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Assessing Brake Pad Wear

L

lr172

Well Known Member
I have my wheel pants off for painting and thought I would replace my brake pads while off, but I realize that I don't know what thickness is considered worn out (i.e. near the rivets). My pads are currently the thickness of the backing plate (I think it is 1/8", but not sure). Can anyone give me guidance on how close they are to worn? If I need new pads, was hoping to order them before I go back to the airport next.

Thanks,

Larry
 
pads are so cheap, i just replace them when i have the calipers off for any reason, good insurance and peace of mind
 
a tip I learned here....

when I had the pads off, or installing new ones?...I mic'd the depth of the face of the pad to rivet distance....then filed a notch in the top edge of the pad to almost the same depth.
Thus at a glance, I can see how close I am getting to 'the rivets'....assuming fairly flat pad wear, which isn't always the case.
 
RAPCO has wear indicator

RAPCO pads have wear indicators. See this thread for more details. It is almost the same as this new one.

I think the Cleveland brake min thickness spec is 0.100". Parker Aerospace (aka: Cleveland) give away a plastic thickness gauge at Oshkosh AirVenture booth that can be used as a go gauge as it is the minimum thickness.

One can also check the Cleveland Service Guide.
 
Most brake pads have a small instep at the ends, that indicate the max allowable wear. It closely represents the depth of the rivet head. Often your time is worth enough to change them every annual even if you have a bit of comfort left. It is faster and less costly than refacing the discs.

All I can add is that if you have Groves Discs and calipers,you will do very well to use Groves replacement pads.

ACS only had RAPCO pads. SO I used a few sets, however they have really coarse pieces of bronze that are far too aggressive for the groves discs. I hosed a set of discs prematurely learning the lesson.

The Groves pads do a fine job of braking as designed, with much less gouging of the discs.

The groves pads cost more than the rapco, but are worth every penny.

YMMV and good luck.
 
min 0.100" for lining thickness

Cleveland guide says "lining worn to a minimum thickness of 0.100" (2.54mm) must be replaced.
 
Measure both pads

This is also a good time to look for even wear between inner and outer pad to confirm the caliper is floating properly. Always replace the pair if one is below .1"
 
I buy my replacement pads from Vans. I could be mistaken, but they appear to not have as much of the course metal content as the Rapcos. They last plenty long enough for me too. I try to use my brakes as little as possible too.
 
Most pads, for whatever reason, wear significantly more at the bottom of the pad than at the top, so don't be fooled by just looking at the top where its easy to see and think you have plenty of pad left.
 
Neal@F14 said:
I buy my replacement pads from Vans. I could be mistaken, but they appear to not have as much of the course metal content as the Rapcos. They last plenty long enough for me too. I try to use my brakes as little as possible too.
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In 1,000 hours, I've replaced my pads once and haven't replaced my disks. At last year's condition inspection, all was well within tolerance. At this rate, I may never need the replacement disks I have sitting on the shelf.
 
Walt said:
Most pads, for whatever reason, wear significantly more at the bottom of the pad than at the top, so don't be fooled by just looking at the top where its easy to see and think you have plenty of pad left.
Click to expand...

I didn't even consider that. A good tip. Seems I am pretty close and will replace them now. Thanks for the responses. I was going to get the Rapco's from ACS. Is anyone seeing abnormal wear to the disks from these? I am a little concerned about the comments on the aggressive compound. However, If I order from Van's I wont get them by this weekend.

Larry
 
lr172 said:
I didn't even consider that. A good tip. Seems I am pretty close and will replace them now. Thanks for the responses. I was going to get the Rapco's from ACS. Is anyone seeing abnormal wear to the disks from these? I am a little concerned about the comments on the aggressive compound. However, If I order from Van's I wont get them by this weekend.

Larry
Click to expand...

best thing i ever did was swap RAPCO for Grove pads- RAPCO is junk, wears out fast, fades when hot, and did a number on my discs
 
Excellent service with RAPCO Pads on Cleveland Discs

bkthomps said:
best thing i ever did was swap RAPCO for Grove pads- RAPCO is junk, wears out fast, fades when hot, and did a number on my discs
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Been using mostly RAPCO pads on Cleveland Disc for 18-years and more than 3,000 hours. I find the RAPCO pads wear the same as the Cleveland pads on the Cleveland or RAPCO discs. Sorry you have had a bad experience but I have had EXCELLENT service with RAPCO pads on Cleveland Discs or RAPCO discs without fades.
 
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