Could the brake pads go 90,000 miles?

[mwalsh]

Pad wear (or lack of) after 45,000 miles. First two pictures are front driver's side, one picture of each pad. Third picture is both pads at the rear on the driver's side. Passenger side shows similarly.

 

[MikeD]

Can you make an estimate of the remaining pad thickness? And do you know what the new pad thickness was?

 

[smkettner]

My guess the pads will be half worn (max) at 90k. Another rip-off business EVs will put an end to.

 

[pkulak]

How long do Prius pads last? I think the Prius can use more regen than the Leaf, so it will at some point before that.

 

[mwalsh]

Can you make an estimate of the remaining pad thickness? And do you know what the new pad thickness was?

Supposedly 10mm. A Canadian LEAF owner was saying his wear rate on the fronts appeared to be 1mm per 6,000 miles. On the rears a hair more. I think I'm doing better than that, though I'd have to actually measure when I have the wheels off again (in another 5,000 miles).

 

[johnrhansen]

I bought a 1990 toyota pickup brand new and 245000 milescand 15 years later I had only changed the front pads once. Never changed the rear shoes or the clutch, brake fluid once. They weren't just highway miles either. I only lived 13 miles from work. This phenomenon is not unique to electric cars. Its the driving style. Good job.

 

[TomT]

I typically get about 100K on the pads on my ICEs with manual transmissions so it is more about how you drive (and using motive braking)...

My guess the pads will be half worn (max) at 90k. Another rip-off business EVs will put an end to.

 

[TaylorSFGuy]

125,000 miles on original brakes. Still working fine. I agree it depends on how you drive.

 

[finman100]

140,000 miles on 2004 Prius b4 trading 4 Leaf. Still looked really good on original brake pads. Don't have any measurements, but they hardly looked to be half worn. Maybe will be good for another 50,000 miles for the next owner. hope Leaf does as good! I suspect battery degradation will be a bigger issue than brake pads.

Curt

 

[jelloslug]

How long do Prius pads last? I think the Prius can use more regen than the Leaf, so it will at some point before that.

The pads on my wife's '08 Prius still look new with 117k miles on it.

 

[johnrhansen]

I would imagine it's possible for a prius to rack up far more highway miles than a leaf can. That might be another reason some prius pads last so long. The leaf is more suited to driving around town

 

[dhanson865]

I would imagine it's possible for a prius to rack up far more highway miles than a leaf can. That might be another reason some prius pads last so long. The leaf is more suited to driving around town

That might be part of it but it's also because the Prius won't use the friction brakes above 7 mph unless you are in Neutral or do a panic stop. Normal driving in the Prius never uses the friction brakes other than to stop you at a red light, stop sign, or parking space (including driveways, garages, etcetera).

I'm at almost 120,000 miles on my 2005 and I don't even bother checking the pads. There are Prius drivers that have put over 300,000 miles on them.

http://priuschat.com/threads/299-999-mile-club.79235/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

warning it is a 40+ page thread but some examples are:

numerous that hit 300,000 without changing any brake pads

one replaced front at 200,000 miles, rear still going at 367,000

 

[rogersleaf]

One of the most bizarre attributes of the LEAF is that I can grab the brake rotors with bare hands after a drive. The are stone cold after a 40 mile commute. Has anyone changed the pad on wear yet?

 

[joewaters]

My 2008 Prius had 200K when I changed the pads. Would have been longer if I didn't have my oldest son driving it to college
The Leaf ('13 and newer afaik) has higher regen, up to 70%[reference needed], so I expect to trade the car in at 200k with originals.

 

[Edy]

How long do Prius pads last? I think the Prius can use more regen than the Leaf, so it will at some point before that.

My 2002 Prius has 103000 on the clock with the original pads.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Now if only it had FNC rotors.

 

[sparky]

LEAF pads seem un-worn at 33k.
I agree it matters how you drive.
19k mi on the Porsche and about 31k on the Volvo before dropping much cash to re-brake. IIRC the Porsche was almost $700 per wheel (ouch).
I do miss driving the Porsche but whenever I get too nostalgic I pull over in my EV and throw $100 in the gutter. It brings back memories and helps me get over the loss.

 

[MikeD]

I acquired new OEM Nissan pads for Leaf:
Front pad thickness measures consistently between 9.0 and 9.5 mm.
Rear pad thickness measures consistently between 8.0 and 8.5 mm.

For comparison, the metal backing appears to be ~6.0 mm.

FYI: From a Nissan dealer parts dept --
Front: Disc Pad Kit D1M60-CY70B ($84.65)
Rear: Disc Pad Kit D4M60-9N00B ($78.22)
The surface area of the former is 3 or 4 times that of the latter.

One of the probably few repairs I can handle myself 10 or 20 years (or more) down the road.

 

[MikeD]

Examining the 1st image in the OP (the other two I can't see the pad backing well enough to make a comparison), comparing the pad thickness to that of its metal backing, I would estimate 1 mm or less of pad wear. This assumes the original brake pad is similar to the OEM ones I bought at least in the pad/backing thickness ratio.

One other thing that I noticed is that the "noise maker" metal clip for each pair of pads is ~2 mm from the metal pad backing, which makes the expected usable pad thickness 7.0 mm to 7.5 mm on the front and 6.0 mm to 6.5 mm on the rear. If we assume the OPer wears off 1 mm each 45,000 miles, then the front pads will last approximately 315,000 to 337,500 miles.

 

[EVDRIVER]

If you drive in a steep hilly area then regen gets bypassed. My truck pads were toast at 15K.