brakes question

[zadam123]

I just got my brakes checked out today and found out that i only need brakes on the pass. side rear. I have like 50% on the front and drivers side rear. Keep in mind i have the car since new and now have 75,000 miles on it. I never had brakes last this long before.

My question is, is it normal to have only one side of the rear wear out? seems odd that both rears didnt go at the same time.

I have had a problem with the abs pump module and it was replaced, can that be the cause (that part is 2300 form isuzu) of the wear?

Also i got a quote for raymold brakes (lifetime warranty) both rears since they cant only order one side, new disc shims and rotor cut for 260. does that seem like a good price.

thanks
adam

[SGT.BATGUANO]

It's not normal. Are you sure these are the original brakes? I would think they should've been replaced at an earlier scheduled maintenance interval. When was the abs module replaced? What mileage? Were brakes replaced then?

I would think it's NOT the module as that should only come into play when abs is activated.

Don't know the price on the parts you mentioned.

[zadam123]

Originally posted by SGT.BATGUANO
It's not normal. Are you sure these are the original brakes? I would think they should've been replaced at an earlier scheduled maintenance interval. When was the abs module replaced? What mileage? Were brakes replaced then?

I

I bought the car with 100 miles on it and now have 75000., so im positive that there the same brakes. When the module was changed the only thing they replaced was the fluids. Like i said i cant believe that the brakes lasted that long. The guy at the shop told me this is normal and he seees it all the time, he also said what you said that the module probably isnt the reason but thet it was normal for that to happen. I feel the same way you do since i had about 10 cars through the years and never had one pad wear faster than the rest by this much margin, but then again this is my first new car,

[t2p]

zadam123:
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I don't believe this is normal ........ but getting 75K from a set of brake pads is not the norm (also) ............
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HOWEVER ............. I do know someone that has a VX where I work ....... he has 100K on his VX now .......... and he believes the original pads are still on ........... almost incredible ......
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you may do a majority of driving on the highways .... ???
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If the car stops well ........... does not pull when you apply the brakes ............... I would not worry about it. The right-rear caliper may be (slightly) hanging up - maybe not enough for you to notice when braking .....
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(if the parking brake actuates the caliper, this could be the issue - although the VX parking brake is probably the type with the tiny brake shoes inside the drum on the rear rotors)
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I would probably have pads installed on all four corners ....... the rotors should probably also be 'cut' - receive a mild resurface at a minimum. There is a chance the rotors will be 'out of service' - too thin to turn ...... if so, new rotors will then be required ...........
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the right-rear caliper should be checked to see if it is hanging up ........
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and the the front wheel bearings should also be 'repacked' - if this has never been done before (probably should be done at around 30-50K).
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I'm not 'Joe Mechanic' - but I have never been a fan of 'lifetime anything' .... including brake pads. Typically, I install OEM pads - but my experience is mostly with Honda (I feel Honda OEM parts are superior to most aftermarket parts - not sure about Isuzu). Someone on this board can probably point you to a good set of aftermarket pads if you do not go with the OEM pads.
.

[Dallas4u]

Not sure about what may have caused the irregular wear, but chiming in on the brake pad wear time frame... many on this forum have posted before stating they've gotten 60 - 70k out of their pads. It's out of the norm, but I'm not sure it's too out of the norm for the VX.

[Anita]

Ditto on what Adam (Dallas) said. I've been told many times to expect loooong wear from our brakes. I still have mine on going strong at 60K.

[t2p]

The brakes .............. gottabe one of the best features of the VX ....... not too many SUV's .... (or other vehicles for that matter) ....... stop as well as the VX. And the brakes appear to last and last .......
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It may not be in the league of a high end sports car ......... but much better than the majority of the iron you share the roads with everyday ...........
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A few people have experienced trouble with the ABS systems ..... unfortunately, these issues surface with just about every car that has them installed ......... including Honda and Toyota .......
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I'm not a huge fan of the ABS systems - primarily because I don't care to be faced with a $1200 (parts) bill to fix a car with 80K on it .......
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t2p - who remembers the days when we would 'blow' brake shoe dust out of a brake drum - and it would blow back into our faces ...... brake dust that contained asbestos ........ oh well .....

[shoota77]

i've had a terrible experience with my vx's brakes...at 16500 miles they started to shimmy...had them checked out and the rears, and just the rears, are horribly warped. The tech said it was the worst he had ever seen. I like the pads though, no dust.

