strangest brake pads ever seen: what do you think?

[1gn2g]

this is the strangest thing i have ever seen on a set of brake pads. we took my mothers car, a 99 lexus gs300, to the shop today for an oil change, wheel balancing, and an alignment on the front. the tech came back an said we needed new brake pads on the rear, of course we asked to see the pads to find out why, b/c they had said rotors and calipers were ok. on the left side(drivers): outside pad had 50% or better left, inside pad had almost nothing left. on the right side(passanger): inside pad had 50% or better left, outside pad had almost nothing left. so if you hold all four pads together, like a sandwich, from left to right, they show wide, narrow, wide, narrow. we had them do an alignment check on the rearend, it was perfectly straight. they measured the rotors and they had no extra wear on them on either side, and the calipers were both in good working order. they pressure flushed the system and some stuff came out, not chunks, but the fluid was thicker and nastier than it should have been. we put a new set of pads on and will check them again in a month or so.

has anyone ever seen something like this before. i have not, and neither had any of the techs at the shop. i know this isn't a dsm question, but it is still relevant i think, b/c it could most likely happen to any car. let me know what you guys think.

 

[slugsgomoo]

usually brake pads wearing unevenly (i.e. outer is good but inner is thin) means that the calipers are on their way out (or shot already) and need to be rebuilt or replaced.

You mentioned that they checked that the calipers, but i'd be interested in knowing how they determined that. By what you've said here, i'd say that even if you replace the pads, you're going to be replacing them again soon, unless you fix the root of the problem.

 

[1gn2g]

i figuered it was the calipers also, but i still thought it strange that on the passanger side the outside pad was down to nothing and the inside had over 50% left on them. that just seems backwards from what should be happening. i thought maybe the pads were defective or something, that one was burning up faster than the other. we'll see what happens in a month or so.... thanx for the input.

 

[Nanan]

If your pads are wearing faster on the outside then the caliper is hanging. This usually happens when people forget to grease the caliper slide bolts. Check the bolts, if they look rusty or bent then replace them asap. Use high temp lube as the break calipers can hit 500ish under heavy use.

 

[Omega]

Listen to Nanan.

Malfunctioning calipers will give you a pulling effect left or right if they are bound up or seizing.

A caliper that isn't able to float will give you eneven pad wear.

 

[1gn2g]

thanx guys, im going to pull the calipers myself and replace them in a day or so, once i can pick up a set at the dealership. again thanx for the input. ryan