Brake pads drying out?!?!

[antsbradley]

Hi,

Just put my car back on the road after sitting for a year, MOT said rear discs were pitted from rust so I had to replace them (even though hardly worn), I didnt change pads at same time as I had put new pads on for previous MOT a year ago and they had only done about 5 miles between MOTs.

Noticed slight vibration at 70+ so took to kwik fit (muppets I know) to see about getting wheels balanced as it has sat frro a year. They said the rears were unevenly worn (some tread squares higher then neighbouring ones as you go around the wheel), and that this was due to uneven braking. I told them it had new discs and he said that the pads needed to be changed also becuase if they hadnt been used for a year they would "dry out". I have never heard of this, anyone else? He said that the tyres would only get worse anyway so they needed to be replaced, and the front NS has a little cracking in the wall and that needed to be replaced (but it passed an MOT last week).

I left before they condemmed the the entire car; and cant help thinking they were taking the pi55, basically 3 new tyres (they did the 4th already last week as needed for MOT due to wear), new pads and discs at the front (uneven wear creating a 'tree trunk ring effect', and new pads at least on the rear (even though they now have only done a few hundred miles and a year old).

Maybe the front cracked tyre needs replacing, but seems odd it passed the MOT if that bad. As for the uneven wear on the rear, well I have thrashed it a bit around the corners since been back on the road, could that have caused it?...

Should the rear pads be changed just because they were unused for a year? I am quite happy changing pads, discs etc myself and dont mind doing them if they have to be done (and paying for tyres if dangerous), just cant help but think they were looking for work.

Thanks

Ants

Edited by antsbradley on Monday 15th December 16:33

[Mr2Mike]

antsbradley said:

so took to kwik fit

^^ This is your main problem ^^

If the pads being cooked at hundreds of degrees under hard braking does not "dry them out", why would doing nothing for a year? You should have asked him to show you the "sell by" date on the package to ensure they are sold before they "dry out" whilst sitting on a stores shelf...

What I have seen pads do that have been sitting in an unused car for a lengthy period is start to delaminate from the steel backing due to rust forming. A case of the pads not being dryed out from use I suppose!

Edited by Mr2Mike on Tuesday 16th December 20:50

[antsbradley]

thanks , thought as much, well as I say I do them myself anyway, do they were never going to get the money for that, just started as they were cheapest and most convienent for tyre needed in hurry for MOT failure, then went back to get balancing as tey did the firsdt tyre and didnt want them be able to blame someone else if still had shake at front.

I have replaced the otr cracked front tyre now as I was worried about that, but will leave the rears and all the brakes and keep an eye on them.

Thanks

Ants

[aatekkie]

I realise this was posted sometime ago, but noticed no one discussed the possible causes of uneven rear tyre wear.

I work for the AA and several AA members have raised this complaint, most noticeably on high performance cars. Worn shock absorbers is a possible cause on most cars, but performance cars need to be able to grip the road especially well and can have much more complicated suspension systems.

Traditionally, the rear wheels just follow the path of the front wheels and the tyres last for years. Multi-link suspension set-ups are designed for the best road holding and the geometry of the rear wheels is set up to maximise grip. The penalty comes when the car is used for long motorway-type runs – in these cases the rear tyres will wear unevenly because of the way the geometry has been set-up. I wonder if that is the cause of the tyre wear in this case?????