Brake wear Front V Back

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Al2O3

Al2O3

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Doing some maintenance on the wheels/brakes. All discs and pads were new EBC ones 15K miles ago. Also, new rear calipers and front ones were refurbished with stainless pistons and new seals at that time.
On the rear brakes the inner pad is worn down to the metal on both sides, outer pad about 50%. I don't think this is particularly unusual. Pistons pushed back easily and smoothly.
However! The front brakes pads do not have a lot of wear on them! Pistons are pushing back fine, though only a mm or so as there is not a lot of wear to take up!
It's got me wondering as after the rebuild, the brakes were poor and so I replaced the servo and all seemed fine. Not been worried about the brake capability since. However, the difference in wear, from front to back, has got me wondering if I've plumbed the pipes in to the distribution valve properly? What do you reckon? :confused:
 
fronts should wear much faster given a perfect system,uneven wear of pads in a caliper is a sign pistons arent equally free to move or poor pad material ,does rear lock up before front in an emergency brake
 
jamesmartin said:
fronts should wear much faster given a perfect system,uneven wear of pads in a caliper is a sign pistons arent equally free to move or poor pad material ,does rear lock up before front in an emergency brake
Click to expand...
I've never tried that hard, James. Just replaced rear pads and got one front wheel off at the moment as I'm going to change the wheel and pivot bearings. Bought front pads cos was expecting to do those as well :rolleyes: Stopped for bacon sarnie and posted about uneven wear. I've never noticed the backs locking up though. I'll find a quiet road and test them later.
 
jamesmartin said:
fronts should wear much faster given a perfect system,uneven wear of pads in a caliper is a sign pistons arent equally free to move or poor pad material ,does rear lock up before front in an emergency brake
Click to expand...


Ive always believed the same but apparently on some modern motors its the other way around, the D4 being one.
 
Anyway, put the front wheel on as one of the caliper bolts doesn't want to come out, so taking it for a test brake.
 
Those new BFG's have some grip! Did manage to lock it up, twice. Passenger side front screeching. Took that road wheel off, to look at wear, and it's the same as the offside. So same wheel locking up was possibly due to road surface on that side? Trying to stand it on it's nose several times has improved the feedback through the pedal no end. That and the new rear pads probably. That doesn't help with the excessive rear pad wear. :(
 
Fronts definetly wear faster than rear brake bias is usually 60% front 40% rear. It could be that the rear pad that has worn away was contaminated somehow and this has caused it to deteriorate so fast. If your pads have went metal to metal then you will be best advised to change the discs due to scoring.
 
If the pads are wearing unevenly in the same caliper, yet the pistons appear to move freely, then maybe the fluid isn't passing freely from one side of the caliper to the other. Maybe the little washers that form a seal between the two halves are rucked up or otherwise causing an obstruction. If your brakes are anything like mine, there's just one pipe that goes to the back axle to a t junction over the diff and so in theory all the rear pistons should be getting the same pressure, you'd think. Yet it seems like the inner ones are getting more than the outer ones. I had four years of heavy braking out of my EBC pads and even then they weren't down to the metal, so i'm surprised yours wore so quickly, even if they were doing a disproportionate amount of the work.
 
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Many people omit the brake shields, this will cause the rear brakes to wear much faster than the fronts as they are exposed to a lot more dirt/grit in road spray. Especially if used on unsurfaced roads.

I used to go through a set of rears in 4,000-5,000 miles. Refitted the shields and now they’ll do four times that.
 
Sorry for late replies lads. Been indulging in another hobby. Been on a bus tour from the village to the Newcastle Beer festival. Feel slightly numb, but can still function coherently ;):)

TorsionBhudda said:
Fronts definetly wear faster than rear brake bias is usually 60% front 40% rear. It could be that the rear pad that has worn away was contaminated somehow and this has caused it to deteriorate so fast. If your pads have went metal to metal then you will be best advised to change the discs due to scoring.
Click to expand...
Caught them just in time, mate. Literally down to the metal, but only just starting to make a grating sound. Discs still shiny and smooth.
Brown said:
If the pads are wearing unevenly in the same caliper, yet the pistons appear to move freely, then maybe the fluid isn't passing freely from one side of the caliper to the other. Maybe the little washers that form a seal between the two halves are rucked up or otherwise causing an obstruction. If your brakes are anything like mine, there's just one pipe that goes to the back axle to a t junction over the diff and so in theory all the rear pistons should be getting the same pressure, you'd think. Yet it seems like the inner ones are getting more than the outer ones. I had four years of heavy braking out of my EBC pads and even then they weren't down to the metal, so i'm surprised yours wore so quickly, even if they were doing a disproportionate amount of the work.
Click to expand...
One of the reasons I bought the EBC discs and pads was reading your positive posts, Brown. :) The rear calipers are new, Britpart ones. I didn't refurbish them and so they should, probably, be ok. I have read posts on other forums about the inner pads wearing faster than the outer. You can fins anything on the WWW though :rolleyes:

