That time I almost lost a wheel on I-35 because of cheap pads

I was driving home to Austin after visiting my folks in Dallas when I hit a hard stop for construction and my whole front end started shaking like crazy. Pulled over to find my pads had basically delaminated, leaving these chunks of friction material all over my rotors. Anyone else had a set of pads just fall apart on the highway like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

sarah_brown3d ago

Honestly, "chunks of friction material all over my rotors" sounds terrifying. Were they brand new pads or had you been running them for a while?

thea1433d ago

@ sarah_brown It gets worse before you even know it. I've had pads that looked fine one minute, then the next time I hit the brakes hard you get that vibration through the pedal. The friction material just starts peeling off in sheets if the bonding wasn't done right at the factory. A buddy of mine had a set where the whole pad face came off and left just the metal backing plate grinding into the rotor. That makes a sound you don't forget.