EBC HH BRAKE PADS - WHEN DO YOU CHANGE THEM??

[Jimmy Rocket]

When I stopped in to North County Yamaha & Triumph last week for a replacement TPS they said I needed new rear brake pads. Offered to replace them for $60.

Being the cheap bastard that I am I ordered them from Flipmeister.

Then I checked to see if they really need replacing. I note the EBC pads don't have the wear guides I've seen on other brake pads. Generally the guides are slices through the pads that, once the pads are sufficiently worn that they need to be replaced, the slices are no longer there, the edges having worn down with the rest of the pad surface. There are no such slices on the EBC pads.

So how do you know when they're really ready for replacement? I placed a new pad alongside one of the installed rear pads and it looks like the installed pad still has about half of its original thickness. So is this too soon to change the pads?

Also, is it necessary to periodically top off my rear brake reservoir because it seems like the rear brake pedal travel is a bit more than it should be.

Thanks Captains!!

 

[Bishop]

When they make a scraping sound and stop working.

 

[Jimmy Rocket]

Well, thanks for that, Juggs. But can I be confident that if I wait until that precise moment and not a nanosecond later (there - I used the word "nanosecond" in a sentence and can now die a happy man) I won't need to turn any rotors?

 

[Bishop]

Uhhhhhhhhh.... you lost me at the nanosecond part, way too technical for me.

 

[Jimmy Rocket]

 

[Jimmy Rocket]

That's too bad. Anyone else??

 

[Bishop]

I honestly don't know, I replace mine when I hear them scraping, which is probably too late but oh well, it's what I do. I do remove them about every 3k and clean and grease my pins. If I don't, I get premature wear resulting in about 1/2 the life of the pads I do grease. Only takes a few minutes.

As for your fluid, topping off isn't enough, you should be changing it at least once per year.

 

[Geek_Law]

I start getting nervous when I get down to about 1/16" on any of the pads.

That gives me plenty of time to order them, wait, have them sit in the garage for a few weeks, moan about having to do the job, and then spending the 10 minutes it takes to swap them out.

 

[owl]

In the UK, brake pads below 2mm fail our yearly safety test.

Replaced mine just before my test - they measured 1mm on the rear, and guess what? My brake pedal is so much firmer now

 

[Jimmy Rocket]

Thanks for the tips, guys. I guess I'll just figure I'm in the "sit in the garage for a few weeks" phase of GL's "brake replacement job continuum" and put them on "pretty soon". Cheers!