Brake disc life

[AVI_8]

Fluid absorbs water - corrodes stuff from inside. Considerably reduces it's effectiveness by reducing boiling point. Now, maybe if you drive like Miss Daisy's geriatric grandad on a slow day, you might not think that will bother you - but a long descent could cause issues.

Maintenance only to pass MOT is a bit . . . "silly" is about as tactful as I can get.

Also preventative maintenance is cheaper in the long run.
That includes stripping sliding callipers at least once a year and freeing up all of the sliding mechanism.
Sure as hell if you don’t it’ll be mid January when the calliper starts to stick, then the brakes overheat and not only will it require freeing up but the disks will overheat and warp then it’s new disks and pads to add to the cost. And you’re lying under a vehicle in crap weather to fix it.

 

[Farside]

Well it's a point, but the descent would have to be from space....

Crappy cars fade quickly with repeated braking.
DAMHIK.

 

[brightspark]

Crappy cars fade quickly with repeated braking.
DAMHIK.

dont buy crappy cars then and expect miracles thats why you use large twin vented disks and hard pads

 

[stuvy]

My old Skoda Superb did well over 100k on a set of EuroCarParts Eicher discs and pads. All depends on the driver and the type of usage. Mine was a motorway hack and I’m not hard on brakes anyway.
SWMBO, on the other hand, yeah she can burn through big old Brembos on a supercharged Jag in 6k miles. Back tyres were 3k.

My mx5 was less than that but cheap as they were 15’s

Crappy cars fade quickly with repeated braking.
DAMHIK.

My mate had a 4 year old imprezza that used to get brake fade
Horrible car that sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders

 

[AVI_8]

My mx5 was less than that but cheap as they were 15’s

My mate had a 4 year old imprezza that used to get brake fade
Horrible car that sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders

Boxer engine, had a very distinctive burble, had an Imprezza, cracking car, brilliant handling, he should have upgraded to STI brakes, I loved my Scooby, that was before they became Chavvy, one of the fastest A to B cars back in the day.
Edited to say when you said horrible car, you clearly hadn’t the chance to drive it on a good back road if you had you’d change your mind, back then it was the only saloon car that was affordable which could nearly get close to a Lancia Delta Integrale, but not quite!

 

[stuvy]

Boxer engine, had a very distinctive burble, had an Imprezza, cracking car, brilliant handling, he should have upgraded to STI brakes, I loved my Scooby, that was before they became Chavvy, one of the fastest A to B cars back in the day.
Edited to say when you said horrible car, you clearly hadn’t the chance to drive it on a good back road if you had you’d change your mind, back then it was the only saloon car that was affordable which could nearly get close to a Lancia Delta Integrale, but not quite!

He sold it for an evo 6 which was ten times the car the Subaru was

His was a Hawkeye 2.5 low mileage factory car but just didn’t do it for me and like your self Iv been in a few cars but no way is that a great car E46 SMG yes now they are sublime for a gt car

 

[bricol]

Well it's a point, but the descent would have to be from space....

Well, no. You can cook the brakes on most "normal" cars using them without consideration. Certainly in alpine areas, and certainly ones that haven't been looked after.

You get people complaining of brake fade as the pedal goes spongy - its the fluid overheating, which happens sooner than with newer fluid.

 

[RWD3M]

Just changed the original front brake discs on my citroen van at 119,147 miles and the main dealer wanted to change them at the first service at 30,000 miles. View attachment 352072

A year ago I would probably have chastised you for letting them go that long however....

I recently changed the (original) rear pads on my XE at about 48k which, again a year ago I would have thought was a bit off, but when checking the fronts I found not only were the discs in particularly good order but that the pads were only a little over half worn (I know this because I bought new ones on the strength of needing to change the rears!).

I don't know if its the way I drive (I doubt it!), if modern cars have better quality parts, or if modern cars are just easier on their braking systems, but I would traditionally expect to do front pads every 30k, discs every other set of pads, and rears about half as often.

 

[RWD3M]

Well, no. You can cook the brakes on most "normal" cars using them without consideration. Certainly in alpine areas, and certainly ones that haven't been looked after.

You get people complaining of brake fade as the pedal goes spongy - its the fluid overheating, which happens sooner than with newer fluid.

Ooh yes, I did, a long time ago now, mid '80's iirc, in a 1978 Rover SD1 2600 coming down Porlock hill. Frightened the bejesus out of me!

