when to change brake pads/disc - minimum mm?

Nodding_Donkey

colino wrote: »

"I think the shims were making contact with the disc". Have a think about that and if you don't think there is anything wrong, don't drive your car and have a grown up check your brakes.

Yep putting the shims between the pad and the disc is a bit of a schoolboygirl error

OddballJamie

Hyperxr wrote: »

I would only change it if it fails the MOT or starts squeeking etc. Brakes on my '98 Corolla lasts 30k-40k. Tyres too last atleast 30k miles. Since ownership (bought in 2001 with 30k mile) and now on 223k I've spent around £3.5k on 1 clutch change, 3 timing belts, 5 sets of tyres, brake dics/pads, oil changes and filters, lamda sensor including other small niggles like bulbs etc since 2001. Annual road tax is £145, insurance is £260 and it returns 45mpg on a run ad 35mpg around town. Preventative maintenance is the key to longativity and saving money. My car still goes perfectly and is good for at least another 100k.

Not bad in my books.

A '98 1.6 Corolla has a 1587cc engine, the pre 2001 tax threshold is 1549cc.

How are you managing to pay £145, rather than £230?

FiremanDave

OddballJamie wrote: »

A '98 1.6 Corolla has a 1587cc engine, the pre 2001 tax threshold is 1549cc.

How are you managing to pay £145, rather than £230?

Good point well made.

[Deleted User]

my front pads needed replacement at 40k miles, 5k later I started getting vibrations through the steering wheel when braking - it was the discs that had got too thin and warped. I then had to replace both discs and pads, so it would've been cheaper to have replaced the discs at the same time.


My car has now done over 60k, and the rear pads are looking low, along with a noticeable lip on the discs. 60k out of discs and pads isn't bad going, so if I replace both pads and discs on the rear and get another 60k I'll be happy.

JustinR1979

Mate had a mk1 fiesta as first car, brakes were noisy for a while.
Then one night there was a clunk and a front pad went flying down the road.
Fair old groove in that disc by time we got home.

colino

Sadly I'm now not so pro-DIY on cars anymore, especially when safety items are involved and the owner has zero mechanical sympathy and all they are doing is flicking through a Haynes BOL. It isn't always a cheap car with a cheapskate owner, but my top three are:
Fiat Cinquecento who's owner, after fitting a new set of pads wanted them checked over as they were noisy. Both inner pads mounted in reverse, backing of pad facing the disc.
Range Rover that needed a quick look = pad worn so far down it had dropped out of the caliper.
Ford Escort had very little braking affect at all. One pad worn down to nothing and the disc had started chewing the piston until the force had jammed it at an angle, at least stopping it popping out and leaking that circuits brake fluid.
I'd bet that anyone experienced on cars would say, short of changing a wheel, replacing pads was the easiest, quickest repair to do. Unfortunately if you don't know, what you don't know, good luck has to step in and save you.

JustinR1979

Even brake pads are a pain now, these on the rear of older vags are.
I haven't got a windback tool, so end up with a joint splitter, mole grips and lump hammer.
As opposed to the old Vaux disc/drum set up, where you didn't need the wheel off and could do in 3 minutes with your eyes shut and a masonry nail.