Brake pads? How many miles should I expect them to last?

Almost 200k on original pads and they get checked with each oil change or rotation. Probably depends on how hard you routinely brake. If you normally think ahead you will primarily use regenerative braking which does not wear the pads.

 

It would depend on you type of driving, but I would expect 100K. Hard driving 60K, easy in town or a lot of highway 150 k. My wife went 50K per set delivering mail, 300 stops per day 6 days a week.

 

It will depend on your driving style and conditions, but as soon as you've had the tires off two different times and measured the pads each time, and know the mileage between those two times, you can start projecting a straight line out to when you'll be replacing them. If you measure a couple times a year, your projection should be pretty close.

What can throw it off though (beware!) is if a brake develops a dragging problem of some sort and you don't catch it quickly. Then you can find yourself with one pair of pads unexpectedly worn down while others are ok....

-Chap

 

We are thinking of putting our Prius up for sale so I bought a set of OEM front brake pads as our car has 192k kms. Went to install them and the original ones were still over 50%. We use B drive for most braking and slowing down. I bet they could go easily to 400k kms, rotors looked great also.

 

We are still on the original brake pads on our 2010 Prius. It has 150,000 miles on it.

 

Did I just get taken? I got my car safety inspected here in PA at a Firestone Franchise. I was told that all my pads failed at 112k miles. IIRC, I had 40% left at 92K miles last year.

The work is done, so it is too late now. At least the cost was reasonable (~$340 for all four wheels). I just hope they knew what they were doing WRT brake booster.

I think of myself as pretty gentle on the brakes in my past experience. Still, I am an Uber Driver, so that could account for some extra wear.

 

One reason they “fail”, is lack of regular inspection. Toyota USA recommends 30k miles (or 3 years, whichever comes first). No parts involved, just pull off the calipers, inspect, clean and apply fresh lube.

 

I have never removed the calipers. I am afraid of the brake system activating the brake booster while I have the calipers off. I used to look at the pad thickness with my phone camera, but I have gotten lazy.

"Fresh Lube"?

 

Caliper pins do dry out.

 

The only real reason to "fail" is the brake pads were down to their legal limit or 2/32" (1.59 mm). Based on your previous wear rate at 92k miles, I would expect the pads might have lasted another 13,000 miles or to 125,000 miles. But even if those calculations are accurate, today you would have been within 1 mm of the limit. So you are good for another 120,000 miles on the new pads assuming they used something equivalent to OEM. Keeping the OEM rotors in good shape is a bonus.

Compared to my primarily highway miles, your stop and go driving is costing you maybe half of your brake pad life. But 112k is fine and better than non-hybrids.

 

Yeah; single piston calipers slide on the pins for even wear. The pads slide on the caliper's guides. Especially in high road salt environments, they "freeze" and cause uneven wear on the pads.

Servicing the pins and caliper guides is often overlooked and cause early brake pad wear and end of life.

 

I disconnect neg cable from 12 volt cable before doing anything, and with everything back together, tromp the brake multiple times, then reconnect the neg cable. So far it’s worked for me, no ejected caliper pistons or error codes.

for lubes I use two, one for faying surfaces between pad backs, shims and caliper, the other for caliper pins. Toyota specs proprietary lubes with similar efficacy. I’ll avoid mentioning brand names of mine; it ruffles feathers here.

Toyota spec lubes noted in attached (for 3rd gen hatchback but very likely identical):

 

I have never lubed those pins on previous cars. I would check that they moved freely.

30k Miles is 18 months for me. I am going to have to get over my fear of removing the calipers. Is disconnecting the 12 volt battery enough to stop the pump from actuating?

(I see my question was anticipated).

 

I could have done this brake job myself.

 

It’s worked for me. I don’t think the car’s capable of running the pump, or detecting excessive pedal travel, if you do the aforementioned steps, in that order.

 

The pump actuates when the driver's side door is opened. Keeping the door closed will keep the actuator pump from coming on.

 

I prefer disconnecting the 12v battery. I don't trust myself not to open the drivers door.

 

Easy: just keep the door lock and the Smart Key inside the house or covered in aluminum foil.

 

A similar problem with disc brake systems is rust forming underneath the stainless shims on the caliper brackets. This is a type of "rust jacking" - as the rust expands, it pushes on the shims which will cause the pads to seize in the bracket. Fairly common anywhere there is salt.

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