Re:Brake wear

[Regan Dale Copple <copple@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike, Rob, and Peter,

On  Wed, 18 Nov 1998 Peter Greis at  Peter.Greis@domain.elided

> Mike Israel and Rob Perry wrote about rear pads wearing faster than the front.
> 
> How many miles you get out of brake pads depend of cause on how you drive
> (brake). I have spent some time on the tracks and my 164 is literally eating
> front brake pads. Three to four front sets on every rear set. There is a valve
> that reduce rear brake pressure when braking very hard but Mikes and Robs pad
> wear still sounds abnormal to me.
> (Note that this valve can cause problem bleeding the rear brake system with the
> rear suspension fully extended.)
> 
> One reason that I can think of causing the rear bads to wear faster than the
> front is a sticking hand brake. It is fairly common that the handbrake
> mechanism malfunction because of corrosion on the axle inside the calliper.
> Make sure that the rear wheels turn easily after using the hand brake.

	I've always been under the impression that rear brakes wear faster
than the forward one because of the stopping load that each one of them
has to bear.  Forward brakes are in front of the car's center of gravity
so they don't have as heavy a load as the rear brakes which have the
majority of the car in front of them.  It's a matter of thinking about the
amount of kinetic energy that each one has to deal with.  Maybe I'm wrong
but my brakes have always worn rear first no matter what kind of car I've
ever had, domestic or foreign the ratio seems to be 1.5 to 1 set of pads
rear to forward.  If the caliper is sticking you would most likely feel it
in dragging, slower acceleration, and reduced braking power to the rear.
If the cable is too tight this can happen, but most cars have the cable
snug but not too taut.  I've also never experienced anything more than
superficial corrosion on and around the brakes, the heat generated in
braking tends to drive off any moisture within a reasonable amount of
time.
	Peter if your front pads are wearing at that quickly a rate, I'd
check your ABS system if you have it, and if not check all alignments,
toe-in/toe-out, casters, and cambers.  Additionally check your rotors for
warping and alignment on the bearings, races, and spindles.  As always
this is just my two cents, so disregard at your own peril.

						Typing with five fingers,
						Regan Copple
						79 Spider-black
				(coming soon)-->72 Montreal-silver
						73 Montreal-black

"It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness."
					-Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

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