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It's time to get ready for trailering season so I pulled off a front wheel to have a look at the brakes. The pads look fairly new and I was getting ready to put the wheel back on when I took another look at the inside pad. It didn't look right, so I poked it with a screwdriver. It was loose, and broken into two pieces, but still in the caliper, and I'm really happy about that. Never seen anything like this before, is this common? I'll try to post a picture when I take it apart to replace the pads.
I've also never changed brakes on anything this heavy duty before - Miata's are pretty easy and tiny compared to the front end of this thing.
If this is noticed on just one pad of the four then it would suggest a quality issue, not something I've seen or read too much about in a few truck-related forums.
Brakes are "sized" according to the load they'll be trying to stop so while Miata's parts might be physically smaller they still experience similar relative forces when applied. If the parts used are of lower quality they'd be just as susceptible to this sort of thing as any other brake system.
Would love to see your photos if you get around to posting them. Do make sure your wheel bearings and all other parts are in good order before bolting it all back together.
That happened to 1 rear brake pad on my '06, I didn't find out about it until the pad portion was thrown out as I drove along(heard a clunk from the rear) and when I hit the brakes shortly after the pedal went to the floor. I pumped the brakes a couple times and full braking power came back but now included a metal on metal grinding noise so I had good idea what had happened, and upon inspection none of the other pads showed any sign of a problem. That is the only time I have ever experienced delamination of a bonded brake pad and I have been using bonded pads forever.
Replaced the pads this weekend. Looks like rust is the culprit. Both of the inside pads have the pad material broken off the backing plate, and the pad itself looks like it is delaminating. Not sure whose pads they are, but they aren't near worn out. Bought the van with 30K miles, supposedly almost all highway, and it has 51K on it now, mostly highway, so there's some chance that they're OEM. The van has seen very light use over three Wisconsin winters. When I bought the van, it had been in a warehouse over the previous winters and it looked showroom new, so I'm surprised by the rust damage.
I'm really glad the pads stayed in the calipers. Could have been disastrous pulling a trailer, or more accurately, being pushed by a trailer down the mountains on I80 with no brakes.
The calipers retracted easily when I put the new pads on. Boots were fine. The sliders slide. Just took the van for a ride down the freeway and back home and the rotors were too hot to comfortably hold your finger on them, but not smoking hot. I'll keep an eye on them and check temperatures after a longer ride to make sure they're not cooking.
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Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
