any way to check pad wear without taking wheel off?
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 157
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From: aptos, ca
any way to check pad wear without taking wheel off?
hi folks,
i know my pads are getting down near replacement and i'd love to not
have them eat my rotors.
i crawled in underneath to hopefully see how it was doing, but the
wheel is so close to the external side of caliper, i couldnt get in there to
see.
any community wisdom you can share? its a PITA to take the wheels off,
but rotors are not cheap!
all response appreciated, jackc...
i know my pads are getting down near replacement and i'd love to not
have them eat my rotors.
i crawled in underneath to hopefully see how it was doing, but the
wheel is so close to the external side of caliper, i couldnt get in there to
see.
any community wisdom you can share? its a PITA to take the wheels off,
but rotors are not cheap!
all response appreciated, jackc...
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,714
Likes: 0
From: The LBC (Long Beach, CA)
If the wheel is rotated just right, you can see a new pad's thickness through a wheel opening.
Looking thru the same opening, a worn pad will not be visible, it will look like the caliper is nearly touching the wheel.
Not a great method, but it can give you a general idea of how much is left.
If you think you are close, just change them IMHO. You won't really be out a lot of money by doing it early, but you'll need new rotors if you guess wrong and you dig a trench in a rotor from a worn pad.
Looking thru the same opening, a worn pad will not be visible, it will look like the caliper is nearly touching the wheel.
Not a great method, but it can give you a general idea of how much is left.
If you think you are close, just change them IMHO. You won't really be out a lot of money by doing it early, but you'll need new rotors if you guess wrong and you dig a trench in a rotor from a worn pad.
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 918
Likes: 0
From: south western NYS Latitude: 42.34 N, Longitude: 78.46 W
Originally Posted by jack_craig
hi folks,
i know my pads are getting down near replacement and i'd love to not
have them eat my rotors.
i crawled in underneath to hopefully see how it was doing, but the
wheel is so close to the external side of caliper, i couldnt get in there to
see.
any community wisdom you can share? its a PITA to take the wheels off,
but rotors are not cheap!
all response appreciated, jackc...
i know my pads are getting down near replacement and i'd love to not
have them eat my rotors.
i crawled in underneath to hopefully see how it was doing, but the
wheel is so close to the external side of caliper, i couldnt get in there to
see.
any community wisdom you can share? its a PITA to take the wheels off,
but rotors are not cheap!
all response appreciated, jackc...
Just take off a tire how long could it possibly take 5 minutes??. Just go to a tire joint and get a free inspection of all the brakes...
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 3,762
Likes: 0
From: Windsor, Ont.
I don't think you can accurately see pad wear by just looking through a wheel. Take some time and pull one off. A way of telling the pads are going, especially in the front is decelerating/ braking off freeway speeds onto offramp. If it sounds like you're in 4wd, then that's time. Squeeling/ squeeking are also symptoms.