I've got about 22k miles on my stock pads and they've started squealing a little bit. So I think, "ok, time for new pads". I pulled my wheels off to take a look and there seems to be more pad left than I thought.

Forgive my ignorance, but I really don't know how to read the remaining pad correctly and I'd rather not go by the advice of some random website. There's a good bit of pad left on these, no?

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thats not a good bit..thats why they put that little metal clip there - to squeal when it gets down
you don't have to rush out tomorrow but they are getting low

You need to check the inner pads. They usually wear a tad faster than the outside ones. Also, did you check the rear pads? The rear pads are usually softer compound than the fronts and tend to wear out quicker depending on your driving style (It looks like you fit that category based on your pics & mileage). I also had 22K miles when I had to swap pads but mine were almost to the backing plate and the rears were about even with the fronts.

If you look closely (or at the image names), one is the front pad and the other is the rear.

What's squeaking? I thought it was the metal hook thingy, visible in the picture, but the pads aren't that
worn yet.

thanks,

d

Ah, right - didn't look that closely before.

After looking at the rear picture in larger form, it does look like the metal hook on your rears may be the culprit. I can't quite make it out in the picture as it is blurry and can't tell if it is reflection or actually very close to the disk (the hook that is). From the amount of space beteen the backing plate and the caliper housing it does appear to me that the rear pads may be done. Also, recall that when you put on the brakes, the calipers compress the pads further and thus the hook gets closer to the rotor. Did you check the other side of the car or just one side? Maybe the hooks on the other side are rubbing against the disk.

The brakes can also squal if you get a rock pebble stuck in between the pad and the disk for example but you'd have to remove each pad to check for that.

Also as an FYI, performance brakes (such at the Brembos on these cars) have a tendency to squeal in natural form too. Yes, they may not have squealed when new, but when pads get close to being worn out the longer piston extension may create different vibration frequencies and thus make noise. Also, outside air temps may have an effect too! That is the price for performance, you alsways sacrifice the comfort features (brake noise in this case).

Good Luck.

Yeah that picture is pretty blurry. Here the pad is distinguished from the reflection.

d

Well, looks like you have lots of pad left then. Don't know what to tell you other than what I posted earlier...

I know, although it sounds like craziness when I think about it. I mean I have 22k miles plus ~10 autocrosses and lots of mountain driving. In my mind those pads should be shot. The only thing I can think of is that I am fairly easy on middle pedal since I don't have ABS.



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Most accurate way to see how much pad you have left is to pull them out of the caliper and measure how much material is on it. You can guesstimate it based on the pictures or by looking in the caliper without removing the pads.

If you have 2 or 3mm of pad material left, it's probably time to change the pads.

Squeaking pads isn't necessarily a sign of pads being worn out, especially pads that would be on a performance car. Higher performance pads will come with more likelyhood of noise and dust. Try a bed-in cycle per our website and see if that helps.

Thanks for the info guys.

For the record. I did bed the brakes properly during brake in. I realize that the squeaking may be perfectly normal. In my first post I was just mentioning that the re-appearance (after 15k miles of silence) of squeak is what got me thinking about the pads in the first place. I don't mind the squeak or dust. I just want to make sure I know _why_ it's happening. For all I know somebody could have answered "hey, there's another metal hookin the middle of the pad that
is going to destroy your rotor!".

Those are the silly things that some of us worry about on our first performance car.

d