Hey all, just wanted to ask a quick question.

For the past two weeks, my driverside front brake has been making some aweful noises. Metal on metal sounds that make squeeky pads sound like nothing. Obviously I check the pads on the front just by a visual inspection (without taking them out). and you can see the inside of the rotor is just full of deep grooves, and the pad looks like nothing is left other than the backing/casing.

The sound it makes when coming to a stop is like draggin 1000lbs of metal slowly over another metal surface....a low grinding/scraping sound which makes other drivers wonder what the hell is going on with my car I'm sure!

I'm just curious if I can do any damage to anything other than the rotor itself? I have a set of rotors/pads coming, but wanted to ask out of curiousity. This happened after taking many 4th gear logs for evoscan/ecuflash, and sometimes using all the braking power I could to slow down.


Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brent

 

ouch..you need new rotors and pads..I don't think theres damage done anywhere else

 

I think I forgot to say, that I already have a set of rotors/pads coming, but not til the end of this week.

I didn't know if you could wear down the pads so far, that it could do damage in other ways or not. Just wondering!

 

yes. you can definetly wear down the pads so far that it would be caliper on rotor thus destroying your calipers, if used hard or long enough. If it's really grinding your best bet is to borrow or rent a car for the week as this will be cheaper than replacing your calipers.

 

Yikes, that was what I was thinking. I noticed looking at my front drivers side rotor, that the inside pad is wore down much more than the outter pad. Is this normal?

If not, what exactly could be the culprit?

I also noticed on the inside pad, there isn't any pad material left, it just seems like its the backing of the pad left, rubbing against the rotor....

Thanks for the tips/advice.

 

Don't worry about the uneven pad wear. All of my pads seemed to wear a little different. My rear pads were toast way before my fronts and the inside vs. outside pads were uneven as well.

If the sound you are hearing is a bad grind, when the brakes are applied, not just the metal feelers on the rotor, then you should not drive it as you can really cause some damage.

Get the new parts on asap

 

Thanks for the advice/info.

Could you explain in more detail what you mean in the quote? Also, what do you mean by "metal feelers"?

Unfortunately, I don't have a beater or dd. My evo is the only car I have, although my commute to work is mainly highway. Looks like the rotors/pads will be here wed...hopefully I haven't damage them too much. I'll try and take a pic or two...

 

Metal feelers are a part of the caliper which make contact with the rotor when the pads are toast. They act as an indicator to let you know it's time to change your pads.

If you are really feeling the vibration/grind in the brake petal, when the brakes are applied, it means you are basically using the caliper to stop the car (very bad).

It's hard to tell, over the internet, what stage your brakes are in and how much damage you are doing.

g/l

 

Yikes!

I hope I'm not doing any damage to the caliper or pistons. It makes pretty much a constant sound even at speed, but when coming to a stop from about 5mph and slower, the brakes make a very very loud metal on metal sound like I described before...

I've been using my ebrake to slow me down when no one is around, just to save on my fronts until I get the parts installed...

 

The feelers are on the pads - they drag and squeal when the pads get low.

If you have used all ther pad - then you are steel on iron - and I would not be doing power logging at high speed - that is plain dangerous and could end up being costly.

The backing plate is going to get quite hot and you can melt the pistons and or piston boots - which could in turn ruin the calipers.

 

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. I really haven't done any pulls/logging since they started making their noises lately!

I'll post pics of the destruction and installation of new rotors pads later on.