It’s a fact: brakes are your car’s most important safety feature. You depend on them every time you drive. Anything that gets used that often is eventually going to wear out and require service.
Understanding how your brakes work will help illustrate why uneven brake pad wear is a common problem, and an important one to fix.
Disc brakes consist of three primary components that work together to bring your vehicle to a stop:
Located inside the calipers, the pads clamp down on the disc or rotor. This friction delivers stopping power.
Since brake pads are constantly subjected to pressure and friction, they are going to wear down. It’s important to routinely inspect them and be on the lookout for uneven brake pad wear. A few signs that indicate it may be time to have a brake inspection and, perhaps, the brake pads replaced are:
As brakes are the most important safety feature, you should have them checked promptly if you hear squeaking or squealing as you come to a stop. Your timely response will not only help keep you safe, but it could also save you money on more costly repairs. With more than 2,000 locations nationwide, there’s sure to be a Jiffy Lube near you, making it convenient for a trained technician to inspect your car’s most important safety feature.
Even if you don’t hear unusual or annoying sounds, you should have your brakes checked once or twice a year, or as outlined in your vehicle owner's manual. If you can't locate your manual, don't worry: Jiffy Lube technicians can access your vehicle's maintenance schedule and the recommended service procedures.
A variation in disc thickness can result from the rotors chewing away at the brake pads as they make contact with the uneven spots on the rotor, causing the brake pads to wear unevenly.
Depending on the extent of this thickness variation, and its impact on the brake pads, the rotors can usually be machined to correct the condition.
Although, you may find that rotor replacement is the more time and cost-effective way to address this problem.
Another scenario which may lead to uneven brake pad wear is the caliper components such as the guide pins can seize. This can cause the brake pad to drag along the rotor even when the brakes aren’t being applied. What happens? You guessed it: uneven brake pad wear.
During brake pad replacement — whether you do it yourself or have it done professionally — be sure the caliper guide pins are checked.
