Brakes Longevity

:
2021 Acura RDX
Hello,

I know this can vary greatly, but Im curious at what mileage you all have had to change your brake pads? Im only at 16k on my 2017, so I most likely have Some time yet.

Anyway, just curious.
 
I drive mostly highway. At last 60%. Changed mine at 75K. Fronts had at least 30% left but rears were maybe 10% left.
 
All suburban driving with my 2014 CX5. 48,000 miles and not even close to changing pads. Ed
 
63k on my 2013, brakes still doing fine.
 
40-50. At 60 I began thinking about replacing them. At 95K or so the pads dictated it.

Is it common for these rotors to warp? I love my CX, but I absolutely hate the brakes. I wish they gripped more and quicker like our Subaru does though.
 
They warp, if you brake for to long on a steep downhill. Try downshifting in cases like that and avoid using the brakes, for prolonged periods. They heat up a lot and they deform.
 
Friction material wear rises exponentially with temperature so the hotter you run them the quicker they will wear out. The same goes for the disc but a disc that wears due to heat rarely warps. In fact, the pad tends to true the disc. Disc run out isn*t usually the result of warping which is the same as a warped record, it is a condition called DTV (disc thickness variation) so the warping is out of phase on each side. That tends to happen when the temperature is on the low side and mileage is high. Some of the wear debris from the pad is transferred onto the disc which means the pad runs on debris for part of a rotation and cast iron for another. It*s the cast that wears and that causes DTV. Friction material need temperature to work properly as temperature wears away the resin system and exposes the abrasives that create friction. The healthiest brakes will be those that see frequent temperature excursions as they constantly get conditioned and keep the disc healthy. They might need changing at 20000 miles with a ratio of two sets of pads to one set of discs. Really hard driving will reduce that but once you get in excess of 50000 you get into sleepy pads and DTV problems.
 
My rears were done around 54k miles.

Just did my fronts a little while ago...so 75k+? They were technically still good, but were wearing unevenly, so I had them replaced along with lubricating everything again, and getting the rotors turned.
 
Last edited:
Is it much cheaper turning discs in the US? Over here, it cost almost as much and is much more faffing around than chucking them in the bin. I can buy a pair of Pagid discs which are chemically treated with Dacramet to stop them corroding for about $86.
 
Is it much cheaper turning discs in the US? Over here, it cost almost as much and is much more faffing around than chucking them in the bin. I can buy a pair of Pagid discs which are chemically treated with Dacramet to stop them corroding for about $86.
Can't remember cost, but definitely cheaper than that.
 
The cost of redoing it in a few hundred miles adds up though. Never had any luck turning. Wont fix the warp, just the surface run-out.
Eh? Few hundred miles? Maybe your old race cars....

I've turned at 54k miles and at 75k-ish. Rotors are fine, but that's that was the last time I could turn them.
 
Back