stock brake pad useage

[oaklandopen]

i have a how to on checking your own brakes in the "how to" section that i updated but i thought i'd post over here too, cuz im looking for some feedback

my measurements were 12/32'' in the fronts, and 13/32'' in the rear with 13,000 miles on the odometer. the minimum pad thickness is 2/32'' before replacement. having read some posts about changing pads at 20k miles got me worried until i actually looked at them today, i don't know what those other guys are doing but they're certainly going through pads more than they need to.
.

update....i now have a hair under 21,000 miles and i rotated the tires and checked the brake pads again. now i have 9 and 10/32'' in the front and 11 and 12/32'' in the rear. so after 8,000 miles i used about 2-3/32'' in the fronts (not too worried about the rears cuz they'll outlast the fronts anyway).

so i guess roughly i go through 1/32'' every 3,000 miles or so on the fronts. so i think i should have at least another 20,000 miles left on the front pads, and probably won't replace the rear pads until i change the fronts twice.

im interested to see if anyone else has checked their pad usage like i have, i'd like to see where i stand against others. i realize some of you like your autoXing so you eat pads quick. i do average driving, mostly city, and i engine brake a lot of the time too.

 

[sp33dy6]

i hate when i go to mazda for a service or w.e and they tell me i need new pads and the rotors need to be refaced as they say it. and i just got the brakes and rotors new weeks befor. this has happend to me and 2 of my cuzins... sumtimes i just feel like telling them to EAT s***! because they are all full of s***... i think im gona do stoptech rotors drilld and slotted with ebc redstuff.. any openions?

 

[derspi]

i hate when i go to mazda for a service or w.e and they tell me i need new pads and the rotors need to be refaced as they say it. and i just got the brakes and rotors new weeks befor. this has happend to me and 2 of my cuzins... sumtimes i just feel like telling them to EAT s***! because they are all full of s***... i think im gona do stoptech rotors drilld and slotted with ebc redstuff.. any openions?

Um, OK but I don't see how switching out to drilled & slotted rotors and aftermarket pads will stop the Mazda techs from trying to BS you.

 

[bacarl]

^I don't either. Not to mention that was a blatant threadjack/off-topic. Plus, anyone who gets all excited about drilled/slotted rotors just lost all credibility because they have no idea about what makes up a good brake system.

Oakland, I'll be rotating my tires within the next week or two. I have almost 17k on the car with 6-8 autox and I have yet to inspect the pads. I'll be sure to check out your how-to and take a look when I can.

 

[sp33dy6]

i have new oem rotors.. i want the drilld and slotted for the effect.. they look hella sexi.. and im not spedning 1500 for brakes that will only increas the braking power by a few percent.. mazdaspeed's have been known to have excelent stock brakes. sorry if im thread jacking or w.e that means im just trying to say that dealers are asswholes and will work you for every little thing.. and by the way when i did have my drilld and slotted on my previous mazda6 they never voided warrenty they were cool with it.

 

[oaklandopen]

^I don't either. Not to mention that was a blatant threadjack/off-topic. Plus, anyone who gets all excited about drilled/slotted rotors just lost all credibility because they have no idea about what makes up a good brake system.

Oakland, I'll be rotating my tires within the next week or two. I have almost 17k on the car with 6-8 autox and I have yet to inspect the pads. I'll be sure to check out your how-to and take a look when I can.

you noticed that too? bwahahah

im actually really interested in how much you have left, seeing how your only a few thousand miles short of mine but have done your Xing as well.

and as for slotted or drilled or whatever rotors, i'd say leave that to the serious from the factory (porsche, bimmer, etc) beasts. cuz you know something, when the time comes to have those brakes replaced you can't machine the rotors. and it's not common practice to replace pads without at least resurfacing the rotors (or drums), so you gotta spend that much more to just get new ones.

 

[sp33dy6]

i concur lol.. but then again it looks really badass! lol.. oem is pretty nice tho and if ur gonna upgrade pads i hear ebc redstuff is greattt!! if u tend to use the brakes more then u normally would.. but if u want oem performance greenstuff is great

 

[HOBDisease]

I believe oem pads + rotors stop good enough for everyday driving...

 

[derspi]

I believe oem pads + rotors stop good enough for everyday driving...

I'd have to agree - the OEM rotors & pads have been very good IMO. At my last service, my front brakes were at 70% still (16K kms. service). At this rate, I should easily get 45K - 50K kms. out of them.

 

[Wurf]

I have to agree the stock brakes are excellent and FWIW if I will never, ever have a set of rotors on any car machined. If they're worn, warped, or whatever, toss them and get new. At 40 to 50K miles for every change, there's no point in making them thinner just to save a few hundred bucks. Not for me anyway.

 

[SBSPEED3]

Um, OK but I don't see how switching out to drilled & slotted rotors and aftermarket pads will stop the Mazda techs from trying to BS you.

well they wont tell him his rotors need to be refaced... b/c slotted rotors are throw aways the will just tell him he needs new ones...


edit: well i guess i shouldve read all responses before bringing my point up...

 

[oaklandopen]

I have to agree the stock brakes are excellent and FWIW if I will never, ever have a set of rotors on any car machined. If they're worn, warped, or whatever, toss them and get new. At 40 to 50K miles for every change, there's no point in making them thinner just to save a few hundred bucks. Not for me anyway.

it kinda depends. some brakes are expensive, i just looked up the ones for the mazdaspeed and i found a place that has fronts for $100/rotor and the rears are $75/rotor. that's a little too much for my income when the option of machining on a brake lathe comes to mind

but there are certain more cost effective ways about doing both things. if you're not mechanically inclined (or actually even have the right tools) then it's gonna cost you more to have new brakes put on your car for you. but if you do have the equipment and knowhow (and it's really not that difficult) then you could just take your rotors to a shop and have them throw them on the lathe without the additional labor of lifting the car, taking tires off, taking brakes off, putting them back on, etc.

i think in the shop i used to work at the labor fee for turning rotors was like .25 hours per brake. so depending on the shop you take it to you're looking at only an hour of the shop rate to turn the rotors and reinstall them yourself as opposed to that plus the minimum labor to even have your car brought in plus whatever you're paying for the new brakes

but i do understand that "piece of mind" is priceless, so if anyone wants to spend the money to just R&R everything that's completely understandable.