Brake problem?

[joefis13]

I started hearing a scraping noise coming from my rear brakes at slow speeds ONLY yesterday. I looked at the pads and they're pretty worn down and something is scraping the outer lip of my rotor (that's what the noise is). My fronts aren't worn much at all. I just hit 51000 miles the other day. Do the rear brakes usually wear down first? What do you guys think the scraping is? It's only the drivers side rear and when the tire spins it's an uneven sounding scrape.

[bugzy]

my 2000 Jetta wore the rears before the fronts

[slowjet]

That means change your rear pads.

[v2rocket]

my old 2.sl0w wore the rears first too. u might be metal to metal on the outside rim of the rotor which happened to my right rear rotor when mine wore.

[joefis13]

That means change your rear pads.
I just wanted to make sure the scraping wasn't the sign of a worse problem, like uneven wear on the pad. I'll be changing them tomorrow. thanks guys.

[slowjet]

Actually, that would be caused by a warped rotor. But in your case, i don't think you have that problem.

[joefis13]

I thought either that, a stuck caliper or a worn out wheel bearing which will also cause uneven wear. I'm glad it's just the pads though. Thanks guys.

[wikedgolf]

i had to replace my rear brakes and roators 3 months after i bought my car ...grrrrr


ya.. its very common

[mitssn]

I dont know if your pads have wear sensors on them or not... Basically it's a piece of flat metal that rubs on the rotor when the pad wears away to the point it needs to be replaced and makes a loud squeel to let you know your pads are almost gone...

[slowjet]

Really? I know the front has an electronic wear sensor, but not the rear.

[mario]

it's odd that the rears would wear down first...but if they're worn, replace them.

[joefis13]

I woke up bright and early, replaced my brakes and no more problem. My fronts still have a while to go. I was pretty surprised about the rears wearing down first too. On my Tundra, Toyota decided to put tiny drum brakes on the rears and tiny disc brakes on the front. The rears never adjusted themselves right so the fronts were doing all of the work. No matter how much I worked on my breaks, the rotors were warped like 90% of the time. that got really expensive.

[T-Red]

it's odd that the rears would wear down first...
Not on Volkswagens. Under heavy braking, more than 50% of the work is done by the rear brakes, to keep the front end of the car from "diving".

Otherwise, under heavy braking, there would be a transfer of weight to the front, resulting in a loss of traction on the rear wheels, and making the ABS system practically worthless.

I had my rear pads and rotors replaced at 94k miles. Checked my front pads a few weeks ago at about 125k miles, and still have a lot of pad left.

Rotors are not that expensive, except at VW dealerships, so I recommend always replacing pads and rotors together.

[Firefly4322]

That doesnt make sense T-Red, why would VW put larger brakes on the fronts if that was the case.
I spoke to the folks at both Brembo and Stop Tech. They both agree that the most of the braking power is taken up by the fronts, even in hard braking. The rears are only supplemental.
For this reason Brembo only makes upgraded brakes for the front wheels on VW Jettas and Golfs


http://socaleuro.com/forum/showthread.php?p=88207#post88207

[joefis13]

I was talking to the mechanic at VW when I bought my pads. I asked if they found that the rears wore down before the fronts and he said no.

[VWSickness]

I was talking to the mechanic at VW when I bought my pads. I asked if they found that the rears wore down before the fronts and he said no.

Actually it is very common with MK IV's, They generally go through 2 sets of rears for every one set of fronts with OE pads. Just did a couple cars the other day. I usually always keep a few more rears on hand than fronts.

[Firefly4322]

Hmm wierd.... I bet its another VW defect....