Are these brake pads low?

[sciroccosam1]

My dealer says my brake pads are getting very low and need changing, they seem to have a lot left on them to me???

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[tommy]

What about the inside?

[sciroccosam1]

Do you mean getting a picture of the middle part of the pads?

[Cuprabob]

There are obviously 2x pads per caliper, an inner and an outer. You have a picture of the outer which looks OK but how does the inner pad look? Also, dealers are notoriously conservative when reporting brake wear for 2 reasons. The first being the car may not be checked again for up to a year and secondly they are touting for business

[tommy]

There are obviously 2x pads per caliper, an inner and an outer. You have a picture of the outer which looks OK but how does the inner pad look? Also, dealers are notoriously conservative when reporting brake wear for 2 reasons. The first being the car may not be checked again for up to a year and secondly they are touting for business

inner is definitely the better word

each pair could have uneven wear so best check both out and not just the outer ones, plus i dont think you get a brake wear indicator for the rear?

[sciroccosam1]

Cheers cuprabob, so I take it I'd need to remove the pads to see the inner pad?

[sciroccosam1]

No tommy I think there is only a dash light for the front pads, there isn't any problems with braking, just a slight squeak from time to time.

[Cuprabob]

Cheers cuprabob, so I take it I'd need to remove the pads to see the inner pad?

If you take the wheel off you should be able to see the pad without removing it.

[tommy]

Cheers cuprabob, so I take it I'd need to remove the pads to see the inner pad?

stick your head underneath the car and have a look or use a small inspection mirror...

My car made squeaky noises when maneuvered in car parks before, changed the rear pads and discs and the noises are gone.

[sciroccosam1]

Ah right, I'll get some pics of the inner pads shortly and post them. Thanks a lot!

[Cuprabob]

Ah right, I'll get some pics of the inner pads shortly and post them. Thanks a lot!

Why can't you make the judgement yourself?

You would want to change before a pad got to circa 3mm.

For reference a new front pad has around 12mm of material and a rear pad around 8mm.

[sciroccosam1]

Cheers cuprabob for the info, I'll take a look on the inside and I'll be able to tell like you say whether they need changing or not. Thanks very much for your help!!!

[chelspeed]

The inner pads are pushed directly by the piston, the outers rely on the slidey claw bit sliding properly in it's mounts to push them against the disc. That means inevitably the inner pads will always wear slightly more than the outers. Brand new the difference will be small but as the slidey bit gets older, grotted up with dust and stiffer the difference will be more. That why the pad wear sensor in the front is in the inner pad not the outer.

I think 3mm might be a sensible number for changing the fronts (I'd probably say more like 2mm) as they start with something like 12mm of pad. But for the rears a new pad is more like 6mm so one with 3mm has plenty of life left. I'd be thinking of changing rears at 1mm.

But that's me who probably checks pads a lot more often than most. YMMV, If you're only going to check them once a year then a higher limit may be prudent.

[sciroccosam1]

Thanks chelspeed, I've yet to take a look at the inner pads, thank you for the info it's appreciated.