[t2p]

shoota:
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I have heard .... urban legend ? ........ that rotors can go out of round when the lugs are over-tightened ....... so your 'tech' may be to blame - or the person that tightened the rear lugs ..... maybe someone got a little too carried away with the air gun ......
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I have also heard that rotors need to be stored properly or they will be/go out of round .........
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???

[zadam123]

Man I hate mechanics, i brought my car to 3 places 1 of them being isuzu. I got 3 diffrent responses on how much was left. and at one place i even had the mechanic and the guy at the counter argueing on how much was left (really funny) but since that happend i think ill believe the mechanic there who told me that i had 40 % left on the pad.

Heres a question, he told me that the pads wear slower when there new. is this true, meaning if i have 75,000 miles on the car and i have 25% left i should get another 18750 miles lift before i need breakes or is it true that they will wear faster now that theres less of a pad? Also they told me that the front pads are like 40% but the rotors have heat damage and cant be cut, if the pads have that much left should there be so much heat damage that the rotor cant be saved or cut?

I ask you guys cause it seams that this board know more than the stupid mechanics and dealers over here

thanks
adam

[joe-yamma]

my rear pads are shot (48k) and i am replacing my pads all the way around on monday (actually, my dad is gonna do it for me because he works 3-11pm next week and will have the time).

i was looking at all of the options and was ready to go with EBC SUV brake pads ($60 front, $70 rear) and EBC front rotors ($150) and Powerslot rear rotors ($92 per side) from www.tirerack.com.

instead of replacing all of the rotors right now, my dad is gonna take them to get turned down (re-surfaced)... if they still have enough material on them. if they don't, then i will be getting the EBC fronts and Powerslot rears.

as far as pads go, i decided to go with the Bendix organic pads from Adnace Auto. $34 for the front and $31 for the rear with a replacement guarantee. (basically, if you wear them out, they'll replace them with a new set for free).

i think the EBX front rotors are a good value as the are slotted/dimpled and anodized and they cost a little more than the stock replacement.
the rear OEM replacement is $89 each side from Advance, so i would probably go with Powerslots in the rear for $92 each.

just some info that i've gathered looking for brakes.

joe

[Hotsauce]

If your brakes are wearing unevenly, I'd suspect that a caliper is hanging up on one of the guide pins.

We have junk single piston calipers, if the pin doesn't allow the caliper to float, the pads will drag.

John C.

[rocket man]

I have 71,000 miles of flawless brake performance...

I took her in at 60,000 miles and had them check, I was a little nervous never had brakes go this long, they said I had at least 20,000 left...

Now just wait for my next post...."my brakes went out" I probably jinxed myself now...

[Andrey]

i just had my breaks done (only because I plan towing a boat). From day one (and I am original owner and VX was brand new) My rotors were all groovy and rusty. Some other forum members had similar stuff going on. Rears were in worse condition then fronts. They never made any noise and breaking performance was OK (nopt the best but OK). I figured that pads are not wearing out correctly as inner and outer edges were hitting rust area on rotors and trust me there was lotsa of that. Front rotors were re-surfaced but rears I was told to change. I did not have any time to wait for slotter rotors to arrive so I bought some aftermarket $36 a piece brand new rears (they work flawlesly now). Old pads (I still have them in the basement) had about 60% left on them - they were just all groovy (peaks and valleys) and had uneven wear. I bought brand new OEM pads from Isuzu and DO NOT regret a second. They are very good performers and last. I guess I have to wait for about 200 miles to see full benefit of new breaks but I feel the difference now with increased stopping power and even, smooth breaking.

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

Originally posted by joe-yamma
my rear pads are shot (48k) and i am replacing my pads all the way around on monday

I just had my VX inspected recently and my mechanic told me that the front disc brakes still had about 50% left on the pads with about 38,000 miles....however...the rear wheel that he checked only had about 10% left on the pads. I am going to pull both rear wheels off to check for uniform wear on both sides. Heck, I'll probably check all of them!

I know from previous experience on other vehicles that if only one wheel is worn down than it is a caliper sticking as mentioned above.

If I find that both rear wheels are in need of brakes with the fronts in such good condition....this will come as a surprise to me as I always expect the fronts to wear faster.