuck) and another had dramatic braking ability loss twice (pads seized and wouldn't move). Another vehicle lost brakes entirely when a pad lining fell off (5 years and 175k but the other pads still had 3/4 of lining left). Loads of fun when the pedal goes to the floor!

YMMV in various parts of the country, but in my driveway I've detected a pattern.
 
I just did a brake job on a neighbor's 2012 Camry. I think it was from the east coast before she got it.
I have never had to use a hammer to remove a rotor.
I wire brushed the hub real well and applied a little anti seize.
 
I once had one pair of rotors so rusted onto the axle that I had to hammer them into pieces to remove them. The car had 7 brake jobs in its life. In my defense this was the only time the previous job was done by someone else. Otherwise I'm very liberal with silicone and antiseize with brake jobs.
 
I once had one pair of rotors so rusted onto the axle that I had to hammer them into pieces to remove them. The car had 7 brake jobs in its life. In my defense this was the only time the previous job was done by someone else. Otherwise I'm very liberal with silicone and antiseize with brake jobs.
I have not had that much of a problem but the last brake job that I let someone else do I was similarly unhappy with. No grease was applied to sliding surfaces, and the brakes seized after 2 years. I had to hammer out the pads, thankfully all was reusable, once broken free.
 
I've given up on just blindly slapping pads on. They all get a visual check of the pins, boots and if the piston is free to move. I also grind some of the pad ears off (just a bit more than the lacquer and burrs really) if i find they new pads are already on the tight side of fitting. if I don't, within a year those pads are stuck tight

Then when the pads get stuck, the vehicle does not stop properly!
 
I've done it on my Mercedes, the rotors are usually thick enough. On a cheaper car, maybe not, just have to measure the rotor. Most people advise doing the pad slap once, then new rotors on the next brake job, at least on MB.
I know I should, but sometimes I don't even measure my rotor!
I get a pretty good indication just looking at it!
 
I dont know what I would do working outside the rust belt, no smoke wrench, drill and taps, no toys to play with.
Is Ohio part of the rust belt? Or is that another geographical region say up around New England and Boston?
 
I have not had that much of a problem but the last brake job that I let someone else do I was similarly unhappy with. No grease was applied to sliding surfaces, and the brakes seized after 2 years. I had to hammer out the pads, thankfully all was reusable, once broken free.
How about these people that say all lubing and greasing the sliding surfaces up does is attract more dirt! B/S
 
Thats why professional shops dont do pad slaps. And yeah, there is a difference between doing a pad slap and doing a brake job that doesnt involve replacing rotors. Its rare that we see a car that needs pads with rotors that are in good enough condition that they do not need to be replaced. In the event that we do not replace rotors we still completely disassemble, clean and lube everything and clean the hubs
Rotors are so cheap today it does not even pay to machine them anymore!
 
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