Factory brake pad and rotor lifespan

[Gone in 60]

Hi all,

My 2015 just rolled 23,000 miles. Poking around my car last night, looking at the front brake rotors, I noticed that the swept area of the rotors has a noticeable depression from the unswept area. Meaning if I run my fingers over the rotor, there's a sizeable lip at the outer edge and inner portion of the rotor where the swept area meets the unswept area, if that makes sense. Seems the OEM pads are pretty aggressive to eat that much meat off of the rotors. I pulled a front wheel, and looks like the front pads aren't going to last much longer.

Is that what everyone else is seeing? I haven't replaced anything on the brakes, haven't tracked my car, and must be driving pretty conservatively, as people commented that still having quite a bit of tread left on my OEM tires at 23k is unusual.

 

[slowcord]

My front brakes only lasted about 24k miles. I went ahead and replaced both pads and rotors as the dealer had previously told me that the rotors were already out of spec and would have to be replaced.

 

[Gone in 60]

Good to know I'm not alone. I won't mind upgrading pads to something less dusty.

 

[Siestarider]

I wore my front discs down to below spec (I recall 21 mm) by 20K miles, but that includes about 20 track days. Went through 3 sets of front OEM pads (and some other pads that did not last one track day). I had picked up a WW BBK kit used, so just mounted that when OEM rotors miked out.

 

[Gone in 60]

Dang, now I feel guilty for not tracking the car up till now... I have always wanted to, and have a set of spare wheels that just need tires. If I was going to tear up the brakes anyway, I might as well have been enjoying myself! I doubt pads and rotors would be a warranty item, but I'm taking my work truck to the dealer later today, and I'll ask out of curiosity. I need to schedule the axle seals anyway.

 

[Crooked Letta]

Dang, now I feel guilty for not tracking the car up till now... I have always wanted to, and have a set of spare wheels that just need tires. If I was going to tear up the brakes anyway, I might as well have been enjoying myself! I doubt pads and rotors would be a warranty item, but I'm taking my work truck to the dealer later today, and I'll ask out of curiosity. I need to schedule the axle seals anyway.

Only if there was a defect. Normal wear on both pads, on both sides indicates normal function as long as everything else moves freely. Coming from GM into the Ford world it seems Fords like to eat up brakes a bit.

Always enjoy your FiST, don't fear things not being under warranty if that is the reason you waited. You should still be covered unless it's clear abuse.

 

[Zormecteon]

I just had my 40,000 mile servicing and they mentioned the pads would need to be replaced in the not too distant future (for the first time).... they're down to 5 mm according to the report, so I'll get at least 45,000 miles out of the first set. I've had mountune RSR pads ready to go for over a year, just waiting (along with braided hoses).

 

[Gone in 60]

I'm not worried about the FIST... my worry is myself. I tend to upgrade when something is inferior from the factory... I'm anticipating explaining to my wife why I needed to spend three grand on Brembos... Had to do that with my last car "Those stock brakes just aren't safe, honey!"

On the axle seals, just have a slight weep now, sorta hoping it gets worse sometime before my warranty runs out so I can get 'em done.

 

[Siestarider]

I was happy with stock brakes and pads on track, with proviso I have CMB front ducts and LSD. IMHO, if you can repeatedly stop at the limit of tires' adhesion, whether on track or street, adding more brakes is a waste of money. I bought the WW kit before I understood this. Of course, there are also weight savings with some kits.

If I had the brackets I would go to 280 mm rear rotors just because I like the way they look. And the other side of the rationalization is that you can never have too much braking power, whether tires can use it or not.

 

[M-Sport fan]

A question to all those wearing out their factory brakes in less than 25K miles;

Did you leave the ESC system on ALL of the time, or not?

 

[Gone in 60]

Yup, I was thinking about that.

At the dealer dropping off my work truck, I mentioned the brakes to the service advisor, with whom I've worked before. He said "there's a tech bulletin about excessive brake wear on the ST, and there's a redesigned pad, but they're on backorder." I assume he's talking about the less aggressive pad.. If that's the case, I'd rather have an aftermarket pad that gives the same bite as the oem, and if it dusts less, all the better.

 

[Gone in 60]

Well, figured I'd rethink aftermarket options down the road. Searching all of the threads here about the "performance" oem pads, last night I ordered a set of them, along with a new set of oem rotors. Figured I've got at least another 24k miles to think about it. And, I'll make a conscious effort to hit the nanny button when I make my morning commute. I drive a fairly twisty canyon road to work, and do like to enjoy it as much as possible, so I'm sure I've been giving the torque vectoring a workout, which probably accelerates brake wear.

 

[enamelizer]

I believe torque vectoring is a function of the ABS system and always enabled. My understanding of the ECS button is one press = no traction control, hold = no traction or stability control.

 

[Joker328]

Yup, I was thinking about that.

At the dealer dropping off my work truck, I mentioned the brakes to the service advisor, with whom I've worked before. He said "there's a tech bulletin about excessive brake wear on the ST, and there's a redesigned pad, but they're on backorder." I assume he's talking about the less aggressive pad.. If that's the case, I'd rather have an aftermarket pad that gives the same bite as the oem, and if it dusts less, all the better.

This is news to me. Has anyone else heard this?

 

[Gone in 60]

I didn't ask for details (I was too floored when he told my how much it would cost to fix the truck), but I took it to mean that if you brought an ST in for a brake job, complaining that you only got 20k miles out of a set of brakes, they'd probably replace them with the less aggressive pads.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^What would they do if you did the same, but already had the less aggressive pads on from the factory, due to ordering the car with the all season Michelins on it??

 

[me32]

I got 47k out of my original pads and rotors. Expecting to get about the same with the Motorcraft OEM replacements. They were easy to change.

 

[CankleStack]

Grinding at seven thousand! Glad to hear they're easy to change.^
I was a little out of hand when I got the car. Also possibly someone did practice icy parking lot donuts / 180s at my neighborhood abandoned mall. I regret nothing.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Grinding at seven thousand! Glad to hear they're easy to change.^
I was a little out of hand when I got the car. Also possibly someone did practice icy parking lot donuts / 180s at my neighborhood abandoned mall. I regret nothing.

Again, just out of curiosity, did you leave all of the nannies on while being "a little out of hand", or did the pads/rotors get killed even with all of the 'helpers' one can turn off, off?

 

[CankleStack]

A little of both, actually, but mostly on. I never had a car with electronics before, so I wondered how the traction control felt in its various settings / how much it would help me out. I flipped it through its different stages for a few minutes per event. On the road, it's on >95% of the time. The rears also grind, so I'm probably the prime suspect.

VERY BELATED UPDATE EDIT: We took the pads off and they and the disks were barely worn. It seems the discs are just loud when they get rained on. It sounded like old-car-that-hasn't-moved-in-a-long-time grinding, but it wouldn't go away unless I drove what I thought was a pretty long time. Anyway, brakes still work well at 11k noneasy miles