My last BMW had two sensors. One front pad, one rear. Pads do generally wear fairly evenly on the same axle, assuming everything is normal. And not many would change anything other than an axle set.
Of course you can get slightly different wear rates. But assuming the sensor gives a warning before the worst one wears down to nothing, no harm done since you'll be buying a set.
Very true. And it's not unusual for traffic on the motorway to slow down markedly for no apparent reason in heavy traffic. To say you hardly ever need brakes suggests very light traffic.
I rarely need brakes on a motorway, but I would avoid the M25 at rush hour.
And I said it depends entirely on traffic conditions. I've been on the M25 when it's been more like a typical high street in rush hour - start stop all the way. And the same on other motorways when there is a hold up.
Dave Plowman (News) brought next idea :
Or they know how to look out of the windscreen to ease off the loud pedal early and drive smoothly, instead of racing from hazard to hazard.
Dave Plowman (News) laid this down on his screen :
I once came across a web page which demonstrates the ripple effect you get when roads are busy. You can set the level of congestion and (I think) the acceptable gaps. The ripple is where drivers have to slow down because they get too close to the car ahead. Which is exactly what we see on the actual roads. Best to ease off and just leave a sensible gap.
NY used his keyboard to write :
My car has only one of the four pads on each axle monitored, but the light comes on with plenty of meat still remaining. It is more of a 'you ought to check the pads in the next 20K miles light.
I thought it was a phenolic resin. I was discussing this with a Ferodo techie one time, he told me debonding for pad renewal was no problem as they just sling the old shoes into an oven at 400 to 500 degrees C.
Disk pads are just bonded on too, and I think they see higher temperatures than drums except for extreme cases like long alpine descents.
Not sure what F1 cars use, I always think it is impressive seeing the disks glowing bright red.
Yes, pet. I can just visualise you peering over the top of the wheel, hands clenched tightly to the top of it. Concentrating on never having to use the brakes. With a vast queue behind you.
How common is it for cars to have a warning light for pad wear? I've had a couple of times (*) over the years when pads had worn down to the point that they scored the discs, and a light has never come on. And before anyone says that I neglect my cars, the brakes had been checked at the last service or MOT and found to have what the garage judged to be sufficient life to last until the next service.
I presume the warning wires/studs are designed so they don't wear the disc as soon as they are revealed, to give you time to drive to the garage without destroying the discs.
(*) I can't remember which cars, but it would have been Renault 5, VW Golf or Peugeot 306. I *think* the most serious disc-scoring incident was on my L-reg (Mark III) Golf.
It started on some in the early 70s for sure. Maybe even earlier.
Generally, pads should wear pretty evenly on the same axle. And the warning come on with a fair bit of meat left on them. Most wear circuits are designed to be tamper proof in a simple way - but some will still bypass them. Some brakes require the sensor to be replaced as that wears too - at a cost of several quid. Cheapskates will bypass it. Some have the sensor built into the pad. But non sensor pads from a different model might fit and be cheaper.
Mine give plenty warning. No need to replace the same day.
Nice you stay true to form and don't understand a complete sentence. No wonder you believed the leave campaign.
Except he didn't did he ? So that while most people use their cars as the most convenient way of getting from A to B with the least aggravation, you try and use yours as a way of settling old scores with various groups in society. In this case overpaid police drivers. Except that you failed.
Aside from failed attempts to fool police drivers, try that too often with types who think it perfectly acceptable to drive a few feet behind you in a slow moving motorway queue and you eventually end up getting shunted; with all the accompanying aggravation.
When in the trance like conditions which can be invoked by a slow moving traffic queue some drivers need the constant stimulation of brake lights coming on in front of them as a wake-up call.
Like a lot of of the responses in this thread, one might be almost led to think that your only experience of actual driving was on red dirt roads dodging the occasional kangaroo.
michael adams
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No, clearly not. That's how he's suggesting Harry drives.
Maybe you should try reading it again ?
Or if that doesn't work, maybe you could show it to somebody else.
michael adams
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Or jammed up the arse of the person in front, constantly jumping on and off the brakes
Is this another who claims to leave enough distance from the car in front he never needs to use the brakes?
Place is full of idiots or liars.
Dave Plowman (News) formulated the question :
Hardly sweatie!
I leave most drivers in my dust on the open road, but what I will not do is go screaming up to a hazard to have to brake. Quite simples really, you just look and plan well ahead.
It happens that Huge formulated :
Another pet hate of mine, many find it intimidating being followed so closely.
Dave Plowman (News) pretended :
Hardly, it seems only one is doing that at the moment and his name is at the top of this post.
You can never hope to avoid all use of brakes, but brake use can be reduced dramatically by leaving enough space and constantly scanning back and forth to the far distance for potential hazards and maximising sight lines. You keep an eye on the vehicle ahead, but never rely on his seeing the hazards ahead of him assume he is asleep at the wheel, often you may well be right - so you take every opportunity to see well past him.
I have near 55 years of zero claims, despite my being on the road around the EU and UK much of my life.
on 11/05/2017, Dave Plowman (News) supposed :
Too long a warning, is as bad as too little.
My last four or five cars have had the (electronic) warnings I always fit the pads with the mechanism, but so far as I am concerned they serve no real purpose. I do my own pretty regular servicing, part of which is checking the pads anyway. My usual driving style means that the need for replacements is very rare. So for me, Mk 1 eyeball works fine.
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