Why is one brake pad wearing faster than the other?

humfer

Just checking today and it appears that driver side brake pads nearly worn right down whilst passenger side has loads of material left. What does this indicate and will it be cheap to fix?

marksward

Is the disc on the worn side scratched etc or in similar condition to the other side? If so the scratched/scored disc is likely to be wearing the pad down faster.

Could also be that the braking system is not equalising the fluid pressure when you brake.

KayEdwards

Could it be braking on roundabouts?

I know when I lived in Milton Keynes (which has hundreds of roundabouts) my tyres wore less evenly.

humfer

marksward wrote:

Is the disc on the worn side scratched etc or in similar condition to the other side? If so the scratched/scored disc is likely to be wearing the pad down faster.

Could also be that the braking system is not equalising the fluid pressure when you brake.

They both seem to be the same - pretty rusty to an untrained eye like mine. Its going for a mot in a month or so, so may get them to check the fluid then? Could something be sticking on the driver side essentially causing the pad to be pressing harder against the disc than on the other side?

northern_munky

What car is it? Have you tried taking the car on a straight road, take hands off steering wheel and brake quite hard and see if the car pulls to one side. If the pads are not worn on the passenger side, it looks like the caliper could be seized up on that side and will deffo fail an MOT test.

vansboy

The calliper suggestion is pretty much the answer - you're wasting petrol too, as well as having poor brakes!

Best get them checked as soon as poss!

VB

ooo000ooo

Go for a drive, stop and feel each front wheel to see if the offending wheel is warmer. If a brake caliper is sticking and keeping the brakes slightly on then one wheel will be warmer than the other. It could be the sliding pins are sticking and not allowing the brake pads to move away from the disc or the brake piston sticking and not letting the pads move off the disc. Alternatively the problem may be on the passenger side and the braking on that side may be reduced so the drivers side is doing all the work.
Don't Kwikfit do a free brake check? Get it checked asap as, if you have to emergency stop, the imbalance could easily send you into a spin!!

humfer

Thanks for the advice - to be honest it sounds like its got to be a problem with the caliper sticking. Have booked it in with my local garage who are quite reasonable so hopefully they won't rip me off. They have quoted £40 to change pads which is pretty good. I'll let you know what the problem is in the end. Also that point about poorer petrol consumption may be valid. I have moved job locations which means I only do short journeys of 6 or 7 mile at a time whereas I was doing 25 to 30 at a time and I thought that was the reason for a drop of in fuel efficiency (about 50 to 75 miles every time I fill up) so maybe the brakes are causing some of that...

vr6lad

humfer wrote:

Thanks for the advice - to be honest it sounds like its got to be a problem with the caliper sticking. Have booked it in with my local garage who are quite reasonable so hopefully they won't rip me off. They have quoted £40 to change pads which is pretty good. I'll let you know what the problem is in the end. Also that point about poorer petrol consumption may be valid. I have moved job locations which means I only do short journeys of 6 or 7 mile at a time whereas I was doing 25 to 30 at a time and I thought that was the reason for a drop of in fuel efficiency (about 50 to 75 miles every time I fill up) so maybe the brakes are causing some of that...

A sticky caliper will contribute to lower fuel economy if its pushing the pad against the disc and the engine has to work harder. Fuel consumption is affected by short trips too as it takes a good 8-10 mins for most engines to be at optimum operating temperature, thus its best to move off immediatly from start to warm it up quicker.......

............sorry if I'm pointing out the obvious!

Poppycat

I remember a friend of mine who is a mechanic when I asked why one brake was more worn than the other that it could be down to your wheels being unbalanced