Excessive Wear on Brake Related Vehicle Components

Big feet.

what about big feet?

E.g., riding the brakes.

What - with these feet?

feet getting brain signaling from control enthusiasts

Del: Yes, OP "could" be less specific.

What are the factors that cause excessive wear on all brake related components on a vehicle?

Less specific:

What are the things that cause that one thing on all related stuff of another thing?

Guys,

Just take a look at Errolbeast's only other post and all will be clear.

It's the ID 10 T syndrome.

LOL!!

I wonder if he will understand your complicated code?

Not a chance.

Like the car engine 710 cap for oil filling?

I wonder if the owner of the 711 chain of convenience stores here in the US knows about the 710 cap for an engine?

LOL!

Although some of the other answers are funny, I will be serious.

1) Look at the system and determine if the orfaces are correct.

2) Type of fluids, viscosity changes.

3) Weight distribution of vehicle, may need to move items around for balance.

4) Type of brake pad materials

5) Friction between pads and rotors, is it equal.

6) Continue by due process until solved.

Excessive friction, caused by lots of factors.

Sounds like a good topic for your research paper.

The OP asked about ALL components - so that would include the brake lines, the master and slave cylinders, the brake fluid, the reservoir, the brake lights, ...

OP did and does not ask about components, but factors.

Braking normally happens with using 1 foot. (However most of the time both feet are about the same size)

I agree completely with you.

The OP did not even tell us WHY he "THINKS" that there is a problem? Or on what he bases his opinion.....

It may even be quite normal for the situation/vehicle, but he does not know or understand that!!!!

No friction, no wear, on ANYTHING!

Next he'll be asking us to write his research paper on brake wear for him.

Of course, a real ME would already know this.

<...Next he'll be asking us to write his research paper on brake wear for him....>

What - with these feet?

Sounds like a title to a Porn Movie.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_fade
http://www.tirerack.com/FAQ/results.jsp?category=Brakes
http://www.metroaps.com/techpdf/padwear.pdf
http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/general-advice/brakes-discs-drums-pads.html
http://www.safebraking.com/brake-pad-wear-problem-chart/

using cheap imported carbon fiber from China instead of the good stuff.

just make sure you bring them up to operating temperature

I first would like to know what one thinks is normal wear on a brake?

Not excessive.

A client of mine traded in her 2005 Mustang with 94K on it and she claimed the brake pads were original. I doubted her, but my mechanic told me that some cars have incredibly long lasting pads.

On the opposite extreme, I once owned a 1992 Dodge Dynasty. Yes, before I was in the industry - all right everyone done laughing... Well, this rotten Dodge ate brakes at the rate of one set of pads every 11K miles. The rear shoes were never changed in the 116K miles we owned the car. When I pulled the drums at around 100K, they looked like new. Needless to say, panic stops were pretty scary in this car. In fact, every time I turned the key it was pretty scary. 3 trannies and 2 engines in 116K miles is terrible!

So far I have 110 K on the original brake pads. Because of it the mechanic can't give me an idea of how many miles I got left. Try not to do bumper to bumper driving. I like a cushion between me and the possible idiot in front of me. To be able to see and drive the road. Not just the guy in front of me's bumper.

Just wish I could get the idiot behind me to back off.

Hey isn't 80 fast enough.

Here we switch on the emergency flashers to warn the "A***Lickers" to back off... It works about 90% of the time.

I also slow down to the exact legal limit and maker a far bigger space in front of me than I legally need. So that I can slow down "slower" if needed....and the car behind can overtake, I like looking at "rear ends" from behind, especially pretty female ones!!

In the UK we are supposed to leave a 2 second space in dry weather and a 4 second space in wet. (Only a fool breaks the 2 second rule! = when said normally, takes about 2 seconds to say, providing a measure of time, without looking at a clock!)

In Germany we are supposed to have a space in meters of half the speed in KM/Hour. No wet or dry changes.....but more is always better. (60MPH/100KM/H = 50 meter/150 feet, its not a lot I feel)

I have lost count how many times, 12 or so, that idiots, including one truck, have run into me. There has never ever been a question that my brake lights were not working, as they were still working after the accident. Standard police checks.

Till today at least, I have never hit a car in front of me except for a young lady that pulled out right in front of me from a side road.....she was at fault. Though I have been close to cars in front with help from behind sometimes!!!

Here they recommend one car length for every ten mph. It's written in just about every states drivers hand book that way. In most cases it's a question on the written exam.

Hey maybe that's it. All the farther they read was the one or they can't do the math.

Cause about one car length is about how they run bumper to bumper.

What kind of car do you have? That's amazing miles for an original set of brakes!

