Uneven Brake Pad Wear

[StlRomAniaN]

All,

I heard some squealing so I checked my brakes yesterday. The rears are gone. I'll end up getting new pads and rotors back there. Anyways, the front pads still have life to them.

However, the wear of the driver side front inner pad had significantly more life than my passenger side front inner pad. They were replaced at the same time, obviously. The wheel/rotor has more resistance if I spin it wheel of fortune style. It stops much soon than my driver side wheel. It seems to me like the pistons in the caliper aren't retracting like they should. Is that the case? What needs to be done?

I appreciate your input!

Ps - I'm just looking for an excuse to get the 6-piston CTS-V calipers.

[Russell James]

When I road course my 1LE, my rear rotors will be a lot hotter than my front if I do the session in the wrong stabilitrack mode. If the stabilitrack is on and you're throwing it around corners sideways or spinning the rears on corner exit, the computer will be pumping those rear brakes hard. Which really eats up the rear pads fast.

When I remember to put it in track mode, rear rotor temp goes way down when I shoot the rotors with an infrared gun after the session.

I saw someone once do an entire HPDE day, six sessions... all leaving the TC/Stabilitrack fully on. His rear pads were down to metal at the end of the day.

[partlowr]

Uneven brake wear can be a result of many different things. It can be a sign of suspension issues or tire pressure issues. Lets say you have a bad shock or spring on one corner, that can result in an uneven weight load distribution which can cause that brake to wear more than at the other corners. It can also be a an issue with that specific brake caliper or a kink in a brake line somewhere which reduces the amount of pressure to a caliper which will make the other calipers work harder and thus wear out the pads quicker.

[maddoggyusa]

about all you can do is lubricate the pins so the pads can slide better. it doesn't look that bad.

[StlRomAniaN]

Originally Posted by partlowr

Uneven brake wear can be a result of many different things. It can be a sign of suspension issues or tire pressure issues. Lets say you have a bad shock or spring on one corner, that can result in an uneven weight load distribution which will casus that brake to wear more than at the other corners. It can also be a an issue with that specific brake caliper or a kink in a brake line somewhere which reduces the amount of pressure to a caliper which will make the other calipers work harder and thus wear out the pads quicker.

The coilovers are good on the passenger front corner, along with the other corners. Brake lines are unkinked as well. Tire pressures are always at 36 psi cold. I check that often. Suspension is all intact as well. I also check this a lot and get alignments done once every ~3 months.

With that being said, I'm isolating the issue to a caliper-specific issue.

Actually, I started another thread not too long ago that involved my car doing a side to side shimmy under acceleration/load, regardless of speed. Could it be possible that my inner passenger front pistons are engaging slightly causing this? It's kind of out there, but who knows.

[StlRomAniaN]

Originally Posted by maddoggyusa

about all you can do is lubricate the pins so the pads can slide better. it doesn't look that bad.

Alright. That's a good idea as well. I'll lubricate the pins sufficiently on the new pin kit I'm about to order for the new 6-piston CTS-V Brembos.

[partlowr]

Originally Posted by StlRomAniaN

The coilovers are good on the passenger front corner, along with the other corners. Brake lines are unkinked as well. Tire pressures are always at 36 psi cold. I check that often. Suspension is all intact as well. I also check this a lot and get alignments done once every ~3 months.

With that being said, I'm isolating the issue to a caliper-specific issue.

Actually, I started another thread not too long ago that involved my car doing a side to side shimmy under acceleration/load, regardless of speed. Could it be possible that my inner passenger front pistons are engaging slightly causing this? It's kind of out there, but who knows.

It sounds like you know what you are doing but are you sure you have the coil-over set for equal weight distribution? Did you have it corner balanced with you sitting in the drivers seat? Corner blancing is the only way to know for sure. Coil-overs are obviously awesome, they allow for so much more of a fine tuned set-up but if your set-up is off it become more exaggerated than with a traditional shock/strut/spring set-up.

[partlowr]

http://www.knowyourparts.com/technic...ad-wear-chart/

[StlRomAniaN]

Originally Posted by partlowr

It sounds like you know what you are doing but are you sure you have the coil-over set for equal weight distribution? Did you have it corner balanced with you sitting in the drivers seat? Corner blancing is the only way to know for sure. Coil-overs are obviously awesome, they allow for so much more of a fine tuned set-up but if your set-up is off it become more exaggerated than with a traditional shock/strut/spring set-up.

I've had my coilovers for 5+ years now. The front pads that are currently on my car are my second set. The first set were on the car when I had coilovers as well and there was no irregular wear like I see now. The big giveaway is the extra resistance of the passenger front wheel compared to the driver front wheel (obviously up in the air). Coilovers are equal to each other across. Not cornerbalanced, but most people aren't. Lots of preload as well so there's minimal drop on the driver side, if any, once I get in.

I appreciate you bringing up different ideas. It's good to explore all possibilities.

[StlRomAniaN]

Originally Posted by partlowr

http://www.knowyourparts.com/technic...ad-wear-chart/

Looking at this, it looks like most of these scenarios are for pads on the same caliper. My example is for the same position (inboard), but different calipers. That's a helpful link though.

[partlowr]

Originally Posted by StlRomAniaN

Looking at this, it looks like most of these scenarios are for pads on the same caliper. My example is for the same position (inboard), but different calipers. That's a helpful link though.

I'm out of ideas, best of luck, I hope you get it sorted.

[StlRomAniaN]

Originally Posted by partlowr

I'm out of ideas, best of luck, I hope you get it sorted.

Thanks! I'll be sure to post what I find out.



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[InFiD3ViL]

Originally Posted by maddoggyusa

about all you can do is lubricate the pins so the pads can slide better. it doesn't look that bad.

Stupid question here...

Is this required when doing the brakes on these cars?

I just put my brand new Stop Tech slotted/drilled kit on last weekend with new Street pads, all 4 wheels. It came with all new hardware - pins/retainers. I did NOT lube the new pins at all.

Not having any issues. This is the 1st brake job I have done on my Camaro and wasn't aware this was needed. I did step 1 of the bed-in process, according to Stop Tech. They ask for an at least 2 step bed process. 60-10mph @ 80% brake pressure, 10 cycles - followed by a cooling period without stopping the car, is considered 1 step.

If it IS required, I will go ahead and pull out the pins and lube them up before I do the next bedding. I was in such a hurry to get these on (work day) that I didn't even think of this.

over!

[sdynak]

Originally Posted by InFiD3ViL

Stupid question here...

Is this required when doing the brakes on these cars?

I just put my brand new Stop Tech slotted/drilled kit on last weekend with new Street pads, all 4 wheels. It came with all new hardware - pins/retainers. I did NOT lube the new pins at all.

Not having any issues. This is the 1st brake job I have done on my Camaro and wasn't aware this was needed. I did step 1 of the bed-in process, according to Stop Tech. They ask for an at least 2 step bed process. 60-10mph @ 80% brake pressure, 10 cycles - followed by a cooling period without stopping the car, is considered 1 step.

If it IS required, I will go ahead and pull out the pins and lube them up before I do the next bedding. I was in such a hurry to get these on (work day) that I didn't even think of this.

over!

You really should lube them for the long run.. early on not a big deal but the heat and weather will get to them and why things like this happen.. I would use a brake specific grease. They are typically synthetic and rated for the heat. No rush if you just did it.. More happens over time. Very common to be forgotten.