Time for reading: 4 min.

6 Signs It’s Time For New Brakes

We point out the telltale signs and symptoms that occur when various brake components have reached the end of their lifespan, as well as deeper problems that may exist.
6 Signs It’s Time For New Brakes

Because brake pads and rotors can be expensive, it's natural to try to get your full money's worth out of them. Letting pads wear down to the point where the metal backing plate grinds against your rotor will definitely require rotors to be replaced, and it may cause damage to brake calipers if their pistons have slid out too far during the process of squeezing brake pad material that's no longer there. We've grouped together some telltale signs to help you recognize symptoms of various problems, and know when various brake components are worn out and in need of attention.

1. Squealing Noise

Squealing noise upon brake application is actually caused by a high-frequency vibration of metal rotors, drums, or brake pad backing plates. Excess corrosion that forms over time on non-contact, outer perimeter areas of rotors and drums is a prime cause because rust is looser and less dense in nature - therefore, more likely to create resonation.

Another prime source of squealing is a lip that forms along the outer edge of rotor surfaces because brake pads do not make contact with that area. The lip becomes more pronounced as rotors wear and take on the shape of deep-dish frying pans. Sometimes, the lip becomes pronounced enough to cause contact with brake pads that aren't designed with chamfered (rounded) corners - with squealing as the natural result. Extremely cold outside temperatures which cause rotors to contract slightly can aggravate this effect, and getting the brakes extremely hot under repeated heavy use can lead to metal expansion which also causes more contact where it shouldn't be.

Old and New Brake Rotors
Interested in brake rotors that weigh less and offer more grip? Read our article How To Select & Install Performance Brake Rotors.

2. Metallic Grinding Noise

You can hear it when worn-to-the-metal brake pads squeeze the rotor. Some manufacturers put small metal ridges into the bottom of their brake pads. When the brake pads wear down and become thin, those ridges contact the rotor providing a metallic grinding noise therefore alerting the driver that it’s time for new pads. Actually, the brake pads that are worn to about 25% will need replacement soon, depending on how brake-intensive your driving is.

Gauge how many miles it took you to reach this point, and divide it by three to get a rough idea how much more time until ‘pad zero' is reached. At 3 mm thickness remaining, you've got a little time left. At 1 or 2 mm, it's time to schedule an appointment or order the parts to have at the ready for a specific future date if you're doing them yourself.

Old and New Brake Pads
If you’re truly interested in upgrading your stopping power, check out our article Which Performance Brake Pads Work Best On My Car?

While eyeballing the thickness of your brake pads is a good way to keep on top of things, it's important to remember that there are outboard pads on the side of the rotor you can see easily, and inboard pads on the other side of the rotor that aren't visible without wheel removal or climbing underneath.

Depending on vehicle application, inboard pads may wear at a faster rate, so the side you see through the wheel spokes cannot be fully trusted as a complete measurement of remaining lifespan. It's also important to note that putting a set of new pads on deeply ‘dished in' rotors may cause the edge of the new pad to rub the lip, causing more squealing noise than with the previous sets of pads.

3. Indicator Light Comes On

Most brake pads are equipped with sensors built into the brake pad material. When a brake pad that's 12 mm thick new wears to approximately 3 mm of pad life remaining, the metal sensor usually becomes exposed and makes contact with the disc. The resultant metal-on-metal contact causes squealing and may trigger an electronic sensor to display a warning light on newer vehicles.

4. Clicking Noise After Depressing or Releasing the Brakes

It indicates that brake pads are shifting around improperly. There's no danger of them falling off the vehicle, but because pads are under pressure between the caliper and brake rotor, built in ‘anti-rattle' clips lock the pads in place. Over time the steel these spring clips are made from can become brittle and break, allowing the brake pad to ride loosely in its seat, creating vibration and clicking noises during braking. When brake pads have seen enough use for this to happen, it's likely they are also worn out (often unevenly as a result) enough to need attention soon, if not immediately.