I have a 2005 V-dub Jetta with the 2.slo with 148,000 miles on the clock with the original pads. The wear sensor on the front pads just lit the warning light on the dash, so it's time for a new set all around.

Excellent, well done.

The other good point with such light brake wear is incredibly low tyre wear I find....

The negative side is possibly glazed disks. When that happens, I do a couple of good emergency stops, which seems to get rid of the "vibration" of glazing.

Do not overheat the disk, give them several minutes to cool down after say 3 stops....

To anyone who has vibrations when braking, especially those who brake less (have less need!), read the following.

Glazed disks will vibrate through the steering wheel (there are other reasons too). The harder you brake, the more vibration. But no vibration when NOT braking, or only lightly braking.

BUT IT MAY COME AND GO WITH LITTLE RHYME OR REASON.

This is due to the glaze on each front disk being either "in phase" or "out of phase" with each other.

This is usually glazing in my experience.

If it is always there, its maybe something else...check MOST carefully

If it is not so bad, a few emergency stops will remove it. If that does not help, you usually need to replace the disks (rotors in US English!).

I have the pulsing in the brakes under light braking with this car. Apply medium to hard braking and the pulsing goes away. I tried some 80 mph to zero 'panic stops' to see if I could break the glaze. Didn't help any.

After some research I found the issue. According to the V-dub service bulletin, the issue is due to uneven wear-off of an anti-corrosion coating on the rotors. They recommend honing off the coating where the pads contact the rotors.

I even bought one of those flex hones I saw here on a CR4 posting.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/22003

I've used it on my other vehicles when I replaced pads to dress the rust off the edges and put a little 'bite' back into the rotor to help seat the new pads. Seems to work well.

http://www.brushresearch.com/brushes.php?c1=6

I'll let you know if this does the trick when I replace the pads. Car is out of town with the missus at the moment.

Cheers !!

Interesting.

I honed the original OEM front rotors and the pulsing I felt through the steering wheel did go away. I can't really be sure that it was the anti-corrosion coating on the rotors that is talked about in the TSB especially considering the miles on the car. I rather suspect some crud of unknown origins got onto the disks and created some sort of glaze. There was nothing visible on the rotors that might explain it, but after honing a bunch of nice looking swirls onto the rotor, there is no pulsing while braking, regardless of how hard or how light.

I just put new rotors on the rear (funny wear patterns due to rust at the edges), and I noticed the machining on the rotors is definitely not as good as they used to be. Honing the new rotors with the BRM rotor hone, gives them a good bite and helps bed in the new pads. The rotors got nice and toasty warm last night when I went out to bed in the new pads. They emanated that nice new hot brake smell, but no smoke. The circumferential machine grooves on the new OEM style rotor don't seem grab very well from past experiences when I didn't hone the new rotors. (These were Bosch QuietCast rotors too, not some fly-by-night rotor company).

The only thing I don't like about the BRM brake rotor hone is the price. They run about $35 or so on-line. I guess it's probably worth it in the long run, and I will probably buy another when I wear this one out.

Cheers !

148K on original pads is unheard of. I thought German cars had very agressive pads (all the black dust on the wheels). I had no idea you could get that many miles on a set of brake pads!

On the other extreme, we had a 1992 Dodge Dynasty that ate front pads like crazy. It was one of the worst cars we ever owned!

Its also affected by the driver and the load....

I try not to use my brakes too aggressively. Puts more wear and tear on the brakes of course, but tires too. In my crotchety old age (51 ), I find myself 'coasting in' a lot more. I find by the time I reach the intersection with the line of cars waiting for the light, I might not even have to come to a complete stop. I used to zoom from light to light, but then I noticed that when I "planned" my stops well, I was spending a lot less time idling at the light.

Plus one of the nice things they seem to do here in Maryland is put pedestrian warning signals at the crosswalk with a 'countdown' timer. The timers tell pedestrians (and alert car drivers) how many seconds until the light will turn yellow. That way you know whether you have enough time to make the green and you can accelerate if need be to beat the red or you might see from a ways off that it will be red long before you get to the light so throw it into neutral (illegal in most jurisdictions, but what the hell) and coast down to the light.

I do not have to endure daily stop-and-go city traffic, my commute is five miles of all mellow surface streets and I don't have to mix it up with the bozos driving around downtown Annapolis. My profile says Annapolis, but really I live in the bustling metropolis of Arnold (). I encounter three traffic signals and four stop signs on my way to work. I could get on US-50/301 but I choose to run along the service road immediately adjacent. The difference in time is negligible. I love my commute (and my job). For many years I endured commutes up to an hour or longer each way. That sucks. I thank my lucky stars every day I go to work.

