How many miles on the Highlander?
Brake Pin/Pad Lubrication Intervals
- Thread starter MrkofXcellence
- Start date
Kestas
Staff member
I only do it during a brake job. I never had evidence of sticky slide pins or a wonky wear pattern on the pads.
Classic car owners need to do it every 10 years. I've had my classic car for 43 years and find that this is true.
Classic car owners need to do it every 10 years. I've had my classic car for 43 years and find that this is true.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2002
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Yikes. I replaced the front brakes for the first time on our 2018 Equinox in February and the slide pins looked great and still were well lubricated (83,500 miles). This car has been in Minnesota its entire life.
I think it's a "it varies" even in the rust belt.
Did you use a 100% silicone paste lube on the pins? Were the pins, holes and boots cleaned to perfection?
New SS clips? Pad ears filed? Cheap paint job on pads (ears) or a good electro coating?
Boots for the pins swelled at all?
Did anyone wire brush or sandpaper rust off the pins vs replace?
Good karma during the brake job?
It depends on the climate and caliper style.
For example, this ATE caliper style has exposed caliper pins on the other side of the bushing, so dirt, salt and grime accumulates on it and is not as sealed off from elements as the traditional accordion style dust boots. So this style needs more attention in my experience.
For example, this ATE caliper style has exposed caliper pins on the other side of the bushing, so dirt, salt and grime accumulates on it and is not as sealed off from elements as the traditional accordion style dust boots. So this style needs more attention in my experience.
I just do them when I do a brake job.
I do my vehicles every 2 to 3 years. I do a quick brake bleed (keeps the bleed screws from seizing) and do the pins. It is a bit overkill but with a higher frequency of maintenance, everything comes apart easy. I am still working on the original front brakes on my 2006 Trailblazer with 286,000km. Mind you these are not city miles...
One has to wonder how make brakes are done not because both pads wore out almost evenly but rather because something happened (like the caliper no longer floated) and one pad took all the wear and the other pad stopped being used much.
I live in the rust belt so we deal with tons of salt, but in my experience, this means nothing. The slide pins are in sealed bores and are protected by rubber boots. So unless your boots are torn or not attached properly, they don't need any add'l maintenance. I've pulled the pins on various cars of ours to "clean and lubricate" them and every time, they've been fine. I even use the "bad" purple lubricant from Permatex.... Only issue I have had was Sil-Glyde becoming tacky, which I don't attribute to the environment, so I quit using it for this.
In the rust belt, I recommend doing a brake service whenever seasonal tire changes occur; you're already there anyways.
@Donald Thats a great point and the reason I now do what I do. Maybe 10 years ago, I noticed a squealing on the back brakes from my Trailblazer. It was already 10 years old at the time. I found the rears were unevenly worn. This cost me pads and rotors. But this led me down the rabbit hole of learning to do brake jobs, removing seized rotors, etc. While the rear napa whatever pads and rotors are not wearing the same rate ast the OE fronts, they are even and functioning well.
I posted this last fall. I am still at a loss to explain what happened. While one pin was no longer properly lubricated, neither pin was seized.
Checking the pad thickness during tire rotation should catch things before there is a safety issue.
Bu does anyone bring their vehicle to a shop to have the brakes cleaned and lubricated?
.
Checking the pad thickness during tire rotation should catch things before there is a safety issue.
Bu does anyone bring their vehicle to a shop to have the brakes cleaned and lubricated?
.
When you use the wrong grease, the rubber boots start getting loose and don't seal as well. That's how the water/salt slowly get in and cause corrosion. It's hard to tell, but very obvious if you have a new boot vs the old boot. I suspect even with the correct grease, the boots naturally lose their tightness with time which is how corrosion always seems to make its way in there eventually.
