Is premature rear Brake(s) wear common on '05 Legacys / Bajas

[nitpikker247]

I get about 50k on the Front Brakes.

I've gotten between 20 & 30K on Rears twice. Just 13k in 13 months with New Rotors, New Calipers and New pads. Even wear, etc.  It makes NO sense!

I have NOT changed the "Fronts" in over 3 years.

 

Anyone experience Similar. 

 

                                                                Thanks, In Advance

[idosubaru]

Cheap pads often last a year. What pads did you use? I've seen Wearever silvers last less than a year multiple times. Cheap and brake fine but don't last.

 

I think Driving style and environment makes a difference. I go through rears faster in these pothole ridden twisty mountains in my 04 outback than I did in flatter MD and GA.

 

Newer vehicle brakes are wearing rear pads much faster than older vehicles but 20000 miles sounds to low. Particularly 2010+ models.

[1 Lucky Texan]

never run 'economy' pads. stay with name brand ceramic or semi-metallic (I run Centric posiquiet ceramic)

 

NJ huh? make CERTAIN the brake components are rust-free, smooth and lubricated.

[Bushwick]

Hmm, I've run cheap brakes ($15 pads and $20 rotors) on all my daily drivers for at least 20 years and they last just as long as anything else under normal driving conditions. My 96' Lincoln Mark VIII weighed roughly 4k pounds with me in it plus audio gear, tools, etc. and even towing 5k+ pounds (putting entire weight between 8-10k pounds) for a summer, they were still on the car when it was sold and were over 40k miles on them.

 

Main reason brakes go bad early is improper braking habits, just like you shouldn't slip your clutch or even let your foot rest on the clutch pedal. People often use their brakes to "moderate" their speed for some reason, which is wrong. After driving a semi for over a decade, you learn immediately what brake fade is and how to avoid it as a 1/4 mile decline can have you w/o brakes in under 20 sec. Cars really need pushed hard though to get brake fade from heat, but hitting that brake pedal every 5 seconds will wear them quickly.

 

ONLY time your foot should touch the brake pedal is when you need to stop, and that's it. Next time on the highway, stay in the middle lane and watch the far left lane. They'll hammer it at 85 only to almost run into the next guy doing 80, then the brake lights come on, then they are hitting the brakes every couple seconds. Quite often, they are the ones with pitch black front rims from overheating their front brakes and the pad dust is caked everywhere. 

 

To properly moderate speed, lift off the gas pedal and it'll slow. Follow that simple rule and your brakes should last quite a long time. If you live in a congested city with constant stop lights every 150',  let the car slow further on it's own. Believe me, this helps.

 

If the pads are wearing unevenly, then there's an issue with the slides (bent, rusted with ripped dust boots, lack of grease or grease boiled off from excessive heat, etc.). If you are driving the car like it's on a 24 hour race track, then it might be wise to upgrade to slotted rotors with cross-drilled holes and possibly run a better a pad material, or better yet upgrade to largest brakes that will fit and pull weight from the car.

Edited June 6, 2016 by Bushwick

[idosubaru]

Hmm, I've run cheap brakes ($15 pads and $20 rotors) on all my daily drivers for at least 20 years and they last just as long as anything else under normal driving conditions. .

 

 

agree - i wouldn't call it common or affecting all vehicles/situations. and i've never noticed it on Subarus so i doubt its the case here but if he's buying $6 rockauto close out cheapie (which i've seen before) no name brands i might not be surpised. 

 

i haven't seen hundreds of examples so i can't differentiate between trend and anecdotal of cheap pads, but the few examples i've seen it seems vehicle specific and more common on particular vehicles, particularly large vans and SUV's in hilly/mountainous areas, or urban driving (just by default because I worked on far more cars in those types of areas than flatland, i don't know if that's a contributing factor or not).

 

my 260k OBW gets 55,000 miles like clock work on front pads.  my rears are all over the place but average 25k.  

maybe the proportioning valves age?

i use a different pad every time - maybe it's that?

never thought about it til now?

 

 

i've never actually seen it on a Subaru but i wouldn't be surprised if he's buying some never heard of before pad off rock auto. 

[1 Lucky Texan]

the one time I varied from name-brand ceramic, it WAS some close-out Wagner pads - they were terrifying and I yanked them out when they were only 1/3 or so used.

 

false economy right there, I guess some consumable parts are made cheaply for folks selling/flipping cars. Or, they're afraid you'll go down the street to a competing parts store to save a buck.

[nitpikker247]

Thanks All. I have been using the cheap pads in the rear. I've been using ceramic or premium pads on the front. Used to be that about 70% of the stopping fell on the fronts. Must be different on newer and/or AWD vehicles. 

[idosubaru]

using the cheap pads in the rear. I 

 

even amongst "cheap" pads there's quite a variation, one could be way different than another, and that might change over time.

 

that said - newer Subaru's wear pads faster in the rear in my experience - I think it's both where i live (now in the mountains/back roads) and changes in vehicle design.   as i said - mine average lower than the fronts by a large margin.  they're so easy to replace it doesn't really bother me.  if i had to pay for it then i'd pay more attention.

 

it's quite a common topic in newer cars - people wearing rear pads faster.