New rotors & pads at 60K?

[BlueGuyRedState]

Just shy of 60K on 2018 RAM 1500 Big Horn Crew Cab. Dealer wants to replace pads and rotors front and rear.

We have the dealer do all our service work b/c we bought the Mopar Certified Maximum Care warranty.

Two questions: 1) is replacing pads and rotors at 60K typical? We've put 30K on this Certified Used truck in three years, with light trailer towing (less than 3,000 lbs) four or five times. We do live in southern Colorado but in town - paved roads (sorta) and rarely do the gravel roads/Jeep trails.

2) Are OEM pads and rotors worth it? Spoiled by our Camry Hybrid with 160K+ and still wearing OEM pads and rotors.

Was hoping my "get out and get under" days were over! Thanks in advance.

 

[CamperMike]

I replaced pads and rotors on mine at 68k miles or so. Rotors could have been resurfaced but I chose to replace. I went with decent quality aftermarket and they are good so far. How much did the dealer quote? I would get a second opinion as using an independent shop for brake work won't affect your extended warranty.

 

[PolarisCobra]

I did pads and rotors on my 2017 1500 at about 80,000. Was feeling vibration when using the brakes, I thought it was up front, the pads were mostly worn. Did the fronts, no help with the vibration. Got parts for the rears, when I took one of the rotors off, there was what looked like corrosion on the braking surface on the inside. Looked like pitting. New parts solved the problem, The rear pads were in pretty good shape, If I had just replaced the rear rotors, I think I would have been good for another 10k Miles front and back.

On the plus side, the parts I put on will likely be good to 160,000 miles or so, I won't have to mess with them for some time to come.

I bet if you get a look at your pads, they have some life in them, but everyone's driving style is different, so the only way to know is to have a look.

Did the work myself, aftermarket parts, but good quality ones.

 

[ppine]

Depends on how your drive. In Colorado you can use up some brakes pretty fast if you ride them and don't use gears much. My last Ford went 140k miles before it needed anything but having the rotors turned. But I drive like an old guy.

Functioning and adjusted trailer brakes can make a big difference.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Did you see (or did they say) how much pad was actually left? There might be enough to go another year... or till fall. I would say 3/16" is probably a good minimum thickness a guy should run them till. Although in the older days a guy could run them lower. Here's why:

Some pads the friction material is glued to the metal backing plate. Those a guy could *theoretically* run until the friction material is paper thin, and get more miles out of. But here's the thing ...as the friction material gets thin, heat and age play a part and sometimes part of or all of the friction material can break off or just fall off the backing plate. I've had it happen. The worst part, is then it can throw sparks. And unbeknownst to your, the hot metal sparks (from the metal backing pad against the rotor) can imbed into the clearcoat of an aluminum wheel. Then, come winter, the steel sparks rust and the wheel becomes rust-discolored. It's basically cosmetically ruined at that point and time for a new/used wheel.

And the other thing: These days, many brake companies are using a 'fingered' attachment design, where they produce 'barbs' on the steel backing pad and press the friction material onto the barb'd steel backing pad (still with a little glue). It holds the friction material on firmer. But those barbs stick up and you don't want to wear the friction material as thin as on older pads.

 

[Jeepwalker]

As for OEM vs Aftermarket:

If one goes by actual brake pad comparison tests done on a certified computer-controlled brake dyno machine using industry testing procedures (in other words they weren't done by Bubba in his back yard), it shows OEM pads stop better and don't rust as quickly and are consistently quieter than non OEM pads. In some cases a lot better. You can type in "brake pad dyno test" into youtube. Supposedly Akebono (Premium's) is the OEM supplier for Ram Brake pads (from my research) ..and they also supply BMW, Mercedes and others. That said, there are many good name-brand aftermarket brake pad companies which are very good and rank just a couple ticks below the OEMs. They also work great and I've used most brands. But since you have the maintenance package, I'd stick with OEM pads if it's included.


***Warning: Make sure your dealer installs Mopar OEM Original Equipment Replacement pads, not the Mopar VALUE LINE pads. They might be tempted to put cheaper Value-Line (V-L) pads on your truck. The Value line is made by Magnetti-Marelli (Recently bought by Bremo). I'm sure they would work Ok ..I bought some to try on my truck (I checked the wrong box & too $$ to send back). But, in the process of researching them vs the OEM Replacement pads, I read quite a few posts on various forums where owners reported the MM V-L pads were dirtier (dustier on the wheels) and some reported squealing shortly afterwards. Many owners marched back to have the dealer install OEM pads instead. I'm sure it's typical internet complainers, not typical of all MM pads. But if you bought the maintenance package, I'd ask dealer to go with the top of the line Mopar Original Replacement pads for your pickup. Have that conversation up front so you don't return and get the ole "That's what we always use, Sir", or "We were out of the OEM pads at the time, but these should work just fine."**

.

