I guess there's no NG for auto repair, so ..
I bought my Forester in Sept. 2002, and apparently drove 42K without getting new brakes. I then drove 22K before getting new breaks, and finally another
22K, when I now need new front brakes. I live in a foothill area of Calif., and drive up and down at least one 5-600' hill each day. I talked to a mechanic today and he said that brake life is usually quite good at the start.you might want tosearch your newsserver for 'subaru'. there are many.
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That 5 or 600 hill didn't get any higher since you bought the car. The replacement pads that are being installed on the car might be an inferior grade than the originals were or the rotors might be either too thin causing excess heat and wear or the rotors might be slightly warped causing premature wear. Most likely its the grade of pads being installed though.
That 5 or 600 hill didn't get any higher since you bought the car. The replacement pads that are being installed on the car might be an inferior grade than the originals were or the rotors might be either too thin causing excess heat and wear or the rotors might be slightly warped causing premature wear. Most likely its the grade of pads being installed though.
On my server, the group seems pathetically small.
So what is your question? Are you complaining about the short life of the replacements? Replacement pads usually only last about half as long as the originals, even with new rotors.
It's more important that your vehicle stops safely than how long your pads last. I would rather have to replace pads and rotors every 15K miles than have brakes that last 60K and don't stop the vehicle.
Driving *up* that hill is irrelevant. How you drive *down* it makes all the difference: do you slow down only by stepping on the brakes? Or do you shift the transmission to a lower gear too?
Not true. If he were to buy the OEM pads directly from the dealer or bought the ceramic pads he would still get good life assuming rotors and calipers were in good shape. I owned a brake shop for 30 years and have done a 'few' brake jobs in my time. Most of the pads installed by repair shops are inferior to the OEM. When you quote a price with the better pads people look at you like your crazy. A good set of ceramic pads alone could cost up to 90 dollars for two wheels. Then the labor to install. I installed these ceramics in my own 2002 Forester Turbo and I have 63000 miles on them with about 10 percent wear still left.
sounds like he's a left foot braker to me.
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You could try rec.autos.tech.
yeah, you're right. I just subscribed to all 7 subaru groups on giga, and none of them are overly busy.
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he's already found alt.autos.subaru
it seems a fairly busy group.
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He drove that same hill with the original pads so that doesn't enter the picture.
Hi, Using same OEM pads? Maybe caliper is sticking? On my '98 Homda CRV I logged 150K miles B4 I needed a brake job. At my dealer I had discs drums turned, flushed system, put in new pads/linings. Since almost 70K miles and nothing wrong with brakes. I do mostly freeway driving.
Sure it does -- he didn't get the life out of the original pads that he should have, either. The shorter life of the replacements is no mystery at all; they're usually lower quality than the original equipment. My point is that his pad life is way too short, period -- probably because he's riding the brakes all the way down that hill instead of downshifting like he should.
Fix the driving habits that are shortening the pad life, and the difference between the originals and the replacements will cease to be significant.
On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:53:31 -0400, "Don Phillipson" wrote Re Re: Auto Brake Wear for 2003 Forester Subaru:
Or alt.autos.subaru
watch for bad rubber brake lines, the interior of the hoses detoriate, and act like check valves, the brakes never go completely off.........
massive fast pad wear........
alt.autos
Yes, if you fall off a cliff, it doesn't hurt until you hit the ground. Automatic.
Automatic. Doesn't down shifting create wear on the transmission? It's not the only hill around here. I'd probably wear out my hand down shifting.
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