Why does this happen then? Pads seperate from plate.

[Prof Prolapse]

Rear pads fell apart. They look original fitment, bike has just done 5100 miles it's 2.5 years old...

Fella at parts counter says "sometimes they do fail".

Is that true?? Only had these been the front I could have had a very bad day, seems odd to think this sort of thing is considered fine.

Any else experience this? These look badly corroded but the bike has clearly had an easy life.

[Rubin215]

Yup, sometimes they do.

Combination of age, corrosion, bonding agent and brake-pad gremlins.

Bizarrely, I have seen it several times with rear pads, never with fronts.

If anyone wants to pay me a gazillion pounds to find out why, I'm sure I can make up something plausible...

[Prof Prolapse]

Mental. Still seems a bit st to me. If I wasn't so lazy I'd complain to the manufacturer.

[Private Pile]

I've had it before Prof, but always on pads a lot older than yours. Last time it happened to me the shoes were 15 year old when they Seperated.

Flog them on eBay as spares or repair.

[Prof Prolapse]

Private Pile said:

Flog them on eBay as spares or repair.

"Some assembly required".

[Birky_41]

Possible lack of use as its rear. Ive seen this on road bikes only the rear though

20 years of mx and I have never seen this on the rear of an mx bike but rear brakes are used on them like front on road

[Mr OCD]

I'd also say lack of use ...

[Shadow R1]

If the pads are that corroded, id have a look at the brake piston and seal.

[tvrolet]

Seen it a few times on bike rear brakes and car handbrake shoes. I'm assuming it's down to moisture creeping in between the pad and the backing, on the basis that every time I've seen it there's some corrosion on the plate, and the pad has some bits of rusty plate stuck to it. It's never been a 'clean' parting of the ways with a shiny metal plate/shoe left behind.

So I'm guessing where the brakes are used regularly the heat will keep any moisture at bay, and constantly keep things dry. But I'm assuming if the brake isn't used then the moisture is just going to continue to wick in between the pad and the plate over time. And obviously cars with separate handbrake-only shoes are never going to get the shoes hot...and EVERY car I've had like that had has the friction material separate from the shoe over time - so Cerbera, Jeep and Masser. Never a problem on front brakes on bikes or cars, or car rears when it's the 'main' (or shared') pad and not a handbrake only.

[RemaL]

Mr OCD said:

I'd also say lack of use ...

Had this on my kit car. Had some moisture on the brakes and pads and resulted in moving the car and the pad and backing came apart as the pad had stick to the disc

[Prof Prolapse]

tvrolet said:

Seen it a few times on bike rear brakes and car handbrake shoes. I'm assuming it's down to moisture creeping in between the pad and the backing, on the basis that every time I've seen it there's some corrosion on the plate, and the pad has some bits of rusty plate stuck to it. It's never been a 'clean' parting of the ways with a shiny metal plate/shoe left behind.

So I'm guessing where the brakes are used regularly the heat will keep any moisture at bay, and constantly keep things dry. But I'm assuming if the brake isn't used then the moisture is just going to continue to wick in between the pad and the plate over time. And obviously cars with separate handbrake-only shoes are never going to get the shoes hot...and EVERY car I've had like that had has the friction material separate from the shoe over time - so Cerbera, Jeep and Masser. Never a problem on front brakes on bikes or cars, or car rears when it's the 'main' (or shared') pad and not a handbrake only.

Yeah, that was what I reasoned. I don't really use my rear brake but I do try and keep it moving every now and again. I guess the previous owner didn't bother.

[Prizam]

Had his several times.

My theory is, as the pad comes to the end of its life. It has a lot less materiel to disperse the heat. This then some times cooks the glue on the back of the pad and it craps out what braking materiel it has left.

[Mr2Mike]

Prizam said:

Had his several times.

My theory is, as the pad comes to the end of its life. It has a lot less materiel to disperse the heat. This then some times cooks the glue on the back of the pad and it craps out what braking materiel it has left.

Apart from it's always the rear brakes which barely get hot compared to the fronts.

[3DP]

Had this too, on old rear brake pads generally. No idea what causes it, but guessing as the others - water seizes them to discs partially which gradually shocks them off.

[moto_traxport]

tvrolet said:

Seen it a few times on bike rear brakes and car handbrake shoes. I'm assuming it's down to moisture creeping in between the pad and the backing, on the basis that every time I've seen it there's some corrosion on the plate, and the pad has some bits of rusty plate stuck to it. It's never been a 'clean' parting of the ways with a shiny metal plate/shoe left behind.

So I'm guessing where the brakes are used regularly the heat will keep any moisture at bay, and constantly keep things dry. But I'm assuming if the brake isn't used then the moisture is just going to continue to wick in between the pad and the plate over time. And obviously cars with separate handbrake-only shoes are never going to get the shoes hot...and EVERY car I've had like that had has the friction material separate from the shoe over time - so Cerbera, Jeep and Masser. Never a problem on front brakes on bikes or cars, or car rears when it's the 'main' (or shared') pad and not a handbrake only.

This is your answer.

I worked for a company that imported Bendix pads (made by SBS) and I asked this very question. Moisture & no proper heat to get rid of it.

[catso]

My Son had a Gilera that had one of the front pads do this, newish pad too with no real wear - I think they were just crap pads.

I also had this happen on the Wife's Ford Galaxy, one of the rear pads separated and actually came out of the assembly whilst driving - sounded like we'd run over a brick but turns out the pad material was completely missing, all the other pads were only part worn.

[Prof Prolapse]

It's funny though, same as all the above I thought corrosion, but the blurb sates these pads are made from sintered copper, not iron. So in theory they shouldn't corrode in the same manner.

But then again, here we are.

[tom_e]

Prof Prolapse said:

It's funny though, same as all the above I thought corrosion, but the blurb sates these pads are made from sintered copper, not iron. So in theory they shouldn't corrode in the same manner.

But then again, here we are.

The backing plate is normally just bog standard iron or steel though so that'll still corrode even if the actual pad material doesn't

[Prof Prolapse]

Not disagreeing, but the backing plates are definitely some sort of alloy with a copper content, and its almost as new. In this case they definitely didn't fail because of corrosion to the plate. It is the pad itself which has crumbled away from the adhesive.

Iron isn't the only thing that fails because of moisture of course, but I'm happy to leave it there for now.

[Mr2Mike]

Prof Prolapse said:

Not disagreeing, but the backing plates are definitely some sort of alloy with a copper content,

That seems very unlikely, every pad I have seen has been steel but often plated with a copper finish. Try a magnet on it.

The sintered material refers to the pad itself rather than the backing which are invariably stamped from sheet steel. A backing plate made using a sintering process would be too brittle and very expensive to make.