Disc Brake pad wear

"Martik"wrote

It depend on what vehicle we are talking about. A fair number of the GM vehicles that I work on exhibit this type of brake wear. Some people think it's because of a "seized" caliper, but so far I've seen very few reasons to believe this is true. Some vehicles, like the Malibu, wear out the inner pads at more then twice the rate of the outer pad....and since they all do it, I put it down to "the nature of the beast".....or some really poor design problems.

A lot of times, it is the brake pad not moving properly on the knuckle. Again, it depends on the design of the brakes and where and what the brake pads contact as they slide during their lifetime.

Ian

It is a 93 Nissan Altima with the inner pad being worn the most.

I wouldn't think a seized piston would give you uneven wear. I expect to see uneven wear from a seized caliper that wasn't floating like it should.. As far as I've seen (like how I covered my butt this time, Ian?) the brake pads and the caliper sit on a slider or pin that allow the pads and caliper to slide back and forth to allow for the pads as they wear down. If the caliper and pads are not allowed to slide or are hindered then the side with the piston will compress more than the other side. Again, as far as I've seen, the piston is always on the inner side of the rotor which results in a thinner inner pad than an outer pad. If you had a seized piston, then your brakes would work very poorly or not at all or they would drag all the time from the piston not releasing as it should. If that were the case, I'd imagine your car would pull to one side while braking unless both calipers were seized (which I would think is less likely).

-Bruce

Thanks, I was planning to lubricate the caliper pins anyway. Car does not pull at all when braking. This is the same shop that told me I needed struts

In general the pad on which the piston rests seems to show the most wear on calipers with one piston.

And why, may I ask are you still going there?

Doc

I agree that they were most likely wrong about the stuck caliper pistons. That being said there are a BUNCH of cars that have gone 100,000km on bad struts or shocks. That is one area where some people just refuse to spend money. To be honest, when I see some of the junk other people are driving it makes me want to stay off the road. Bob

I'm just glad I don't live in NH or NY so I don't have to contend with Elliott's garbage-on-wheels!

Doc

The way I see it, between poor driving skills and even worse mechanical skills he won't be putting on all that many miles. At least not until he lands a high paying engineering job.... and I don't see that happening soon. Bob

I have lifetime free flat repair, rotation and balancing. There is nothing wrong with the struts, car stabilizes after one push down at each corner and never loses control over bad roads.