 

[bricol]

Boxer engine, had a very distinctive burble, had an Imprezza, cracking car, brilliant handling, he should have upgraded to STI brakes, I loved my Scooby, that was before they became Chavvy, one of the fastest A to B cars back in the day.
Edited to say when you said horrible car, you clearly hadn’t the chance to drive it on a good back road if you had you’d change your mind, back then it was the only saloon car that was affordable which could nearly get close to a Lancia Delta Integrale, but not quite!

I've owned two integrales over the last 25 yrs, the last one for 17 yrs or more. My mate has owned every single version of Impreza that has come out over that time . . . none of them have made me want to get rid of a 30 year old car and replace it with one from Subaru, even though I am quite impressed how they go and sound - very distinctive.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I typically change my disks every second set of pads, and don’t get anywhere near the mileage some of you guys are getting.

Basically the same here

 

[Robotstar5]

I took my car in for an MOT in the 80's and the mechanic (no "technicians" in those days ) showed me a Metro he was working on, the lady had bought it in as the brakes were squealing, pads were down to the backplate and the discs had worn that thin that they snapped off as he was removing them!.

 

[Migmac]

81k on my work Ranger, still on the original brakes all round. Only decent thing about the truck. L200 started off at less than 10k before disc’s n pads needed replaced. Changed to the expensive discs and pads much better. It’s driven by a 21 year old idiot which is part of the issue too

 

[Bornfree]

A year ago I would probably have chastised you for letting them go that long however....

I recently changed the (original) rear pads on my XE at about 48k which, again a year ago I would have thought was a bit off, but when checking the fronts I found not only were the discs in particularly good order but that the pads were only a little over half worn (I know this because I bought new ones on the strength of needing to change the rears!).

I don't know if its the way I drive (I doubt it!), if modern cars have better quality parts, or if modern cars are just easier on their braking systems, but I would traditionally expect to do front pads every 30k, discs every other set of pads, and rears about half as often.

What's amazing is that the first set of pads did 60,000 miles and the next set have done 59,000 it shows the aftermarket one are no different.

 

[RWD3M]

What's amazing is that the first set of pads did 60,000 miles and the next set have done 59,000 it shows the aftermarket one are no different.

I think it depends on which aftermarket you go for. I've always used Brembo stuff and never had an issue with it. More recently I was offered an aftermarket set of rear pads for my XE for £20! Needless to say, I didn't buy them and opted for OEM (not much else available at the time and not actually that expensive at £80).

 

[octo0072000]

new DOT 5 brake fluid is not hydroscopic

DOT 5 brake fluid is not hygroscopic and therefore does not have to be replaced due to the increasing water content. As a rule, silicone fluid should be used only to fill systems that have not been previously filled with glycol-based fluid.18 Feb 2020

 

[PhillipM]

Dot 4 is, dot 5.1 is.

Dot 5 isn't, but it's not compatible with other brake fluids, needs a thorough flushing and still needs a bit of bleeding because all that happens is water that gets in the system sinks down and sits in the calipers instead. And it makes the brakes spongier. And it's not compatible with a lot of ABS/ESP systems.

 

[minimutly]

Well, no. You can cook the brakes on most "normal" cars using them without consideration. Certainly in alpine areas, and certainly ones that haven't been looked after.

You get people complaining of brake fade as the pedal goes spongy - its the fluid overheating, which happens sooner than with newer fluid.

No no yes then?

 

[PhillipM]

Fluid absorbs water - corrodes stuff from inside. Considerably reduces it's effectiveness by reducing boiling point. Now, maybe if you drive like Miss Daisy's geriatric grandad on a slow day, you might not think that will bother you - but a long descent could cause issues.

Maintenance only to pass MOT is a bit . . . "silly" is about as tactful as I can get.

Yep, so many seized calipers are just down to people doing zero maintenance.

 

[Red'n'Black]

Fluid absorbs water - corrodes stuff from inside. Considerably reduces it's effectiveness by reducing boiling point. Now, maybe if you drive like Miss Daisy's geriatric grandad on a slow day, you might not think that will bother you - but a long descent could cause issues.

Maintenance only to pass MOT is a bit . . . "silly" is about as tactful as I can get.

I've had complete brake failure as a result of manky old fluid, 20+ years ago before I knew any better, coming down a mountain road in Italy with my mate driving. Brown trousers doesn't even begin to describe it! He stopped it with first gear and the handbrake before we got to the really steep section.

We ended up buying some fluid and bleeding it by the roadside, what came out looked like black treacle. "Did you even look at these before we set off?" said matey. "But it had a new MoT when I bought it" I protested. I learned some new swear words that day...