Retroanaconda said:
Many people omit the brake shields, this will cause the rear brakes to wear much faster than the fronts as they are exposed to a lot more dirt/grit in road spray. Especially if used on unsurfaced roads.
I used to go through a set of rears in 4,000-5,000 miles. Refitted the shields and now they’ll do four times that.
Click to expand...
Now that is VERY interesting, cos when I did the rebuild I omitted the rear brake shields :eek: Put the front ones on. The rear ones are still in a box with a lovely coating of black Rustoleum on them!! I've read many a post slagging the brake shields off, but you could be on to something there. Do you really think they can make 4 times the difference??? :eek:
 
Al2O3 said:
Sorry for late replies lads. Been indulging in another hobby. Been on a bus tour from the village to the Newcastle Beer festival. Feel slightly numb, but can still function coherently ;):)


Caught them just in time, mate. Literally down to the metal, but only just starting to make a grating sound. Discs still shiny and smooth.

One of the reasons I bought the EBC discs and pads was reading your positive posts, Brown. :) The rear calipers are new, Britpart ones. I didn't refurbish them and so they should, probably, be ok. I have read posts on other forums about the inner pads wearing faster than the outer. You can fins anything on the WWW though :rolleyes:


Now that is VERY interesting, cos when I did the rebuild I omitted the rear brake shields :eek: Put the front ones on. The rear ones are still in a box with a lovely coating of black Rustoleum on them!! I've read many a post slagging the brake shields off, but you could be on to something there. Do you really think they can make 4 times the difference??? :eek:
Click to expand...


Might not be relevant but i can say for definite that scania trucks that have full brake disc shielding wear their pads out much faster than the daf trucks that have no shieidng at all, scania 250/300 k compared to dafs 4l00 plus k.

I would be on the callipers as the possible issue as give or take a couple of mm difference the pads should wear pretty much equally on the same wheel.
 
Al2O3 said:
Caught them just in time, mate. Literally down to the metal,
Now that is VERY interesting, cos when I did the rebuild I omitted the rear brake shields :eek: Do you really think they can make 4 times the difference??? :eek:
Click to expand...
In a word YES, have experienced this exact thing on a Disco D1, and more particularly if the Landy is on the dirt a lot, replace the shields, you will keep the inner pads a lot longer.
 
lynall said:
Ive always believed the same but apparently on some modern motors its the other way around, the D4 being one.
Click to expand...

It’s because the various stability and traction assist functions on these technologically advanced vehicles use the rear brakes while you are driving.
Not an issue with a Defender!!
 
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Thanks for all of the replies gents. I'll have a look at the way the brake pipes are plumbed in to the valve.
I'll look at refitting the rear shields too. IIRC I didn't fit them because the fixings were very rusted/beyond working. I might have to do some drilling and tapping, can't remember.
Here are a couple of pics of the nearside front caliper and disc.
nearside pad wear.jpg


nearside disc.jpg

Not a lot of wear compared to the backs
 
lightning said:
It’s because the various stability and traction assist functions on these technologically advanced vehicles use the rear brakes while you are driving.
Not an issue with a Defender!!
Click to expand...


Is that a fact? I assumed the reason they had 4 channel abs was to control all four wheels?
I can say for a fact you have to push a D3 very very hard for the traction/stability to come in on the road and when it does it really annoys you as you know it has got more to give.
 
Gazbo said:
In a word YES, have experienced this exact thing on a Disco D1, and more particularly if the Landy is on the dirt a lot, replace the shields, you will keep the inner pads a lot longer.
Click to expand...

+1 - Whilst the shields can be a pain on a competition vehicle, as they fill with mud and cause issues - for all other situations, leave em on IMHO - They also help to contain the brake dust within the wheel.

Of course, as mentioned above, you might have had a duff pad too - pretty uncommon, but it does happen.
 
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