Dave Plowman (News) ( snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Where?
The message from Adrian contains these words:
Er - here.
f. security and excessive wear of brake linings/pads f. a brake lining or pad insecure or less than 1.5mm thick at any point.
1/6th of 1/9th, surely?
A frayed knot.
John
Guy King ( snipped-for-privacy@zetnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
Ooops. I missed that...
But, of course, that's got to be visible without dismantling anything - including removing the wheel.
My rule of thumb is that pads last two sets of tyres, discs last two sets of pads - some cars with large area on the pads wear discs and pads together - four sets of tyres to one set of discs and pads.
My experience is that OE discs and pads last the best in light use.
The message from Adrian contains these words:
You must have a different set of brakes to me. I can see pad thickness easily. Even the rears now I've got rear discs - though drum brakes are a lot harder!
What I don't understand is why my Audi's got solid discs at the front - even the Montego had vented discs - heck, even the Metro did!
The message from "Tim S Kemp" contains these words:
BSM used to get the front pads checked at 9000 miles at which point on both the Metro and the Corsa they were usually more than half worn and got replaced. Mine never did and on a couple of occasions the garage assumed I'd already had 'em done 'cos I so rarely use the brakes.
Hmm. I tend to carry more speed than most into corners, I brake lighter than most I think. My tyres take a bit of a battering round roundabouts :-D
There's plenty of vans with solid fronts, if there's enough airflow you don't need vents.
Guy King ( snipped-for-privacy@zetnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
How do I see through solid alloy? Or sheet steel?
The (factory option) wheels on the XM only have five very small slots in them. Other (factory) designs of wheel are completely solid. You can barely see the disks, and certainly can't see the outer pads.
From the inside of the fronts, you can hardly see the pad at all. Certainly not enough to reliably guesstimate the thickness.
From the inside of the rears, you can't see *anything* - not even the disk
- as there's a shield filling the inside of the wheel.
I'm quite glad they don't insist on checking the friction material thickness at MOT time - The rear drums on 2cvs are held on by a 44mm nut to
250lb/ft, and the front drums on the old van requires half the engine cooling ducting to be removed to get them off... Oh, and the master cylinder needs to come off to get the driver's side drum off...
On my old BX the warning light came on for a couple of seconds. Just long enough for me to notice it as I was manouevering in a car park. Then the sensor wore away and stopped working.
And that is too little for comfort IMO. I still reckon around 3mm is a better compromise between safety and getting fair use from the pads. Same as 1.6mm is too little depth of tyre tread, especially in winter or wet conditions. I'd recommend changing at 2 to 2.5 mm. Mike.
Citreons, don't you just love em?
"What do you get, if you..."
There are too many factors to consider. The car, the roads you drive on and of course the driver. Our Ka put on nearer 40K with a combination of around three quarters long haul trips (kind to brakes from a mileage perspective) and the rest city driving (less kind), whereas the other way around *and* including some track use they were going strong 40K later.
City driving is relatively cruel to brakes, motorways kinder - but it'll depend on how you drive. If you do 140 to 80 braking on the motorway you may wear the brakes out. If you commute for 30 miles and only brake below around 20 mph *cough* they'll probably need replacing through old use first
*cough*.
Then you'll wear out tyres much quicker than brakes - which is precisely what I do, heh.
I do, I'm on my third.
Still have five of the ten I've owned. Can't stand the things... ;-)
Yep, that's why I posted a thread on which tyres to get a few days ago. ;-)
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