Friend only wants to do brakes on one side

[mclasser]

Got another brake-related question for you guys. Buddy of mine has a Maxima and one of the rear calipers seized, destroying its pads & rotor. He said both rear pads & rotors were done together only a year ago, and the "good" side has plenty of meat left on the pads & rotor. The shop is insisting he also change the pads & rotor on the good side, saying the car will not brake correctly without this.

My buddy lives too far away, otherwise, I'd help him DIY. What do you guys think? Is the shop just trying to pad the bill here?

 

[SirTanon]

They're trying to cover their rear end. As long as the other side still has a good rotor and plenty of material left on the pad, then I wouldn't think it would really be a problem.

However, if the shop only does one side, and something DOES fail, then they know they're risking someone blaming them, even if they had nothing to do with it.

 

[diyjake]

Brake pads are sold in pairs so why not replace both sides? As for the rotor, if it's perfectly fine you can probably get away with reusing the old one.

 

[JMJNet]

Originally Posted by diyjake
Brake pads are sold in pairs so why not replace both sides? As for the rotor, if it's perfectly fine you can probably get away with reusing the old one.


This

 

[zeng]

One year ago ..... no, I wouldn't change the other pair of rotor/pad.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted by JMJNet
Originally Posted by diyjake
Brake pads are sold in pairs so why not replace both sides? As for the rotor, if it's perfectly fine you can probably get away with reusing the old one.


This

+2

 

[Hall]

From the shop's standpoint, I agree with them on doing both sides. Maybe suggest new pads (as mentioned, they're sold in pairs for a reason) but use the existing rotor. I know this, even if they back off and not change the pads and rotors on the other side, he will pay for the pads in the bill.

If I were doing this myself, I don't know.... For the price of pads and a rotor, since my labor is $0/hour, I might replace them. I would strongly consider leaving them alone too since they were replaced recently.

 

[javacontour]

Ideal world, replace both sides, pads and rotors.

Real world. You mention a year of use but no indication of distance driven, type of driving, difficulty in doing the ideal. No description of the car other than a Maxima. Is this a 1996 beater or a relatively new Maxima your buddy is keeping for a good while longer, etc.

If the shop is doing the work, then I'd probably spend my money on the new pads, but leave the good side rotor in place.

Or at the very least, ask if you can get the rotors at cost vs with the shop mark up if they are doing the work.

Without knowing more, all we can do is suggest the ideal solution.

 

[WyrTwister]

I would DIY it and do only the " bad " side .

 

[maxdustington]

I'd swap the pads on both sides and toss the old ones. What are you going to do with half a set of new pads? Wait for the other side to seize?

 

[Audios]

You cant only get one side of pads, so Id at least do both pads and maybe one rotor if its not sold in sets. At least this way the pads will be matched and should perform relatively equally.

 

[anndel]

Both sides.

 

[exranger06]

I had a caliper seize and burn up my new brake pads just 3,000 miles after a pad and rotor change. My OCD wouldn't let me change just one side. I bought two new calipers, 2 rotors, and another set of pads and I changed both sides again.

 

[Black_Thunder]

I would change both sides.


sometimes its not the wear that does a set of pads in but the heat cycles, I've replaced pads that had plenty of pad left but were warping and starting to separate from the backing plate.


if you change both you have a better chance of the pads running out equally on both sides rather then the side you didn't change fail because of reasons other then wear.




the only reason i would ever change brakes one at time would maybe be on something that is rarely used or is not registered for road use, like a plow truck or wood hauler etc.

 

[andyd]

If the rotor was OK, I'd pop the piston and the slides, de-crud them and maybe buy a new set of pads. That is what I used to do with the BMWs. Sitting is the enemy. Heck, after a night the rotors start rusting.

 

[OhioMazda]

I think that you want both sides to apply EXACTLY the same braking force to avoid pulling to one side. Therefore, the right way to do the job is to replace both sets of rotors and pads.

 

[CharBaby]

I too would change outboth sides and keep the good pads from the good side & throw away the worn pads. Keeping the good pads from that side can be used in the future should this issue happen again and your friend can swap them in where needed...if there isn't Inboard & Outboard pads.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by OhioMazda
I think that you want both sides to apply EXACTLY the same braking force to avoid pulling to one side. Therefore, the right way to do the job is to replace both sets of rotors and pads.

I'm not sure that having different pad thicknesses equates to unequal braking force. Any difference is made up by the caliper piston, which is adjusted by the brake fluid in the lines. Your brake lines would have to be the exact same length to make everything equal. Are brake lines the exact same length ?

 

[Oro_O]

Definitely change both pads (no added cost really - pads are sold in pairs).

Keep the same rotor.

I had a car with different rear pads once - unknown to me. I had inspected the pads but not pulled them on a used car purchased. I routinely inspected rotors and bled brakes and a few years later, pulled the pads and discovered the PO had done some el-cheapo repair and had different pads side-to-side in the rear. Putting the same brand and type of pad in the back on each side noticeably improved braking performance (still on the same rotors; did not change them).

So, yes, make sure at a minimum the pads in the back are the same.

 

[spk2000]

Personally I would change the pads on both sides. I used to work for Akebono and it is pretty easy for me to do them. Realistically it will not matter much if he uses the same brand / type of pad. Brake fluid is hydraulic in nature and will apply equal force but if they are different brake pads then you would likely get some imbalance in the braking forces to the wheels due to friction variation in different pads. If you know what you are doing it only takes 15 minutes to change a set of pads maybe even less. If you don't watch youtube videos and it might take an hour but is probably worthwhile.