Just replaced rear pads and rotors on my 2018 Equinox as rotors were deeply grooved. Used Akebono pads and Powerstop coted rotors. The front pads have about 35-40% life left. Should I replace them so they match the rear or leave them alone until they start squealing?
Should I replace my front brakes?
- Thread starter mike78
- Start date
Sorry, I wasn't asking if I should change them myself. I was asking whether it makes sense to change them at all now.
nope.
As long as they are performing well leave them alone.
As long as they are performing well leave them alone.
I think you should change your front brakes. If you waited long enough for the rears to get grooves in the rotors, you should just replace the fronts now. Its likely that front rotors should be used again, and you can just replace the pads.
You don't want to miss the point that you should do the pads. Waiting for a squeal to replace the pads is dumb. Its likely the only time they MAY squeal is if the pads are down to zero material left, which will put grooves on the surface of the rotor, you'd have to replace the rotor. Before anyone says they squeal when the get low due to the wear indicator tabs, you're wrong. I've changed brakes on my family's cars for years, and only one time did the indicators performs as designed.
You don't want to miss the point that you should do the pads. Waiting for a squeal to replace the pads is dumb. Its likely the only time they MAY squeal is if the pads are down to zero material left, which will put grooves on the surface of the rotor, you'd have to replace the rotor. Before anyone says they squeal when the get low due to the wear indicator tabs, you're wrong. I've changed brakes on my family's cars for years, and only one time did the indicators performs as designed.
That makes zero sense. Brake rotors can develop grooves for a variety of reasons. What happened to the rear brakes may not happen to the fronts. If the front brakes have adequate material remaining and have no performance issues (e.g. pulsation, abnormal noise, etc.), there is no reason to replace the front brakes now.
We cannot make that assumption without more concrete info. Without rotor thickness info, condition of rotors, etc., how can we be certain that the rotors are safely reusable?
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You've been here long enough to know that doesn't matter.
You have a lot of meat left on those pads.
But make sure who ever told you how much pad is left gives you information based upon looking at all 4 front pads.
But make sure who ever told you how much pad is left gives you information based upon looking at all 4 front pads.
If they do in fact have 35-40% life left, changing them now imo is a complete waste of money.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Isn't it a bit unusual for the rears to wear out and the fronts to have 40% left?
I'm going to go ahead and shut my mouth..
It would have been very unusual for a car to wear the rear faster than the front but today with traction control and ESC the rears can wear faster as the cars electronics are feathering the rear brakes without the operator knowing it.
How many miles on the vehicle?
Lets see what the mileage is, and if the rotors have been replaced at all.
I had a similar situation on my Cadillac SRX. The thought seems to be that they use rear bias to reduce "brake dive" and with ABS and stability control there is no potential for rear lockup.
"Cheap insurance"
"Brakes are one of the most important safety component on your car"
Not on modern cars. While the automakers still tend to put smaller rotors and pads on the rears, with modern brake systems, it seems that things like 75% front and 25% rear distribution no longer apply but it's closer to 50/50. It's also why vehicles don't nose-dive when you hit the brakes.
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