Rotor wear on a 2011 D4

[niobe]

My D4 is just coming up on 40,000km. Mechanic has just said rear brakes are about to be fully worn and the rotors will also need replacing.

Pretty surprised at this as I would have expected the front to wear first, and 40,000km for rotors doesn't seem right. Anyone opinions?

[rocmic]

Don't know about the D4, but a quick look at my records for the 2008 D3 shows:
Front
30,000 Pads
72,000 Rotors and Pads
90,000 Pads
121,000 Pads
140,000 Rotaors and Pads (pads were done because rotors were done, the pads still had a bit on them)

Rear
30,000 Pads
78,000 Pads
121,000 Pads
133,000 Rotors and Pads (pads were done because rotors were done, the pads still had a bit on them)

I got the car as a demo with 6,500 km on the clock.

I may have missed a rear rotor replacement in that lot, 133000 seems a bit too good for the rear rotors, but I can't find any other replacement.

Hope this helps
Cheers
Mike

[niobe]

Thanks Mike, it does help, kinda confirms my suspicion that 40,000 is too soon, given the front pads have not been replaced.

Would be keen to gather some more data on this from other members.

[101RRS]

At around 48,000km everyone was saying my rotors needed replacing - and saying that on a RRS/D3 the pads and rotors needed doing as a set. At 68,000 I needed to do the pads so I measured the rotors - actually less that half worn so they stayed on.

It seems everyone just assumes that disks wear and need replacement with pads but they do not actually measure them to check.

Garry

[LGM]

My 2011 D4 has now completed 78,000km and I am at about half pad life along with rotors that are still within tolerance.

No doubt you guys are city centric with a lot of left foot time involved whereas I am country based with a lot of right foot time involved. :D

[LiamO]

Brake discs (Rotors) are normally only replaced if damaged by cracks or heavy score marks due to the worn pads touching the discs but the brake sensor should have appeared first on the D4. At my last Service (less than30k) they told me I needed both front pads and discs, but when I queried why I was told ‘they normally replace both at the same time”. Nevertheless, I declined their kind offer to sell me new discs. You should ask specifically why the rotors need to be replaced.

[Redback]

I have a 2011 D4, front pads have been replaced twice and rears have been replaced twice and once for rotors, car has 80,000ks on it.

We tow a lot, and we do a lot of offroad, so I expected ours to wear quicker, front rotors are still good though.

Maybe you or your partner use the brakes too much:p

Baz.

[scarry]

The rears often get chewed out with a lot of dirt road or sand driving.
Driving style also makes a massive difference to brake wear,as does towing.
Due to the long service intervals for these vehicles,the servicing organisations would err on the side of caution,or you could end up with worn out brakes before the next service.

My D4 has done 26k and the pads are no where near half worn.

[discojools]

My 2011 D4 2.7 is still on the original discs @90,000K.

[niobe]

So mechanic reckons he measured the rotors. I will now measure them myself. certainly the rotors have worn up to a millimetre, not more.

Not a lot of braking here in our 'city', certainly not compared to Sydney or Melbourne. But I will attach a camera to the car seat and see how the wife is driving..

:wasntme:

[scarry]

But I will attach a camera to the car seat and see how the wife is driving..

:wasntme:

:Rolling::Rolling:

i'd love to do that,but i recon i would be in the dog house for the month...

It should make interesting viewing:o:eek::D

[BigJon]

So mechanic reckons he measured the rotors. I will now measure them myself. certainly the rotors have worn up to a millimetre, not more.



What is the original thickness and the legal minimum thickness? Some vehicles only have about a mm or two to play with.

From a mechanics perspective I always machine or replace rotors when doing pad replacement to customers cars. It is the only way I can guarantee no squealing from the brakes after the job is done.
Three times in the last 2.5 years I have not machined rotors (at the customers request), three times I have had customers come back complaining of brake noise. Coincidence?

[Graeme]

The rear rotors don't wear evenly across the pad contact area, becoming dished due to the arrow-headed shape of the pads that causes the centre of the pad to outlast the edges with a corresponding uneven wear of the rotor. The pads fitted to the earliest D4 that were fitted with aluminium calipers are full width at each end but because they squealed in reverse if slightly dusty, LR reverted to the D3 caliper and pads. The square-ended pads fit the D3 & later D4 calipers and don't seem to squeal, which is what is currently fitted to my D4. I will be getting those same pads next time if I can.

[niobe]

From a mechanics perspective I always machine or replace rotors when doing pad replacement to customers cars. It is the only way I can guarantee no squealing from the brakes after the job is done.
Three times in the last 2.5 years I have not machined rotors (at the customers request), three times I have had customers come back complaining of brake noise. Coincidence?

Hrrm, so what are the implications if the brakes are already squeeling?

[Meken]

It is really surprising for rear pads / rotors to wear substantially faster than fronts. The majority of breaking force is borne by the front wheels.

[PKD4]

My 2011 just had a service at 43000 km. both sets of pads. No mention of rotors. Seems like the wear patterns for most on the forum are pretty similar.

Pat

[Graeme]

It is really surprising for rear pads / rotors to wear substantially faster than fronts. The majority of breaking force is borne by the front wheels.With modern electronic braking controls the fronts only do more work in hard braking, for which they have pads with greater contact area. For more gentler braking the rears do as much work so with their smaller contact area they wear faster.

[BigJon]

It is really surprising for rear pads / rotors to wear substantially faster than fronts. The majority of breaking force is borne by the front wheels.

The fronts will probably do two thirds of the braking, but they also have three times the contact area on the pads.

[Plane Fixer]

I have just had a service at 50,000km and the report is 60% wear on the brakes.
I think the difference is that I do a lot of country miles and very little short runs. These cars are certainly very heavy on brakes as we have all observed.

[niobe]

Resolution to this..

Ended up taking it to my dealer for their opinion. They replaced front and rear pads but not rotors and said they had never had to replace rotors before 80k.

cheers!

[discojools]

My discs still good at 90k on my D4. Unlike the ones on my D3 which were replaced at 60 or 70k I think.