Why did it do this???

[BTDT]

Emergency brake stuck/not releasing all the way. Cables bound up. Did someone drive it with brake on and not realize it? First front wheel drive car my wife had, I had driven it and set parking brake. She gets in it and gets it stuck (front wheels spinning in dirt) back end didn't budge.

 

[cp1969]

Diesels with automatics are hard on brakes. For whatever reason, the manufacturers make them kick out of gear at about 45mph and you are coasting from that speed down with no engine braking so the brakes have to do all the work of slowing down the truck.

 

[tommu56]

My 03 avalanche went trough 3 sets of rear brakes
oem ones and another $50 + napa set before i got rid of it in 80,000 miles had lots of other problems.

I'v been pretty much had chevy's till now up graded to ctd 2500 megacab ram

tommu56

 

[George2615]

One correction to cp1969. My 05 3/4T Duramax with Allison does have engine braking when I'm in towing mode. I think its great that it downshifts to assist in slowing you down. I use less braking while towing than when I'm not. Don't know if Ford or Dodge offers that feature. So far only have 24K on truck and original brake pads and rotors have lots of meat left on them. Just checked them at last oil change I did. My previous 02 non diesel 1/2 ton went through all 4 wheel rotors and pads in 19K miles. I complained to the dealer but got nowhere trying to get reimbursed for the parts only saying it was defective rotors. Brakes are not covered under warranty. I've been driving nearly 40 years and never had a set of brakes wear out on any vehicle sooner than 50K miles. I traded the 02 in for the Duramax with only 36K on it. I figured it would be ready for brakes again plus it had other electrical problems that were repaired under warranty. IMHO I think the brakes and rotors were undersized for a half ton. Three other friends who bought new 01,02, and 03 1/2 tons also replaced brakes and rotors in the first 20-25K miles.
As to the original question I can't offer any reason other than what has been mentioned. I have not had rear brakes wear out as fast or faster than front ones.

 

[Soundguy]

If ya got a code reader, check that CE light. Might be simple..

Soundguy

Probably none of us do it, but I see people all the time riding their brakes. It usually is an old guy in a Crown Vic or a soccer mom in a minivan, but you can watch them, even accelerating up a hill with the brake lights on all the way. One foot on the gas, on resting lightly on the brake pedal.

FWIW, I've always been a fan of Japanese imports, particularly Nissan but when I needed a full size pick-up Nissan hadn't released the Titan yet and Toyota's Tundra was pretty wimpy for a full size (at that time) and very expensive. So I bought a new '03 F-150 4x4 Super Crew. I don't love it. It is not very exciting. I'm not impressed with its off road capabilities (I'll fix that later). However, at 50k miles it has been perfectly reliable. No mechanical problems at all. An interior rattle or two which I've found and fixed myself. Still has original tires on it and brakes seem to be fine. It has essentially done everything I've wanted it to including towing my tractor with ease. So I can't complain and so far remain fairly impressed. I'd pretty much expected any American product to fall apart in a year or two the way my '76 Jeep Cherokee did, which was when I swore I'd never own another American made vehicle.

Of course the 'Service Engine Soon' light came on about a week ago. I'm interpreting 'soon' very liberally, like maybe next oil change, or never. Or I might just reach under there and unplug it.

 

[dmccarty]

Ok,

HOW do I know when the brakes are gone?

In the past I have waited for the click click click indicator. So far I don't here a click click click and the truck is stopping like always.

I have F350 7.3 TD with a 6 speed manual and 80,000 miles on the original brakes.

The truck is driven to maximize MPG and I don't do jack rabbit starts or stops.

Later,
Dan

 

[hazmat]

Short answer - you measure

Long answer - there are specs for minimum thickness of pad material (measured in relation to it's substrate) typicallly .050" +/- (a good repair manual will tell you). There is also a min thickness of rotor for resurfacing vs. replacing - meaurement is vehicle specific.

 

[BTDT]

On the rears you have to pull tires, hubs and look. Might be able to look at brake fluid reservoir and see how low your fluid is. If its way down, probably need brakes.

 

[Bird]

Naturally, when something wears out unexpectedly, we look for a cause. Sometimes it's nothing more than just one defective part. On the 11th of last month, one of my brothers came to my place and we did a front brake job on his 2000 F350 crew cab dually, power stroke, with a 6-speed manual. Now it had about 130k miles on it, but it had 101k when he bought it so he really doesn't know how long the brakes have lasted. He said he had already pulled the back wheels and the rear brakes were in good condition. It turned out that the left front brake was in good condition also. But we had to go get a new caliper for the right front. It's dual piston caliper, the pistons had not come out together and straight; i.e., one end of a pad was worn more than the other end, and we simply could not get the pistons to go back. It was frozen up. A new caliper, and of course, we put the new pads in both sides, and he was fixed right up. Fortunately, the rotor was not yet damaged.

 

[George2615]

To know how the brakes are you have to pull the wheels and inspect the pads and rotors. If you are not mechanically inclined have a mechanic friend check them for you. I don't know of any brakes that click click click. Most disc pads have a sqeaker that makes a sqeak against the rotor when they are getting low. Kinda like chalk on a blackboard sqeak. 80K on the original brakes is a long time. They should be visibly checked.