Rear disks are expensive to replace as you know, therefore I would like to make mine last as long as possible. I am always easy on the brakes and allow the car to slow naturally at junctions by reading the road ahead, but the rear disks seem to be rusting at an alarming rate. I have bands of rust all the way around the disk now. I was wondering if some sort of 'tool protect' spray would slow the rust? Is there something I can apply myself?

All my cars so far have had drum rears, and I feel that adoption of the disks for rear brakes is not a good system for gentle drivers.

Is there any action I can take, or is rust on rear disks nothing to be over concerned about?

Thank you, TH

Drive it like you stole it instead?

If you don't want to brake hard to use the rear brakes, try driving a short distance with the handbrake gently applied to get some pad-disc contact.

Just had my rear disks and pads replaced at 20k due to lack of use so I now brake like a gettaway driver!

Drive the car more often

Who says the rear discs are expensive to replace anyway?

The rear discs don't do an awful amount of work proportionally, but if you're finding that there's still surface corrosion on the disc after a reasonable drive, you might need to get them looked at; it could be that the brake pad isn't contacting properly onto the disc.

Steve

Who says the rear discs are expensive to replace anyway?

But they're supposed to erode, not corrode

Corrosion replacement is a waste of money.

you need to give your brakes some serious "use" ocasionaly

do you have long brake peddle travel ?

is your hand brake comming up too far?

you cant stop as quick as you used to ?

then you realy need to use your brakes a lot more

dont coast to a stop

try some 60 mph to 20 mph hard braking excersises (make sure no one is behind you)

remember brake pads are cheaper than clutches use the brakes to slow down not the gears

Fair enough - I know quite a few have problems with them. It's just that I've had this current Fabia 20k plus now, and they're still silver Plus I've got all the paperwork from the one previous owner, and can't see any replacement rear discs in there at all! And he put 60k on the clock...

Must just be some cars and/or drivers I guess.

Steve

...

remember brake pads are cheaper than clutches use the brakes to slow down not the gears

What he said.

all depends on the driver and driving habits

all depends on the driver and driving habits

Captain Slow

As seen on TV: wear and tear? Give me a brake - Telegraph

Mine do 'moo' a bit when reversing, and I'll probably change the discs and pads shortly.

So 'tailhappy', do a couple of quick reverse and stop manoeuvres as that will put the rear discs to a bit more use.

Steve

I have seen some pics on detailing world I think of people hammeriting the rim surface of the disk to reduce the appearance of rust.

I've just left my car stood for 3 months :eek: so will probably need new discs :thumbdwn:

Thank you for the info. Well I suppose the ultimate blame must lie with my driving style, but the car is never put away wet and I look after it as well as possible.

It seems to me that the (big) drum setup on cars like the Estelle offers as good as - if not better - performance than the rear disk setup without the worries. Estelle's can lock the rear wheels on the handbrake and the drums have never let me down - even on the heaviest terrain. Small piddly drums are pi$$ poor, but dinnerplate sized ones offer superb performance without the rust issue.

I will try to drive it harder.

TH

PS. I will add that in all 'good driving' manuals and the like, advanced drivers tell us to look well ahead and keep off the brakes if possible, yet the car manufacturers need us to keep braking heavily!

Hi Mr Tailhappy sir,

If it helps, here's what I do.

If I've just washed the car and wheels and got the rear discs wet, or have just driven through a flood, I tend to drive down the road with the handbrake applied about 1/2 as firmly as if I were to be parked up with the handbrake on. I keep it in this state for 100 or 200 metres and only do it on straight roads (You're wise enough, I'm sure, to know not to drive with your handbrake applied around corners )

When I get back home, or to my destination, I inspect the rear discs; if they're nice and shiny like the front ones then I'm happy

Strange one, as I am known for washing cars quite often - and in any immediate drive following this, I never notice any difference after the first braking point when there's a bit of rumbling as the surface corrosion is removed. I need do nothing else.

Also, I tend to park the car in gear and the handbrake off when I'm washing the car. To stop the pads sticking to the rear discs. Don't know whether this has any bearing on the issue above?

Steve

Steve

Strange one, as I am known for washing cars quite often - and in any immediate drive following this, I never notice any difference after the first braking point when there's a bit of rumbling as the surface corrosion is removed. I need do nothing else.

Also, I tend to park the car in gear and the handbrake off when I'm washing the car. To stop the pads sticking to the rear discs. Don't know whether this has any bearing on the issue above?

Steve

Steve

I tend to get the brake discs quite wet (what can I say, I'm careless with the water..) and just dislike the light surface rust that arrives almost immediately. The reason I give them a reasonably "hard time" rather than the light braking you do is because I find it stops them from "mooing" - and doing it just after the weekly car wash is just a convenient time to do it, and it also "dries off" the washing water from the disc while I'm at it .

I park the car with the handbrake off during the wash as well, and they never stick on anyway

Having done this, my rear brake discs are perfectly shiny like the front ones, unlike on a couple of other vrs's I've seen where it looks like the rear brakes aren't ever worked at all.

you need to give your brakes some serious "use" ocasionaly

do you have long brake peddle travel ?

is your hand brake comming up too far?

you cant stop as quick as you used to ?

then you realy need to use your brakes a lot more

dont coast to a stop

try some 60 mph to 20 mph hard braking excersises (make sure no one is behind you)

remember brake pads are cheaper than clutches use the brakes to slow down not the gears

Good honest advice you would get that at my local dealer DM Keith trust me they just say you need new this new that bla bla bla that'll be er.... more than you bought the car for please !

How much ???????? :(

I painted my disks with silver heatproof paint, and fitted them about 3 months ago. No rust

I painted my disks with silver heatproof paint, and fitted them about 3 months ago. No rust

i hope your not talking about the bit the pads rub on

I painted my disks with silver heatproof paint, and fitted them about 3 months ago. No rust

The OP is talking about rust on the braking surface.

I suggested oiling them:D, but the post appears to have been removed by a Mod??? It was meant as a bit of light heartedness, not a real idea guys.

On a serious note, I have never had a serious problem with rear brakes in any of the cars I have owned, Occasionally all my cars have shown a little light rusting but surely this is a natural occurrence and unless you go to Carbon or possibly ceramic discs, you will have to put up with this to a certain degree (depending on the make up of the metal in the disc). I have only ever had one set or rear discs replaced and that was on my first Scooby Turbo around 14 years ago. I managed to glaze all the discs on the Snake Pass…….well I had fun doing that anyway.

Last car I had with rear disks had seperate drum for handbrake - is the rear of hi spec fabias different ? Normal braking kept the rust off ,and it was suggested that the application of the handbrake whilst at afew MPH would clean up the drums . Indeed at over 100K ,my rear shoes were still origonals ,and the disks - rust free --so what'sgoing wrong /

i hope your not talking about the bit the pads rub on

The pads rub the paint off :P

The OP is talking about rust on the braking surface.

My bad. My discs had swelled up from the outer edge and looked **** :thumbdwn:

I was concerned about rust on my discs,so I sprayed them with WD40.

First drive drive out afterwards,I was no longer concerned about rusty discs.