Brake pads and automatics

[Mart 63]

Taking my motorhome to storage today, I have quite a few roundabouts and speed humps. Normally in my car or old motorhome, I used the gears to slow down. In my new automatic motorhome I'm constantly using the brakes. How long do brake pads last with automatics, as its the first time with an automatic.

 

[WESTY66]

Taking my motorhome to storage today, I have quite a few roundabouts and speed humps. Normally in my car or old motorhome, I used the gears to slow down. In my new automatic motorhome I'm constantly using the brakes. How long do brake pads last with automatics, as its the first time with an automatic.

I’m on 52k with a 3.0L comfortmatic and at 5 tons, 8 years old and still on the original pads

 

[Mart 63]

I’m on 52k with a 3.0L comfortmatic and at 5 tons, 8 years old and still on the original pads

That's good going

 

[WESTY66]

That's good going

To be honest I bought it 4 years ago with 30k on it with an excellent 1 previous owner who really looked after it

 

[meanders]

I have an automatic car and the pads were changed at 120,000. It think the auto vs manual is probably almost irrelevant, its more driving style.

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[Kybod]

I would say the extra wear would be negligible.
I have owned a number of automatic cars over the years and never had a concern about brake wear.
If you think about it the wear of engine braking on a manual car is transferred to the clutch plate?

 

[Landy Andy]

I wouldn’t want brake pads more than 3-4 years old personally. I also think an auto will get through brakes quicker than a manual driven by the same person, and a modern driver will get through brakes far quicker than an older driver.

 

[meanders]

I wouldn’t want brake pads more than 3-4 years old

Why? Genuine question!

 

[dunnah01]

If you think about it the wear of engine braking on a manual car is transferred to the clutch plate?

The clutch is not slipping during engine braking so does not wear like the brake pads

 

[Landy Andy]

Why? Genuine question!

Because they can separate from their backing plate. This can overheat brakes, and give a spongy pedal, potentially leading to the friction material coming off the back plate. Also like most mechanical things they are better off working. So how ideal is it for the brake pistons to be exposed for so long

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[poppycamper]

If you think about it the wear of engine braking on a manual car is transferred to the clutch plate?

How... unless you are a very poor driver and allow clutch to slip, there will be no extra wear on clutch plate...

 

[WESTY66]

I wouldn’t want brake pads more than 3-4 years old personally. I also think an auto will get through brakes quicker than a manual driven by the same person, and a modern driver will get through brakes far quicker than an older driver.

Never seen that in any service schedule

 

[Puddleduck]

I always had brake pads changed at 5 years on both manual or automatics. Same with tyres.

 

[meanders]

Tyres, belts, even hoses all make huge sense because they deteriorate with age. I don't ever remember seeing anything of pads or even shoes deteriorating. Indeed we had a Herald for a while that was well over 30 years old but only had 60,000 on the clock and the pads and shoes were fine. I ended up changing the pads because the disks were pitted and needed replacement and it was stupid not to do so, but they still had plenty of wear. Not sure if they were original but it came with full service history and invoices and nothing showed they had been replaced.

 

[Landy Andy]

Never seen that in any service schedule

It possibly isn’t in service schedules, but I’m not interested in service schedules or what others think. I’ve been playing with cars long enough to have seen brake material coming off the backing and have dealt with cases where the friction material has come off. Especially bad when it happens the brake shoes as the friction material rotates with the drum until it catches on the other shoe, locking the brakes, and making it impossible to remove the brake drum with destroying it. Used to refer to a rust jacking when I did HGV.

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[poppycamper]

Never mind the pads... does anyone else find that the discs do not last like they used to..and always end up having to be replaced because of pitting...

 

[meanders]

The only pad I ever had fail in that way was in a company car within a week of them being replaced.

 

[Landy Andy]

Bendix

 

[meanders]

Never mind the pads... does anyone else find that the discs do not last like they used to..and always end up having to be replaced because of pitting...

Definitely.

 

[Ponner]

Most metal parts on modern cars are not of the same quality or durability as older cars , mainly due to the fact it has been recycled quite a few times

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[Steve N Tracy]

Never mind the pads... does anyone else find that the discs do not last like they used to..and always end up having to be replaced because of pitting...

Brake pads used to have asbestos in them to help with the efficiency, now they use carborundum or metal which increases disc wear.

 

[meanders]

I thought the pitting was caused by rust?

 

[poppycamper]

Brake pads used to have asbestos in them to help with the efficiency, now they use carborundum or metal which increases disc wear.

Yes i can understand that, but in that case the disc would wear evenly, but I am talking about when they start pitting and when braking you get tremendous vibrations through the brakes...

 

[Steve N Tracy]

Yes i can understand that, but in that case the disc would wear evenly, but I am talking about when they start pitting and when braking you get tremendous vibrations through the brakes...

Can't say if I have seen a a lot of pitting, plenty of circumferential wear grooves caused by the pad material used in modern pads, generally if you have vibration on braking is caused by disc distortion this can be caused in some cases by excessive heat caused by heavy brake use, autos can be more prone to this because of the reduced engine braking.

 

[poppycamper]

generally if you have vibration on braking is caused by disc distortion

Nope.. definately not disc distortion....
Pitting on surface of disc...

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[Lenny HB]

Brake pads probably last longer on an auto as soon as you take your foot of the gas the box changes down the more the van slows the lower the gears go giving engine braking.
Manuals have such a high top gear lifting off the gas you get very little engine braking unless you do a lot of cog swapping.

 

[ivorantony]

Never mind the pads... does anyone else find that the discs do not last like they used to..and always end up having to be replaced because of pitting...

Directly the result of changing from asbestos based friction material to sinterise steel material causing increased wear to brake discs,

 

[Grummyb]

I've got 1 auto and 3 manual 4x4 so on the fleet and the auto goes through front pads about twice as quick as the manuals

 

[stewartwebr]

Looking at the diagnostic computer a few weeks back it was telling me my brake pads have another 200k to go. No idea how accurate that it is, but assume the engine brake takes a great deal of strain off the pads, it is very effective. Takes a bit of getting used too but once you are accustom to it, it’s brilliant.

 

[Mart 63]

Thanks for the replies, interesting.