Thread: How long do brake rotors last?

Originally Posted by CaverD3

Dirty,
Have you had the brake recall done?
Oil in the servo?

Hi CaverD3,
No, not that i'm aware of, but I'll ask the question at service time. It's a good point you raise, thanks for the reminder. I have read about this problem on the forum before.
Cheers,

Neil.

It rather annoys me that they have to be replaced at all. They should last the life of the vehicle. I was the GM-H service rep to the Sydney taxi industry for a while. Cab owners are the meanest p----s on the face of the earth. They wanted a heavy duty drum brake option as they were able to show that disc brakes cost more per mile than drums. One guy kept immaculate records and could isolate repair cost for systems or components and could show that drums were per mile cheaper than discs. These guys reckoned that drums lasted the life of the vehicle if rivets or shoes were not allowed to rub on the drums.

Yup, those were the the days when brakes worked really well and contained asbestos.

Originally Posted by CaverD3

Yup, those were the the days when brakes worked really well and contained asbestos.

Got that right. I think you are doing exceptionally well getting over 70000klms out of rotors and pads. The D3/D4 is not a light vehicle. That has to have an impact on pad and rotor wear.

I must admit I was surprised when my D3 needed pads at 40,000km.

I was certain Ned Kelly was alive and residing under the westgate bridge when I saw the cost and learned the pads, rotors and sensors were changed as a unit.

My GU patrol was a heavy unit, but still on the same set of discs at 203,000km. My Pajero is lighter, but not insignificant, and still has original discs at 191,000km. Both vehicles tow the same 2 tonne boat as the D3 towed (and the D4 might tow one day).

Admittedly the Disco brakes feel more progressive, but only getting 20% the life of other 4wd brakes seems somewhat extravagant.

Not looking forward to that day when the dealer calls to say the D4's brakes need doing!

I thought short pad and rotor life was part of the course for European vehicles.

I am not expecting much from my D4 and if they go early will go with much harder compounds and better rotors.

Brett....

I agree the wear depends on your driving habits, as well as the type of driving, highway vs city for example.

I got 20k out of my first LR OE rotors. At that time I was frustrated with the short length of life, as they said they could not be turned either. I picked up a set of 4 EBC drilled and slotted rotors. When I replaced them, because I was redoing my suspension the EBC still had some life, but had put 83k on them.

My driving style is mild, and I generally try to stay off the brakes, but I live in a city. So for comparison purposes, I got considerable more life out of the EBC. In addition, you should give them a very light turn at each new pad fitting to keep braking smooth and easy.

I hope this helps.

We're talking 2.7 tonne or so without trailers etc, you fill them with the people most precious to you, and share the roads with maniacs. To have brakes that stop like they can when you stamp the pedal, i would replace them every 10,000k

I probably fit new every second set of pads and always have one set on the car and a set in shed as spare. New can be cheaper than a machining,
james


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