Why do rear brakes wear out faster

Grinding brake noises are scary! But what's making that grinding noise, and is it really as bad as it sounds? Here's why brakes grind and what to do about it! Dashing through the snow in a four-door sleigh? No matter what kind of vehicle you drive, watching for these cold weather brake problems can help you stay safe. Find Store. Find a Different Location Find a Store. Do you want to change your Preferred Store? Yes No. To make the most of this system, therefore capturing as much energy as possible, regenerative brakes are applied to all four wheels in most car designs.

However, it must be admitted that regenerative braking is not a perfected technology and there are a few issues. Notably, this effect decreases at slower speeds and the amount of braking offered is still low. Similarly, friction braking is still needed for the likes of hand-braking, which actually keep the car physically still on slopes. Whether you drive an electric vehicle or not, braking still has an influence on your brake pads, rotors and car tyres.

Due to the nature of inertia, there will always be some shift of kinetic energy towards the front of the vehicle. That said, one way to avoid this is to not brake at full speed, unless in emergencies. If you can, bring the car to a natural stop, or slow it down as much as possible in this manner. Similarly, this is also a useful factor in improving your fuel economy. Terms and conditions Delivery costs Delivery time.

Site map How cookies are used Registration of a new fitting station For media. You will find drivers using tyres bought at Oponeo all across Europe. Click on a flag to visit our foreign web-shops. Click if you live in Ireland. Tyres Wheels Customer guide. Alloy wheels Steel wheels. Tyre reviews Over 90, independent reviews. Articles The greatest tyre knowledge source on the Internet. With that in mind, you can expect to replace the rear brake pads once for every two to three times you replace the front pads.

The front brakes play a greater part in stopping the car than the rear ones, because braking throws the car weight forward on to the front wheels. Many cars therefore have disc brakes , which are generally more efficient, at the front and drum brakes at the rear. Brake pads wear every time the brakes are applied. So, if the vehicle is often driven in stop-and-go traffic, the faster the pads wear out. This approach helps the vehicle stop in a shorter distance, but also increases rear brake wear dramatically.

This means the rear brakes will often wear out before the front brakes. How do you know when your rear brakes are bad? You'll drive safer and head off more expensive damage. Brake Light On.

Squealing, Squeaking or Grinding Noises. Wobbling, Vibration or Scraping When Braking. Leaking Fluid. Spongy or Soft Brake Pedal. Burning Smell While Driving. Do rear brakes wear out faster? The size and weight of the vehicle also have an impact on how fast the brake pads wear out.

This is a common occurrence on police cars, race cars, even taxis and delivery vehicles. The traditional way of checking sealed wheel bearings is to rotate each wheel by hand while listening and feeling for any roughness or play in the hub. On late model vehicles with sealed wheel bearings or bearing cartridges, there should usually be little or no play, and certainly no roughness or noise.

If there is any noticeable play, the bearings are loose and need to be replaced. If there is just a little play, the amount of play can be measured with a dial indicator. Place the dial indicator against the hub and rock the wheel in and out. As a rule, there should be no more than.

Another check is to rotate the tire by hand while measuring play, but be careful not to confuse rim or hub runout with looseness in the bearings. As a rule hub, runout should be.

If there is too much runout, try reindexing the wheel on the hub, or remove the wheel and measure runout on the rotor or hub itself. The sensor ring is part of the bearing assembly, so excessive play, wear or looseness in the hub will often cause the sensor ring to wobble as it rotates.

Wheel speed sensors are very sensitive to changes in the air gap between the tip of the sensor and the sensor ring. Or it may not.

A scan tool that can access the ABS system and display individual voltage or speed readings, or a digital storage oscilloscope can also be used to observe the WSS outputs to detect bearing wear.

Any variations in the WSS output would be most noticeable while turning sharply or cornering under a load. The speed of the inner wheel will obviously read slower than the outside wheel when rounding a curve.

But if the WSS signal suddenly drops out or changes drastically, it could indicate wear or too much play and movement inside the sealed hub assembly. Internal corrosion inside a sealed hub assembly can also play havoc with the WSS signal. The wheel bearings may still be okay, but corrosion on the sensor ring can cause an erratic speed signal. If the WSS sensor is removable, the fix has been to remove and clean the sensor, and then add some zinc corrosion inhibitor to the hub cavity, but if the sensor is integral and cannot be removed, the only fix possible is to replace the entire hub assembly.

On older vehicles with serviceable wheel bearings, the bearings should be cleaned, inspected and repacked every 30, to 50, miles.