Other than my mellow commute, most of the other driving tends to be longer interstate trips. Those factors probably have the most to do with the long brake life I manage to achieve.

Cheers!!

(The thin yellow line is my route to work.)

Even with your smart driving style, I find it amazing that you get such great life out of your brake pads. I don't race from light to light, but with the crazy traffic of LA, there's a lot of stop and go on the freeways and city streets. We get about 25-70K miles on a set of pads, depending on the car. The 540i has 38K on the original pads - pretty good for a heavy BMW. The XJ is pretty good on brakes (car has 93K and I got her at 40K - I'm still on the same brakes) - it's a Vanden Plas, so there's some heft here. The C Class (6 speed) is on the second set of fronts at 95K, but it does have drilled rotors - while we're also on the second set of rears. I haven't changed either of the E class brakes yet, but not many miles on them. The Sierra has 27K on original pads - not sure of the brake wear, but the front tires are gone - very disappointing. The Highlander and Camry Hybrid we haven't put enough miles on them. The 850R has about 70K on the pads and are starting to go bad. The 960 Wagon has gone through a couple sets in 90K miles. The Boxster is on the original pads at 38K. That's the entire stable. I can't see any of these cars getting close to 100K miles on a set of brakes.

On the other hand, our 2002 1/2 ton Suburban that we use to pull an 8,000 lb travel trailer has over 200K miles on the clock, and I am on my fourth set of rotors and sixth set of pads. Seems to burn through the rear pads faster than the fronts. I don't see any evidence of a load balancing valve of any kind on this system like V-dub put on many of their cars.

You have quite the stable to keep track of as well. You must have a good record keeping system to keep track of all that maintenance.

We also have a kick around 2000 Ford F-150 (7700 Series which is basically a light duty F-250. I think Ford did this so people could buy a 'heavier' truck but avoid some state's registration requirements that put an F-250 in as a commercial vehicle.) We use the PU truck to pull our boat when we go camping and haul stuff around from the time to time. The Ford brakes are much better than the crappy stuff GM put on their 1/2 ton trucks. The GM brakes have no 'bite', the pedal feels like its pushing into foam rubber, and has really poor pedal feedback. I've bled the system several times, tried several brands and types of pads and rotors, and even went to the trouble to replace all the rubber lines with stainless steel teflon lines all to no avail. The only thing I can figure at this point is that the calipers are flexing too much preventing decent clamping forces on the pads.

I can remember when the truck was fairly new and only had a few thousand miles on it, I ran it up to about 50 mph or so and tried to test the ABS brakes on dry pavement. It wouldn't lock up the tires or kick in the ABS system. There wasn't even any howling from the tires. Pitiful.

The stuff you do is pretty impressive. What did you have to do to get the Suburban to pull 4 tons? I'm assuming a pretty large trans cooler, radiator, but what about the suspension?

GM has been known to have some QC issues on their vehicles. Our GMC Sierra has had quite a bit of warranty work done for a 28Kmi vehicle. I also think the alignment was off when we bought the truck - the dealer said it's okay, but the front tires are gone, rears are at 40% remaining and there's only a V6 under the hood. For your Suburban, you may want to check the brake proportioning valve (usually controls the rear brakes only). Maybe reduce some of the rear braking, so the fronts do more work (I remember hearing that the fronts do 70% and rears 30%). What puzzles me is that if the proportioning valve is biased too much to the rear, the brakes should lock much too soon (rears locking up) and the ABS should kick in. To me, it does sound the the proportioning valve was not set right when the truck was built.

Our 2002 Suburban just came with whatever the factory puts in for their 'towing package'. It came with a lousy hitch that was replaced twice because it bends like spaghetti, so I purchased a much beefier aftermarket hitch. The transmission cooler is plumbed into the radiator like so many other tranny coolers. I didn't do anything to the suspension. We're using a Hensley Arrow hitch with the 1,400 lb weight distributing bars so that we don't sag the rear end too much. Recently, I put in some Firestone 'air bags' into the rear coil springs and that firms up the rear a bit. I'm not sure how much I like them though. One of mine is already starting to leak somewhere. I haven't figured out whether it is the airbag itself or the plumbing.

This Suburban does not have any kind of proportioning valve like all my V-dubs have unless it is incorporated into the Anti-Lock manifold. There is nothing on the rear suspension that measures ride height, so I can't see how they would do proportioning. I suspect it is just fixed. A couple of years ago, I replaced all my steel lines with Copper Nickel lines after the OEM lines rusted to the point that we burst one. If you drive on salted roads keep a close watch on the lines where they run from the engine compartment down the frame rail under the drivers feet. It is a hidden area where you might not notice the severe rust that forms.

