Ford Mustang Forum banner

Mustang GT brake life

13K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  2005 white s197 
#1 ·
I know there are a ton of variables involved, but how long should I expect stock GT brakes (non-Brembo) to last? This is a non-tracked, city-driven car, with a blend of some highway and some stop-n-go. How long did your pads last?
 
#2 ·
Manual shift cars if driven properly(rev matching for slowing)will help brakes last. Some say this will wear the clutch sooner but it shouldn't if done right. Automatic transmissions require more use of the brakes. I would suggest pulling the front wheel and look for pad thickness. That is the only sure way to tell leaving all the variables behind.
 
#3 ·
Quite a long time. If your brakes are bad you'll know. They'll be loud and squeaky, the steering wheel will shimmy when braking (do rotors when doing pads). Unless you're going to upgrade the calipers go back w the oem style pad. Don't buy into the hype for Hawk and the likes, a brake pad is only going to do so much, the caliper is what makes you stop.


Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
 
#6 ·
In normal driving, they should easily last 50k+ if not considerably more. However there are some exceptions such as what I experienced. If you drive aggressively your traction control will destroy you rear pads quickly and warp your rotors if you don't turn it off when you do "fun" stuff.

If your worried about the costs, replacing the pads (on a non brembo car) is extremely easy and inexpensive. Some basic hand tools and a jack and you can replace them. Takes longer to jack the car up than to replace the pads. Only small hiccup is the special tool needed to collapse the rear brake piston. However any auto parts store should have it for loan.
 
#9 ·
I've had to replace my REAR brakes twice in 40k miles due to TC/SC. It just eats them up if you drive aggressively.

My front Brembos lasted about 30k before needing to be replaced, both pads and rotors.
 
#8 ·
OEM pads started squealing like a pig at 40K miles. Been spraying cleaner on the rotors every-time I wash the car and that seems to make the squealing go away for awhile. Still lots of meat left on the pads now at 55K and I had them checked just prior to 50K and was told I still had 50% left.

Auto car but I try to break sooner then most. I don't believe in the approach a red light at 60MPH and then slam on the brakes that most seem to prefer.
 
#10 ·
My normal driving mode is traction control off, advance track on. On my car at least advance track seems to be fairly tolerant of enthusiastic driving. You have to get it pretty far out of shape before it intervenes. Generally the only time I turn everything off is for autocross since you usually lose less time from a minor mistake than you do from having the advance track killing power. That said having the advance track on while on track can help us become smoother drivers which I know I could improve on. I suppose this might seem too obvious or possibly risky to some, but simply not slowing up for corners as much as some are inclined to do saves on brakes too. I only have 15,000 miles on my car [ '14 GT ] , but my brake wear is pretty minimal. In fact all my cars seem to get pretty good brake life.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top