How is this possible?

[flyboyron]

I take my Silverado in for an oil change, since I can't do it myself anymore.

 

The truck has 53,750 miles on it.

 

They tell me the front brake pads have 9mm left and the rear 3mm left on them.

 

How is that possible when the front brakes have never been replaced and they usually wear out faster than the rear brakes?

 

Do I now need to check the wear myself to see what they are?

[bowtie2007]

The same happened to my Silverado and I changed them myself so I know for sure I wasn't being scammed. The rear brake shoes barely had anything left and the front brakes still had more than half the pad left. This was at 85,000 miles but I am light on the brakes.

[Chevy Joe]

This has been the case with all my Chevy's, I only use dealer pads now, they cost more but they last for YEARS, I have a 1994 Impalla SS and I am very hard on her, the dealer pads last forever on her

 

[RyanbabZ71]

Interesting around 50K i checked mine and they have plenty of pad left

[Cosmic Charlie]

I get over 125,000 miles from my OEM 25HD trucks and then trade - no brake work ever - light use & highway miles !!!

[06pirate]

I changed mine at about 78,000 due to the right front being worn at enough of an angle it was hitting the squealer. I figured they must be worn out so I bought a complete vehicle set. When I pulled things apart, the only pads worn were the right fronts. The caliper pins were rusted and sticking. I changed them all anyway, but probably only had about 20% wear if that. If not for the uneven wear, I probably would have gone 150,000 plus on the original brakes.

 

My Toyota 4x4 truck has 361,000 miles and still original rear shoes. I think I changed the fronts at around 180,000 or so, many years ago. All freeway miles, I seldom use the brakes.

 

My sister has a 2006 Tacoma, about 60,000 miles, on its third set of brakes. I don't know how anybody can chew up brakes that fast.

[flyboyron]

My wife is really hard on brakes. Her Pontiac has 130,000 and is starting on the 3rd set of front brake pads.

[sahls01gmc]

Lots of city miles, and heavy braking will cause that. I just drove 350 miles one way last week and only used the brakes twice.....literally twice. Once on the off-ramp at my exit, and the other pulling into the hotel parking lot.

 

The same 350 miles over the course of me driving to my office I use the brakes every 1/4 mile....it all adds up.

[MaverickZ71]

Your truck has rear drum brakes, right? Not 4 wheel discs? If so, I really need to go check my rear brake shoes, as I have 50K miles on my '09 and the front pads are getting a little thin. I've never had the back drums off, and didn't think it was necessary since every other disc/drum vehicle that I've had would go through 2 or 3 sets of front pads before wearing out the rear shoes. But I do drive 90% in town, and my back drums have consistently dragged/pulled/screeched really bad when wet or damp for the first half mile since the truck was new.

 

 

I take my Silverado in for an oil change, since I can't do it myself anymore.

 

The truck has 53,750 miles on it.

 

They tell me the front brake pads have 9mm left and the rear 3mm left on them.

 

How is that possible when the front brakes have never been replaced and they usually wear out faster than the rear brakes?

 

Do I now need to check the wear myself to see what they are?

[flyboyron]

Yea, I'm the same way. Since most of the braking is done with the front disc brakes and not the rear drum brakes, I thought they would not need to be checked either.

 

But then the dealers have ways of telling you that you need work done that doesn't need to be done.

 

They did that with my wife's Pontiac.....said the brakes are ready to give out and needed to be done right away or it could cost hundreds of dollars from damaged rotors. I told them not to do it figuring I can replace the pads myself.

I was so worried that the car was going to lose its brakes, I bought some pads and the next weekend I took the wheels off and found the pads not even 1/2 way worn down.

Boy was I pissed.

I saved the pads until they got worn and then replaced them.

The problem I have is my wheels on the truck are 20"s and I have a bad back. They are really heavy and I am going to have to have someone help me with them.

I hate to take it apart and find out I don't need them, but I guess it doesn't hurt to check them just to be sure.

[waumo1]

Yea, I'm the same way. Since most of the braking is done with the front disc brakes and not the rear drum brakes, I thought they would not need to be checked either.

 

But then the dealers have ways of telling you that you need work done that doesn't need to be done.

 

They did that with my wife's Pontiac.....said the brakes are ready to give out and needed to be done right away or it could cost hundreds of dollars from damaged rotors. I told them not to do it figuring I can replace the pads myself.

I was so worried that the car was going to lose its brakes, I bought some pads and the next weekend I took the wheels off and found the pads not even 1/2 way worn down.

Boy was I pissed.

I saved the pads until they got worn and then replaced them.

The problem I have is my wheels on the truck are 20"s and I have a bad back. They are really heavy and I am going to have to have someone help me with them.

I hate to take it apart and find out I don't need them, but I guess it doesn't hurt to check them just to be sure.

Harbor Freight has a wheel lifter/dolly. Great tool for the 20" runflats on the Jeep SRT8. They are HEAVY. I don't horse around any truck or Jeep wheels anymore.

[DanMan_S]

I take my Silverado in for an oil change, since I can't do it myself anymore.

 

The truck has 53,750 miles on it.

 

They tell me the front brake pads have 9mm left and the rear 3mm left on them.

 

How is that possible when the front brakes have never been replaced and they usually wear out faster than the rear brakes?

 

Do I now need to check the wear myself to see what they are?

 

How often does your stability control come on? It uses the rear brakes to control the yaw rate of the truck.

 

I used to have this problem when I was tracking my Z06. When I'd drive with the stability control on, the rear brakes would last 1/4 - 1/2 of the time of the fronts as the ECU was always grabbing them to correct the yaw rate of the car. When I'd turn the stability control off, the fronts would wear out faster.

[Chevy Joe]

I used to have this problem when I was tracking my Z06. When I'd drive with the stability control on, the rear brakes would last 1/4 - 1/2 of the time of the fronts as the ECU was always grabbing them to correct the yaw rate of the car. When I'd turn the stability control off, the fronts would wear out faster.

 

Funny you mention this, I thought about my brakes (and gas mileage) and decided from the start to always turn both off, Its a pain having to do it everytime you start the motor, but now its just the first thing I do before I drive away, At my age I don't really want anything "helping" me drive anyway LOL

[Cosmic Charlie]

 

Funny you mention this, I thought about my brakes (and gas mileage) and decided from the start to always turn both off, Its a pain having to do it everytime you start the motor, but now its just the first thing I do before I drive away, At my age I don't really want anything "helping" me drive anyway LOL

 

:-) maybe at some age you (and me) will need all the help we can get (just not yet) (?) ;-)

[Chevy Joe]

 

:-) maybe at some age you (and me) will need all the help we can get (just not yet) (?) ;-)

 

Could very well be the truth, But for now if I side out I want to know I'm controling the slide LOL