 

[Ralph Mauro]

Always get a second opinion, always replace brake pads if replacing brake rotors and vise versa. Pulsation in the brake pedal caused by pitted, rusted or warped rotors, and grinding noise when braking are a sure indication of brake problems. The only real way to know if you require brake work is to pull the wheels, push the caliper pistons in and make sure the calipers slide back and forth by hand, than look in through the holes on the top of the caliper to see how much pad is left. In some cases you may have to remove the two bolts and lift the caliper off to see the whole pads.
Remember the rear parking brake shoes which are known for separating from the metal brake shoe assembly. May have to remove rear axles due to difficulties accessing the hardware. ( recommend replacing hardware).

 

[JF19Longhorn]

I just checked mine @ 50k and they have a ton of pad left on them.

I tow a 24x8.5 10k trailer, weighing between 3.5k & 8k lbs maybe 5k miles so far.

Maybe get under there with a flashlight and give it a look?

 

[TotallyHucked]

I just put rears on my truck and will be doing fronts in the next couple weeks, truck has ~74k miles. Rears had some pad left but the rotors were warped.

I recommend Adaptive One rotors from Napa and either Adaptive One ceramic pads or Wagner OEX

 

[Jeepwalker]

Yes, but how many runs down the 20 mile downhill front range does the OP make? LOL.

Those can take a lot out of brake pads!

 

[Socalramfan]

As others have mentioned….. it all depends upon how and what you are driving.

im willing to guess that you carrying more than you do in a Camery. Even if it was the same load…. Your Ram weights a hell of a lot more

 

[Nick@GotExhaust]

1 - You really need to take a look for yourself or have someone else look that knows what they are looking at. I can show you a guy that can burn pads in 40,000 miles and have the rotors warped, then another guy that can make em last 80,000 miles. Waaaaay to many variables.. I would verify you actually need pads. It is possible you need them by now but its also possible you dont.

2 - Cant compare 2 different types of vehicles like that especially when one is towing on occasion. Toyotas do seem to spoil people when it comes to maintenance. OEM is decent, lots of people like the Powerstop z36 kits

 

[joesstripclub]

I'm right at 50k and started getting some squeaking recently. I checked pads and the rears actually look more worn than the fronts. I bought all new pads and rotors but might wait until after summer vacations to install.

 

[Jane S]

Just shy of 60K on 2018 RAM 1500 Big Horn Crew Cab. Dealer wants to replace pads and rotors front and rear.

We have the dealer do all our service work b/c we bought the Mopar Certified Maximum Care warranty.

Two questions: 1) is replacing pads and rotors at 60K typical? We've put 30K on this Certified Used truck in three years, with light trailer towing (less than 3,000 lbs) four or five times. We do live in southern Colorado but in town - paved roads (sorta) and rarely do the gravel roads/Jeep trails.

2) Are OEM pads and rotors worth it? Spoiled by our Camry Hybrid with 160K+ and still wearing OEM pads and rotors.

Was hoping my "get out and get under" days were over! Thanks in advance.

It depends upon how and where you drive - lead foot in the city, 60K could be reasonable.

I'm at 79+K on my 2500; still no squeeks and they feel great. This is almost 100% highway driving.

 

[Daniel Ortiz]

@BlueGuyRedState ,

Yep to everyone above. Differences in driving mean each driver's truck will wear differently.

I drive a lot of longer commutes around Houston, and I drive conservatively and hardly ever tow. Thus I have almost 85,000 miles on my original brakes, and only on my last oil change did I notice the front pads were getting a little thin, to where I'm considering replacing the fronts on my next oil change (my intervals are at 4,000 miles).

The key is that I check my pads every oil change. They've always seemed like they had plenty of pad left until this last change. So now I'll change them.

 

[jws123]

I just pad slap mine until it shakes the whole truck when I go to stop then i replace rotors ahahaha.

 

[Jane S]

@BlueGuyRedState ,

Yep to everyone above. Differences in driving mean each driver's truck will wear differently.

I drive a lot of longer commutes around Houston, and I drive conservatively and hardly ever tow. Thus I have almost 85,000 miles on my original brakes, and only on my last oil change did I notice the front pads were getting a little thin, to where I'm considering replacing the fronts on my next oil change (my intervals are at 4,000 miles).

The key is that I check my pads every oil change. They've always seemed like they had plenty of pad left until this last change. So now I'll change them.

How do you measure the pads? Do you take the wheel off?

 

[BWL]

That's pretty quick for the front. I go through rears that quick or quicker though because I frequently get seized slide pins in the back.

 

[PolarisCobra]

Measuring the pads (or estimating) depends on which wheels you have. My Big Horn, with the chrome clad wheels have pretty big openings. I can look through and get a decent idea of how much material is left on the pads. I get a better look when I rotate tires at oil changes.

Other models might not allow you to see though holes in the wheels.

 

[BWL]

Little telescopic mirror comes in handy sometimes or stick your phone in there and take a picture to see how close they are.