What’s a reasonable mileage you can expect from brakes pads and rotors mostly highway. Had them replaced 30,000 miles ago at Ford using oem parts and need replacing again.
With mostly highway driving, IMHO the pads should last anywhere from ~30k miles to… maybe… 70k miles, but there will always be some variation from one make and model to another. As one example of an extreme variation, the essentially identical Buick Skyhawk, Chevy Monza, Olds Starfire, and Pontiac Sunbird subcompacts needed brake service every 16k-20k miles.
So, while I think that you are probably at the low end of “normal” for mostly highway driving brake pad wear, it isn’t completely unusual. However, I have to wonder if you do a lot of tailgating, because tailgaters inevitably have to keep hitting the brake–even on the highway. And, I also have to wonder if you are doing a lot of downhill braking because 30k is a little early to need new rotors.
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If you drove 5k highway miles a year, that 30k is 6 years time. Much different wear than 30k miles a year.
Brake rotors rust. Rust can wear out the pads, rust can damage the rotors to the point that they need to be replaced even if the pads still have adequate thickness.
As @VDCdriver pointed out, wear varies a lot depending on the car, the driving style and where you drive.
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Thanks for the replies. Rear rotors are really rusted and this is the wife’s car so no tailgating just the opposite. Ford quoted me 1000.00 to replace brakes and rotors which is ridiculous.
Yes, it is.
Take the car to a well-reputed independent mechanic’s shop, and you can surely have the job done for a lot less. I strongly suggest that you avoid chain-run places that are advertising really cheap brake service because the pads and rotors that they use are poor quality, and will wind up costing you more in the long run.
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The reason the brakes wore out so quickly is the parking brake isn’t being used.
The rear disc brake calipers use the parking brake to keep the rear pads adjusted.
Each time the parking brake is used, it rotates the caliper pistons out slightly to compensate for brake pad wear.
When this isn’t done, the brake pads wear to a point where they no longer come in contact with the rotors when the brakes are applied.
This allows the rear rotors to rust, and now you’re asking the front brakes to do all the stopping, which shortens the brake life.
Tester
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Rear brakes do very little except for parking and hard braking. To keep the rotors clear of rust, if it has a hand brake, you can pull up on the brake lever, keeping your thumb on the release button. Do this while driving with nobody behind you. You’ll be applying only the rear brakes. They won’t be very effective - but the pads will be brushing rust off the rotors.
In normal usage, there is seldom that amount of braking force applied to the moving rotors, so they are likely to have surface rust and if they are old, some pitting.
If you feel pulsation while doing this, that’s a sign of warped rotors. Since rear brakes do so little, warpage is not very likely. If the vehicle pulls to one side, the other side is not braking well.
Yes, but only if that vehicle utilizes the rear brake pads for the e-brake function. Every car that I have owned for the past couple of decades used small brake shoes contained in a hat-like structure attached to the rear brake rotor.
Like this…
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Rear brake caliper for a 2013 Escape.
The two holes are so a brake piston rotating tool can be used to rotate the piston back into the caliper.
And if you go to Rockauto, brake shoes aren’t listed for this vehicle.
Tester
Duly noted.
This differs from all of my fairly recent vehicles, which is why I stated…
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That’s why I check crap before I type.
Tester
Now we know why you are here.
Personally, I try to not involve myself with crap, but… who am I to judge?
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Tester
I found the part numbers Ford used and Rock auto does carry them but there is a price difference which is less. I wonder what the difference is? The part numbers are br1645 and br1564a
How long you want to keep a 8 yr old escape? Better then a Dodge Journey or Jeep Compass I suppose. What type of rig do you drive? I see your wife drives the ford.
The escape is my wife’s and I have a mustang. Keeping the escape, it’s in excellent condition just needs brakes.
Mustangs are nice. Depending on age/model.