New Brakes?!

[AXMACD]

I had to get a complete rear brake job today! Pads & rotors! Little premature for a vehicle with less than 35k on it (kilometers)!

[jeffs3820]

VERY strange for the rears to go first, especially with a car that defaults to FWD. Usually the fronts wear 2x compared to the rear. What was the pad thickness where the dealer felt a change was needed? Also strange they felt the rotors couldn't be turned and had to be replaced.

How much of the front disk pads are left?

[ktmd]

The same thing happened to me at about 25,000 km. Unbelieveable. Between the lousy OEM tires that needed to be replaced at about 18,000 km, and now the premature brake job my '08 HL is by far the most expensive vehicle I have ever owned on a per kilometer basis.

It is almost as though the '08+ HL was designed to be expendable.

[TrailDust]

I've got 28,000 on mine, and my mechanic told me the other week I have 75% left on the front and 90% in the rear. I admit, though, that my mileage breakdown is 70/30 (highway, city).

[AXMACD]

I just ordered new tires too!

[AXMACD]

The dealer covered the rotors AND pads under warranty. I guess the pads scored the rotors pretty bad so they just went ahead and replaced them..

[JMSinMD]

I think it has something to do with the process of curing the paint in the Highlanders that come in silver metallic that make them more prone to premature rear brake wear.

[luck123]

Interesting. To be honest I'm not that surprised, although I don't claim to know whether it is "normal: or not. I have had a similar problem on several of my vehicles in the past because I drive so few kms (11 -12 K kms) in a year, and do more city than highway. It seems that if you don't use your vehicle a great deal, the brakes tend to seize up quicker, especially the back brakes, which has been pointed out, are used less than the front when braking. Also, as Canucks, we subject our components to all that wonderful salt and sand for 3-4 months a year!

Now I keep brakes clean and lubricated to ensure the pads are moving freely and contacting the rotors properly. This means a brake tune up every spring...ie. complete removal, clean and relube...by a local mechanic who I trust.

I also understand that brake wear is truly dependent on driving habits. Someone could drive the same vehicle and get much more life out of their brakes if they drive in a relaxed fashion and brake gently when coming to a stop, and I'm not suggesting that you're a maniac driver or anything! With both my stick shift vehicles of the past and my HL, I down shift when coming to a stop as much as possible to use the engine to slow the vehicle rather than all on brakes.

Not saying this is the case with your HL, but just thought I would share my experience given I noticed that yours is an 08 with only 35 K kms, relatively low mileage like me. Have you had your brakes tuned up each year?

[summerwind]

Originally Posted by TrailDust

I've got 28,000 on mine, and my mechanic told me the other week I have 75% left on the front and 90% in the rear. I admit, though, that my mileage breakdown is 70/30 (highway, city).

Remember the OP and the rest of the world uses the metric system

35K Kilometers is about 22,000 miles
25K Kilometers is about 15,500 miles

[TrailDust]

Originally Posted by summerwind

Remember the OP and the rest of the world uses the metric system

35K Kilometers is about 22,000 miles
25K Kilometers is about 15,500 miles

I'm an American, I forget that s***! Forgive me, folks, for my lack of metric conversion....

-

[AXMACD]

Originally Posted by luck123

Interesting. To be honest I'm not that surprised, although I don't claim to know whether it is "normal: or not. I have had a similar problem on several of my vehicles in the past because I drive so few kms (11 -12 K kms) in a year, and do more city than highway. It seems that if you don't use your vehicle a great deal, the brakes tend to seize up quicker, especially the back brakes, which has been pointed out, are used less than the front when braking. Also, as Canucks, we subject our components to all that wonderful salt and sand for 3-4 months a year!

Now I keep brakes clean and lubricated to ensure the pads are moving freely and contacting the rotors properly. This means a brake tune up every spring...ie. complete removal, clean and relube...by a local mechanic who I trust.

I also understand that brake wear is truly dependent on driving habits. Someone could drive the same vehicle and get much more life out of their brakes if they drive in a relaxed fashion and brake gently when coming to a stop, and I'm not suggesting that you're a maniac driver or anything! With both my stick shift vehicles of the past and my HL, I down shift when coming to a stop as much as possible to use the engine to slow the vehicle rather than all on brakes.

Not saying this is the case with your HL, but just thought I would share my experience given I noticed that yours is an 08 with only 35 K kms, relatively low mileage like me. Have you had your brakes tuned up each year?

Nope, never had them looked at before now!

[Cruzn]

For those of you experiencing the rear brakes wearing more than than the front:
Do you use the parking brake very often? Sometimes we forget that its on and try to drive away (probably not the case because there's all sorts of warning lights and chimes that warn you the parking brake is applied).

When the parking brake is applied, especially in cold weather, the cable and/or calipers might not fully retract and the calipers may tend to seize.

This has been an issue with Mazda Protege's. In some cases the rear brake pads would stick stick to the rotors (usually when leaving the parking brake applied for long periods of time, in rainy weather for example, the pads 'rust' right onto the rotors) and when you try to drive away, you'd hear a loud 'clunk'. If I park on flat level ground I don't bother to use the parking brake.

Also, it is important to ensure the caliper slider pins are properly lubricated to ensure proper retraction.

[summerwind]

Originally Posted by Cruzn

For those of you experiencing the rear brakes wearing more than than the front:
Do you use the parking brake very often? Sometimes we forget that its on and try to drive away (probably not the case because there's all sorts of warning lights and chimes that warn you the parking brake is applied).

When the parking brake is applied, especially in cold weather, the cable and/or calipers might not fully retract and the calipers may tend to seize.

The HL uses a dual servo drum (7.48 inches in diameter) on the drive shaft for the parking brake and does not have a cable to the rear calipers.

[Dman1]

Add me to the list of people having premature rear brake wear. The last few weeks my mileage appeared to be worse than usual. Yesterday, I started hearing a loud noise from my rear wheel on one side, but not just during braking. Today I heard the awful steel on steel sound, after which, I parked it, but it is likely too late to save the rotors.

Tonight, I took off the wheel, and it would barely turn, with the brakes off. When I looked closer, there were no pads left. The other three wheels appear to be fine. Obviously, the calipers seized on this one brake.

I am calling my local dealer first thing in the morning to see if this would be covered under warranty, since AXMACD seemed to get this covered. My warranty is up in a few thousand km.

This is very disturbing. When I turned in my 2005 Camry after 4 years and 96000km, the rotors felt like they were starting to warp, but pads were fine, and no brake work done at all to it while I had it. Similarly, my 2005 Corolla with 70000km is still on it's original brakes with mostly city driving. And now, after 2.5 years and 56000km, this? If there were no other people with similar issues, I wouldn't have had as big an issue, as i would consider it a fluke, but there seems to be a trend. Perhaps Toyota quality is starting to go to shit! If I was to buy a new vehicle tomorrow, I may not be as loyal as I have been in the past. Other manufacturers' quality seems to be going up while Toyota's seems to be going down.

[AXMACD]

The only reason mine were covered under warranty was because it was found at the 32k check-up (first major check).. my last front brake job was not covered.