All wheel disk brakes wear even front to back?

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Had my Lucerne in to be serviced and he told me I had 15% brake life left all the way around. I thought this was kind of odd because in the past with drum rears there was always more life left on the rears.
 
It varies. My VW was notorious for wearing rears at twice the rate as the front. Seems odd but rears are usually smaller pads. Plus, at least on that car, it was set to pull in the rear brakes first, to prevent nose dive under light braking. Word was, to get more even wear, to brake harder so as to pull in the fronts (of course, this was an ABS model, so no worries about brake lockup; I'm guessing they must have done some wizardry in the ABS module so as to just bias the rears first then build pressure quickly front, to prevent rear ABS from kicking in all the time).
 
Originally Posted by supton
It varies. My VW was notorious for wearing rears at twice the rate as the front. Seems odd but rears are usually smaller pads. Plus, at least on that car, it was set to pull in the rear brakes first, to prevent nose dive under light braking. Word was, to get more even wear, to brake harder so as to pull in the fronts (of course, this was an ABS model, so no worries about brake lockup; I'm guessing they must have done some wizardry in the ABS module so as to just bias the rears first then build pressure quickly front, to prevent rear ABS from kicking in all the time).
My 2012 Jetta does this too. Although OP has a car where this shouldn't be a thing. Sound's like someone wants some gravy work. OP, did you look at the brakes your self?
 
I'd be looking for myself.. But I'd be looking for a deal on a full set of dusty pads too. 15% is close enough to done. Don't even take the rotors off , just a pad slap and a little lube on the slides. Often rears are much smaller.
 
Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
Originally Posted by supton
It varies. My VW was notorious for wearing rears at twice the rate as the front. Seems odd but rears are usually smaller pads. Plus, at least on that car, it was set to pull in the rear brakes first, to prevent nose dive under light braking. Word was, to get more even wear, to brake harder so as to pull in the fronts (of course, this was an ABS model, so no worries about brake lockup; I'm guessing they must have done some wizardry in the ABS module so as to just bias the rears first then build pressure quickly front, to prevent rear ABS from kicking in all the time).
My 2012 Jetta does this too. Although OP has a car where this shouldn't be a thing. Sound's like someone wants some gravy work. OP, did you look at the brakes your self?



Yes and they all look the same to me. He says I should get another 4/5k out of them but to me they look to be less than 1/4 inch, it makes me bit nervous but I trust him.
 
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Originally Posted by Duffyjr
Had my Lucerne in to be serviced and he told me I had 15% break life left all the way around.


The shop is there to sell service. Did the tech bring you over to the car on the lift to show you? If not, that 15% could just as well be 25% or 30%.
 
Originally Posted by andyd
I'd be looking for myself.. But I'd be looking for a deal on a full set of dusty pads too. 15% is close enough to done. Don't even take the rotors off , just a pad slap and a little lube on the slides. Often rears are much smaller.


He did mention that the rotors are wearing even enough that they may not need turning but will look at them closer when it's time.
 
I was always taught to never give a percentage, miles, or time left on brake components. You don't know for sure where and when they started or how the person drives. Just give measurements of the pads and rotors and their proximity to spec.
 
If you have less than 1/4" it's something to keep in mind. If you have 1/8" or less pad material it's probably time to change the pads.

They likely started at about 5/8" of an inch give or take, so you can estimate how long they will last based on how long it took to wear down to where they are now.


Originally Posted by Duffyjr
Originally Posted by FordBroncoVWJeta
Originally Posted by supton
It varies. My VW was notorious for wearing rears at twice the rate as the front. Seems odd but rears are usually smaller pads. Plus, at least on that car, it was set to pull in the rear brakes first, to prevent nose dive under light braking. Word was, to get more even wear, to brake harder so as to pull in the fronts (of course, this was an ABS model, so no worries about brake lockup; I'm guessing they must have done some wizardry in the ABS module so as to just bias the rears first then build pressure quickly front, to prevent rear ABS from kicking in all the time).
My 2012 Jetta does this too. Although OP has a car where this shouldn't be a thing. Sound's like someone wants some gravy work. OP, did you look at the brakes your self?



Yes and they all look the same to me. He says I should get another 4/5k out of them but to me they look to be less than 1/4 inch, it makes me bit nervous but I trust him.
 
Originally Posted by Duffyjr
He says I should get another 4/5k out of them but to me they look to be less than 1/4 inch, it makes me bit nervous but I trust him.


Mine are only 3/8" thick when new.

1/4" will get me 50,000++ miles on my rear pads
 
Originally Posted by Duffyjr
Would it make a difference it they're ceramic?

I believe ceramic lasts longer than semi metallic. IF they taught me correctly in high school this is what they taught us. Ceramic lasts longer, but doesn't brake as good UNTIL its warmed up, then it will beat semi metallic.
 
Even? Usually not. For me most cars are about 2x front 1x rear, but when I use aggressive pads on the rear they seems to wear out earlier than the "everyday" pads on the front.

Only change them when needed, unless you don't have time to drop off again, and they are close enough to done, and the shop give you a discount when doing both together.
 
My pickup (Ford F350) wears them pretty evenly. Pretty much every other vehicle we've had with 4 wheel discs wears the rears twice as fast.
 
Yes, that sounds correct. the rears will wear "much faster" than drum brake shoes. I usually just replace fronts and rears at the same time now. also, here in the salt/rust belt, I just replace them every three years whether they need it or not. I have found that the rear disc pins/pads/slides seem to suffer from rust worse than the fronts and like to stick.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
I was always taught to never give a percentage, miles, or time left on brake components. You don't know for sure where and when they started or how the person drives. Just give measurements of the pads and rotors and their proximity to spec.



This 👆.. invest in a dial mic or vernier calipers and check them yourself. I'd consider replacing between 4 ~ 6mm myself because I don't want to gouge my rotors. How many months/miles that 2mm translates to just depends on your driving.
 
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