How to check the remaining life of brake pads?

I had my brakes changed about 2.5 years and 30-35000 miles ago.



I am not getting any squeaking or grinding but I might be getting a little pulsating at times. Maybe not, I am about to go on a 1500 ile trip and my just be paraniod!



Anyways, I overheard a mechanic telling someone they had a certian amount of milimeters left on their pads.....



Any way I can check that myself?



What is the suggested level to change them?How to check the remaining life of brake pads?take your wheel off. look at the brake pad- it sits against the shiny disc (called a rotor) and under the big metal thing (called a caliper. if you look at it long enough you will see the thin piece of metal separated from the caliper. there is a small metal tab that SHOULD come straight out and then turn at a 90 degree angle towards the rotor.



measure from the end of the tab and the rotor. anything less than 2 mm you should have gotten new pads already. in most cases, the %26quot;feeler tab%26quot; damages the rotor when it makes contact, but it sticks forward so that people will know when to change their brakes.



the light shutter that you are getting could be any number of things ranging from normal ABS operation, to your struts, to the rotors being slightly warped (also a normal thing with today's cars). all vehicles have a set of standards that they consider acceptable and all vehicles are different. it is cheaper (most of the time) to re-lathe your rotors, however after it has been done two or three times, that can't be done either. and replacement is necessary. the rotor having an un-even wear pattern going from the inside to the outside is also normal with todays pads.



Hope this helped.How to check the remaining life of brake pads?if ya can take the tire off ya can seeHow to check the remaining life of brake pads?with that kind of millage between brake change I would recommend that you get new pads/shoes and rotors/drums just to be on the safe side. I am willing to bet the pulsating is coming from a warped rotor. Have your brake fluid changed as well.How to check the remaining life of brake pads?Most brake pads are provided with a sort of metal %26quot;feeler%26quot;. If you can hear a metallic noise while braking, its time to replace the pads otherwise you could have metal to metal contact which isn't good and will ultimately destroy your disks or drums. The pulsating feel generally comes from the uneven surface of the disk or drum brakes. This will require re-facing by machine shop or replacement whichever is more convenient for you.



BTW, you can check this yourself by peering inside the brake calipers. If the remaining pads are 1/8th of an inch thick, its time to replace the pads.How to check the remaining life of brake pads?some cars dont require tire removal to check brake wear compair the thickness to that of new pads. change them before they wear down to the backing, if your not getting 50,000 miles out of your brakes you have other problems . ANYONE who changes your oil should be able to tell you......