Life of Brake Pads

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I know there is no standard number due to materials, driving habits,ect. But my Dodge Ram has 153,400 miles on it and still has the original pads on the front, I changed the rear one's at 110,000 or so.

Is this very good life out of a set of front pads?

I changed the front pads on my wifes durango at 90,000.
 
I would say thats excellent you should be happy and that shows you that maybe OEM pads are best. Espically if you can get them from somewhere besides the stealership.Let my girlfriend drive it she things a grand am is a porsche lol i was changing pads and rotors every 3 oil changes lol. Maybe she can get a job at Wagner or somewhere testing them they would be left scratching their heads lol.
 
Originally Posted By: hitmanharleyk
I know there is no standard number due to materials, driving habits,ect. But my Dodge Ram has 153,400 miles on it and still has the original pads on the front, I changed the rear one's at 110,000 or so.

Is this very good life out of a set of front pads?

I changed the front pads on my wifes durango at 90,000.

This is more than 10 times the original front pads of my E430, it had to be replaced at 10,xxx miles. The original tires (all 4) had to be replaced at 14,xxx miles.
 
Originally Posted By: hitmanharleyk
I know there is no standard number due to materials, driving habits,ect. But my Dodge Ram has 153,400 miles on it and still has the original pads on the front, I changed the rear one's at 110,000 or so.

Is this very good life out of a set of front pads?

I changed the front pads on my wifes durango at 90,000.


I have driven a fleet Savana 3500 to 140k miles (at 9500 pounds), I would call your brake pad longevity good.

My Dad once had a Dodge van in the 8o's run 150k miles plus on OEM pads. As stated above, it's hard to beat the factory.
 
I usualy get 80,000+ when I change them and I do change early. I could easly go another 15,000. 95 JGC 4.0, Subaru Forester, Volvo 850, and my now Mazda CX7 at 60,000 and pads have another 30-40,000 to go.
 
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Depends on driving habits.
On my first new car when I was 19 or so I did a lot of city driving and I remember not being able to get 50,000KM out of the brake pads. That is between 30-35K miles.

Your pad life is outstanding.
 
I got about 80,000 out of the front pads on my Saturn; they still had about 20% left or so. I checked the rear drums the other day and the shoe linings are still good, probably about 70% still there after 90,000 miles.

On our Odyssey, both front and rear pads were pretty much gone by about 80,000 miles. I replaced both sets within a year or so of each other.

It seems that truck brake pads/linings last a lot longer than those for cars, on the average. That's probably because truck brakes are designed to stop the truck when it's carrying a heavy load and most of the time they experience a light load. I had a Nissan truck that still had the original brake pads and rear shoes, with plenty of life left, at over 100,000 miles. So hitman, I think you've done very well!
 
My Parents Honda Accord bought in 1980 needed new pads about once a year unless you forgot to adjust the rear brakes. Then they would need replacing every 6 months.
 
It is odd that the rears needed changing before the fronts!
Very odd!
Normally, it is 2 or 3, to 1.
I suspect the fronts are not doing their job, or the sizing or valving is inappropriate [front to back].

BTW, highway miles will skew brake life longevity.
 
153K miles on the original pads is great. Just remember that the next set of pads (no matter what brand) will not last that long because your rotors are now rough and quite a bit of material will be taken off the pads until they are "set in" the to the grooves of the rotor.
 
New 85 Aries,the left front pads cracked badly within 6 months of purchase.Almost to the point of the friction falling in pieces from the steel.New aftermarket pads lasted the next 3-1/2 years the car was kept.
 
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
It is odd that the rears needed changing before the fronts!
Very odd!
Normally, it is 2 or 3, to 1.
I suspect the fronts are not doing their job, or the sizing or valving is inappropriate [front to back].


I think It's common for the Mazda3 though, from what I've seen on forums and through personal experience. The electronic distribution allows them to contribute quite a bit, which is great for winter driving where there's not enough traction for significant weight transfer to the front. My buddy had to put new rear pads on his wife's Mazda3 at about 60k miles. The fronts still had lots of life and none of the calipers were seized at all. I have a lot less pad thickness on my rears at 64k, though it could have always been like that, as both sets still look like new. The front pads are also much bigger relative to the rears than many other vehicles. Anyway, we both agree that the Mazda3 brakes are excellent under all conditions, so I don't think there's any problem with them.
 
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