Has anyone changed their brake pads?

[DeePa]

I've had my 14 for about 14 months and it's been great.

 

I'm thinking about pulling ghee tires and calipers to lube them up, etc. Maybe clean up on the wheel wells and inside of rims.

 

Imo, most brake pad early failure is due to calipers freezing up or backing plates rotting and getting between the pads and rotor (my 04 slt).

 

That way you get the most out of your pads, don't get caught by surprise, and keep things clean.

 

Thoughts?

[Jullian is not my name]

I'm at 35k miles and just wore through the front pads. When the squealers were squeaking, I thought it had to be dust, but after over a month of squeaking I felt it start grinding yesterday, and figured that's what it had to be.

 

Seems very quick to wear through factory pads to me. I've only towed twice, and this is just my daily driver. The dealer said the callipers and rotors were fine and everything is still turning smoothly. They're replacing the pads with factory GM pads (not the A/C Declo's he says), and for that and to machine the rotors I'm being quoted $300. I'll post the part number of the pads when I get the paperwork.

[4x4Pete]

I clean and lubricate the guide pins, pads and clean and adjust the parking brakes twice a year. Switching tires winter and summer. My wifes Cruze has 90 000kms and still has lots of pad left. My truck has 25000kms and the rotors and pads look like new. My old man was a mechanic and said that if you maintain things they stay happy. Never had issues with maintenance items.

[HondaHawkGT]

Flush the brake fluid every few years, lube the caliper pins with a brake caliper grease, and a check things over for potential problems and the brakes will stay happy for a long time. I get a squeak from the rear the first time I back out of the driveway and stop every morning. As soon as the weather is decent I gotta check out the back pads, guessing I managed to get dirt behind one of the pads.

[m3n00b]

When I traded in my trailblazer at 90k miles, the front pads squeaked but still had 30% life left on em. Chevy does crazy things with their pads. I have to do front pads/rotors on my m3 every 30k miles

[Jullian is not my name]

I'm at 35k miles and just wore through the front pads. When the squealers were squeaking, I thought it had to be dust, but after over a month of squeaking I felt it start grinding yesterday, and figured that's what it had to be.

 

Seems very quick to wear through factory pads to me. I've only towed twice, and this is just my daily driver. The dealer said the callipers and rotors were fine and everything is still turning smoothly. They're replacing the pads with factory GM pads (not the A/C Declo's he says), and for that and to machine the rotors I'm being quoted $300. I'll post the part number of the pads when I get the paperwork.

The GM Part Number is 23135915 for the front brake pad kit. I paid a LOT more than I should have for the brake job, but next time at least my understanding is that the pads I just bought have a warranty for a 1 time replacement for parts, unlimited miles.

[Black02Silverado]

My 2002 has 162k on the original pads up front. I had to change out the rear due to a frozen caliper, which there is a TSB out to install a shield in front of the rear wheel to keep crap from getting kicked up onto the caliper which causes it to freeze, especially in the northern states where there is a lot of salt.

[Rkaroll953]

i have never worn pads out it just seems like my rotors get warped or corroded so bad i have to replace those and end up throwing pads at it while im there. new england salt does no favors for them.

[Jullian is not my name]

You guys getting 100k+ miles on your break pads must also be the same guys getting 18 to 22mpg. I don't see how that's possible living in a big city unless you've got a lot more patience than I do.

[sk]

The pads themselves will wear but the K2XX trucks have new FNC rotors (GM calls them "DuraLife"). They are made with a special patented process that makes them last longer and stay straighter (the links are from 2011/2012 but these rotors are used on the new trucks):

 

http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Nov/1130_fnc.html

http://articles.sae.org/10472/

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwirvMOO7tTLAhWBcT4KHTfFCYQQFggkMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acdelcotechconnect.com%2Fpdf%2FMarApr_2012_TechCONNECT_R1.pdf&usg=AFQjCNH_jfeBB0PXVkxfv4tnoplbHdLP0g&bvm=bv.117218890,d.eWE

 

We shouldn't have to change rotors for a long time ...

Edited March 22, 2016 by sk

[m3n00b]

You guys getting 100k+ miles on your break pads must also be the same guys getting 18 to 22mpg. I don't see how that's possible living in a big city unless you've got a lot more patience than I do.

 

I drive in LA traffic every day! I hardly use my brakes or accelerator. Just coast along lol

[tnchevy]

My front brakes lasted longer than the brake lines did on my old 2002 model (no joke). Changed the front pads and rotors at 120k miles and the pads still had a lot of life left but rotors were shot. The rear pads were a different story, changed them every 20k miles because as a previous poster said they were not designed well and every bit of dirt from the road would kick up and get caught between the pad and rotor.

[SouthPawCO]

As others have stated, GM pads wear like iron. My '05 lasted 100K and my '08 were still good at 99K when I checked it before selling it.

[hightech]

My '13 has just over 69,500 miles and not close to needing brake pads. For that matter I still have factory tires goodyears can't believe they aren't toast yet. Probably replace the tires before next winter but I have been impressed

[16z71Tom]

Good info guys. I'm glad I'll have long life out of mine