Brake pad change frequency??

The disc brake surfaces are exposed to the atmosphere. Even overnight, they'll form a patina of rust. Much more if parked awhile and it rained. They'll pretty much always squeak till the pads burnish that rust off. And yes, they may squeak at other times and still be OK.

hrgermany wrote:
It is important to check the brakes,but also imported is to change the
brake fluid every few years.The brake fluid picks up moisture that lowers the boiling point.I had to learn that the hard way,when my brakes
failed.Brake fluid is not costly and the fluid is easy to change.

Hans Rueckert
1995 BF 26FT RSB

Very important. Whether you wear out brakes in 10,000 miles or 100,000 miles depends on where you drive and your driving style.

BUT, brake fluid absorbs moisture (to protect the iron brake parts). When it does so, the boiling point of the brake fluid goes from around 500 degrees F (new) down to around 286 degrees F. On hard braking, the temperatures in your calipers can exceed the 286 figure and you loose braking!

Squeaks can be from brake dust build up, from the built in wear indicators letting you know you need to replace them but I have found squeaks that come and go tends to be from a vibrating disk. To cure this issue, you need to remove the disk brake pad and spray the metal back side with an anti squeak product suck as made by Permatex. I thought the guy that first told me about this was pulling my leg but it worked. Make sure you only get the spray on the back side of the pad, and not on the surface that rides against the rotor.

I have squeak in my brakes. Comes and goes. What is the most likely cause?:@ Just 42000 on them. E450 class C 28'. Thanks

It is important to check the brakes,but also imported is to change the
brake fluid every few years.The brake fluid picks up moisture that lowers the boiling point.I had to learn that the hard way,when my brakes
failed.Brake fluid is not costly and the fluid is easy to change.

Hans Rueckert
1995 BF 26FT RSB

As J-D says, drum brakes are labor intensive to examine. First the tire(s) need to be removed, then the drum pulled to be able to check the condition of the brake shoes and wear on the drums. Then, if all is OK, new seals will be needed and then the drum replaced, the brakes readjusted, if needed and the tires remounted. A good mechanic with good equipment is going to be somewhere around an hour and a half of labor by the time they finish the rear brakes on both sides. You might as well replace the brake shoes while in there, as the parts are a minor part of the cost. Disc brakes should only take 5 minutes and a flash light to check. A simple task that most RV owners can learn to do.

Or after any tiime they've become majorly overheated. They get hot in normal use, give off heat you can notice up close, normally. But if you ever had a stuck caliper/clogged hose... Or long, hard braking... and you they smelled like an electrical fire, or felt like you were walking up to a BBQ grill, the pads have become glazed and will no longer stop effectively.

The caliper has a hole where you can look at the edges of the pads, seeing how thick they still are. Wheel has to be removed to get a good view of the hole. At that stage it doesn't take much to slip the caliper off and be able to see the surfaces of both pads. They could be thick and look good from the edge, but reveal cracking/discoloration on the actual braking surface. At that point you're only a few minutes labor and a few dollars away from installing new pads.

Drum brakes are another story. We probably ALL have disc front brakes, and many have disc rear brakes. But those with Drum REAR brakes, depending on Chassis Make/Model/Year, may have to pull the axle shafts and dismantle the wheel bearings just to see the shoes aka linings. THAT job is so labor-intensive I'd change everything on that backing plate: Shoes, Cylinders, Hardware Kit.

I replaced the rear brake pads on our 2003 Ford E450 chassis a couple of months ago. At the time the MH had 80,000 miles on it. Comparing the old pads to the new, there was probably about 30-40% of the pad left. Much of our travel has been highway driving and I am the type of driver who coasts up to red lights and stop signs to minimize braking.

I have the new pads for the front brakes and plan to do them soon, even though I know that there is quite a bit of meat left on the old pads. I'm considering changing the calipers as well.

There's no correlation to mileage, really. The wear rate correlates to number of stops, number of wheel revolutions with brake applied, but if you never touch the brake pedal, they'll last forever. Conversely, if you ride the brake pedal, you might get 8-10,000 miles out of them.

You are obviously beyond that. If those miles are mostly down the open road, and not much down steep mountains (with the brakes on), they could easily go 77,000 miles, and even more.

Yes, they do need to be inspected visually. Any mechanic can do it. You take off the wheel and peer into the pads (if disc brakes), or pull the drum and look at the shoes, if drum brakes. it takes 5 minutes per wheel to do, at most. And is one of the tests I'd expect a state vehicle inspection to require. I know it is required here in Virginia, and the entire inspection costs $20.

We had to change ours on our 06 E-450 last year at 30000 miles. Not due to wear, but because of either defective or dried out pads, lack of use??. They were only about 10% wear but pieces of pads flaking off.
We did the brake service mainly to prevent future problems, sticking calipers etc. The shop also tested the brake fluid for contaminates/water etc. but said that is was good and not worth the cost to change.

Beverley and Ken