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First set of new brakes..what was your experience???

3K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  Mongo 
#1 ·
'07 with 74,000 miles.

Brakes had felt 'spongey' lately. I knew the time was close for brakes. Needed pads for the rear.

BUT

the guys said the front brakes look almost new. They are the original set of pads. Is that normal?? Or could there be an issue with not enough 'muscle' going to the front discs.
 
#2 ·
Thats pretty impressive if you had this since new. If so, I'm definately going with mopar pads next time.
 
#6 · (Edited)
The Commander has a 50/50 weight distribution, plus the rear pads are much smaller than the fronts.

Its NOT uncommon to have to change the rear pads before the front in a Commander, while in most vehicles you have to change the fronts twice as often as the rear.

I just changed the pads in my Commander at 93k miles. That was my experience, the rear were squealing with every brake application. Got a new set of pads for front and rear. The rear pads were NOT down to the back plates yet, so they weren't to the point of doing damage to the rotors, but the squeal made it obvious the pad material was so thin and close to the back plate that it wasn't functioning properly and making the noise. The fronts still had some good life left in them, maybe 10% or more.

The replacement pads, OMG, they are massive, we are talking twice as thick as most car pads.

So, that could be why your mechanic was saying they look new, the Commander's front pads could be worn half-way down and still look the same thickness as most car's pads new.

And I've seen posts where folks get close or more than a 100k miles on their OEM pads, that was my experience. The fronts looked like they could have easily could have gone past 100k miles, the rear another 2k-3k miles easy as well, if I was willing to put up with the constant squealing, and why I was at it, I knocked out the front pads as well.
 
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