5. Shimmy Occurs Only Upon Slowing Down

  • In most cases, the shimmy is a result of rotors becoming warped similar to the way an old vinyl record can. With each rotation of the wheel, the warped part of the rotor pushes against pads in a side-to-side motion. This shimmying vibration is transferred from brake calipers directly through wheel hubs, axles, suspension subframes, and the vehicle frame itself to where it's felt.

Note: A quick way to be sure if the vibration is coming from front rotors is if the steering wheel also shimmies in unison with the brakes. Vibration felt only in the seat of your pants typically indicates just the rear rotors are warped.

  • Rotor shimmy can also be caused by spots of corrosion that become embedded into the rotor surface when a vehicle sits in a moist environment for a lengthy period.
  • Another reason for vibrations is the formation of heat spots or glazing on rotor surfaces after the iron compounds in the rotor change composition due to extreme and repeated heat buildup.

To get rid of warping, an edge lip, or spots, rotors can be taken off the vehicle and ground flat on both sides by a special lathe. Because this resurfacing process involves removing a good deal of thickness across the entire rotor surface, it's important to be aware of what your vehicle manufacturer's minimum rotor thickness specification is. This is the point where the rotor still contains enough metal to absorb and diffuse heat buildup without becoming warped, glazed, or fractured. If rotors will be below minimum thickness after re-surfacing, they need to be replaced - mainly because they will quickly become warped again.

6. Car Pulling to One Side When Braking

This happens when the brakes are grabbing somewhere on one side of the vehicle more than the other for a number of reasons:

  • Most often, this is caused by calipers (or wheel cylinders on drum brakes) that have become corroded and no longer move properly to apply pressure on brake pads.
  • Pulling can also be caused by a brake fluid leak onto a rotor or drum surface. Since brake fluid is not designed as a lubricant, it creates a sticky surface that creates more friction and causes a brake on one side of the vehicle to pull harder than the other.
  • Brake proportioning valves that direct brake fluid pressure in the system might also be to blame, but the likelihood of that is lower. (For more info on brake fluid, read our related article which discusses how it gets contaminated along with clarification on DOT 3, 4, and 5 fluid types.)
Brake Parts
CARiD also offers a full lineup of upgraded brake components designed for performance driving.

If thebrake pedal goes to the floor, fluid compression is not building up properly because of a leak somewhere in the system. If a visible brake fluid leak cannot be located at any of the wheels or along the brake lines, the master cylinder assembly located under the hood is most likely the issue.

The master cylinder contains pistons which push the fluid through brake linesout to the four wheel brakes. Most often, internal seals go bad and reduced fluid movement occurs inside the master cylinder with no visible leaks.

If the brake pedal becomes extremely hard to depress, your brake booster is compromised. With either scenario, immediate attention is required and the vehicle should be towed to where it will be worked on.

OE Grade Brake Components / Performance-Oriented Brake Parts Variety

If you’ve determined it is, in fact, time to replacebrake hardware, CARiD has a full lineup of OEM grade components as well as performance-oriented parts such as calipers, rotors, pads, and kits that can be installed easily in place of your existing ones. Be sure to check out other interesting articles by us displayed along the right hand side of the screen that discuss performance brake rotors, pads, and kits as well as drum-to-disc brake conversions.

Once you’ve got new brake parts installed, you’ll no longer have to deal with pulling, shakes, poor stopping power, squealing, and embarrassment. And whether you glide to a stop or need to use full stopping force, you’ll be making all your moves with confidence!

CARiD FacebookCARiD TwitterCARiD YouTube ChannelCARiD PinterestCARiD Instagram
Inspiration Gallery
All manufacturer names, symbols, and descriptions, used in our images and text are used solely for identification purposes only. It is neither inferred nor implied that any item sold by CARiD.com is a product authorized by or in any way connected with any vehicle manufacturers displayed on this page.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
INFORMATION
CONTACTS