Bummer about the warranty work on your Sierra. I have to admit that other than the flighty steering and the lousy brakes on this truck, I've been pretty happy with it, especially given how hard we have run this little truck. The Vortec 5.3 is nearly indestructable and the tranny get kudos as well.

Excessive use ?

Excessive wear = above normal wear

Brake related components = (from human to ground) brake pedal pad, brake pedal, brake pedal bushings, master cylinder (and all the components inside), brake booster (diaphram and all internals), brake lines (and fittings), brake caliper (piston, chamber, bleed valve, seals), spindle (caliper rides on part of the spindle), caliper hardware (clips, pins, bolts), squeak silencer, pads, rotor, lug nut studs (or bolts), lug nuts, wheel, tire. And there's also the rears, which could be disc or drum. Don't forget the parking brakes (many are now electric). And we didn't touch on the new electronic safety systems like ABS, elec brake force distribution, vehicle stability control, traction control, brake assist, smart stop technology. And then we have hybrid braking, which includes engine, transmission, generator (alternator), power circuitry, control circuitry, batteries and all the internal parts plus the parts to connect these items to the car or other components.

I hope you see why this question is so nebulous and why many here don't take it seriously.

What are the factors that cause excessive wear on all brake related components on a vehicle?

The same factors that cause normal wear will also cause excessive wear.

Vehicle braking systems are full of components that are subject to wear and these need to be inspected and replaced as required or as a prophylactic measure.

Braking systems are a consumable part of a vehicle.

What do you mean by excessive wear mate?

I have a 1999 Silverado with rear discs that could have used that "adjustment" the last time I changed the rear pads but i didn't think to take a file to it. Thanks for the tip.

BTW - in that particular truck the rear caliper piston is cheap a$$ phenolic and quickly wears to the point that it won't release pressure - which causes excessive wear on the pads and rotors. The suggested solution is to replace the caliper with the pads ... each time!! Good thing the caliper is cheap at <$100US.

'Been there' and 'got the tee shirt' for the Silverado (2001) rear calipers. However I am still on the second set at 330,000 kms. the first set were toast at 160,000 km so I am about due for replacements.

And I will remember to file them this time!

Best darned pickup-truck so far. Worth the trouble.

Nobody should need a caliper every time the pads are changed. Poor quality materials! I have an '07 Sierra 1500 and the brakes seem pretty good. In fact, I think my rears are drum.

Don't forget the timing belt on the Rio. The ones Kia and Hyundai use have failures at around 60Kmi. And the head is an interference one, so the pistons will hit the valves. The timing belt is one of the weak spots for Kia - an otherwise fairly durable car.

At one time we had a fleet of Dodge D300 Rescue trucks.(ambulances) The previous trucks spent too much time running into the back of others, so these trucks had big heavy push plates installed in front of the front bumper to protect the sheet metal.. These trucks would only get 1500 miles on a set of brake pads. At 3000 miles the trucks got new rotors, calipers and of course pads. Rear brake shoes were only worn at about 6,000 miles.

The next series of trucks were equipped with electric retarders.

Operating the vehicle in mountainous/hilly terrain, not gearing down when going downhill, and instead riding the brakes.

Faulty master cylinder or system check valve not releasing the pressure completely.

Poor driving habits. (Abrupt stops, riding the brake pedal in traffic, etc.)

Poor quality brake components.

Poorly designed or undersized brake components.

I keep coming back to my first question for the OP of why do they think they have excessive wear of their brakes? If the OP must ride their brakes harder now that they live in the Rocky Mountains instead of the Great Plains then the faster brake wear will not be excessive wear.

I can throw another variable into the mix.

Two different designs of 9 yard dump trucks. One has an underpowered gasoline engine. The other one has a heavy duty diesel engine. Both have the same brake shoe size.

The both of the gasoline trucks are years old and never wear out the brakes.

The fleet of diesel trucks barely make a year before they are worn out. We buy the best linings available and still only a year. There are six of the diesels, and all of them have crappy brakes. Same drivers, all the trucks running the same loads to the same locations.

The gasoline trucks could never get any speed up in the first three minuets after stopping. The diesels would hit 35-40 in a city block. The gas trucks never had to scrub any speed off, so the brakes never wore out.

The diesels would also get two to three extra loads per day over the gasoline trucks.

Using it, the brake, or maybe save on repairs ans wear and get Fred and Barney to put a hole in your floor boards for slowing,

What are the factors that cause excessive wear on all brake related components on a vehicle

There is only one factor..........USAGE

after reading all he answeres and re-reading the ® question o finally realized that what is sought is a set of factors that cause excessive wear on all brake related components -- ? employment/in-service time - i donno