Rear Disk and Pad Replacement at 23,000 miles. Normal..?

[TheRobinK]

Guys - just had the car serviced - it's 3 years old with 23K miles on the clock. I reckoned the rear disks and pads needed doing. I said nothing to see if it was picked up at the service and it was.

 

My question is simple - my front disks and pads are still fine - I am simply wondering if it is "usual" for Superb II's to need the rear pads and disks changed at this point?  Car is a "1KS"  = Disc brakes at rear are the  272mm ones. I expected fronts to need doing first - are the superb II's a bit under-specced on the rear disks?

 

( 2014 1.6 TD CR Elegance, 6sp manual gearbox, no towbar/never towed in its life, rarely driven with any significant weight other than me, wife and sometimes 3 dogs).

 

[Danny 57]

To me it is unusual as mine is over five years old (70000) miles and on original pads and disc all round. Though it obviously depends on your driving style.

Edited 31 July, 2017 by Danny 57

[Wizzmed]

My rear discs got picked up at MOT due to them having pitting and rust. My car is only on 57k and the front discs and pads are fine. I do lots of motorway work and try not to break hard so I guess the rear brakes are under used.

[SuperbTWM]

If both sides have worn at a similar rate I wouldn't be too concerned about them wearing out before the fronts. I've had cars go through rears pads at a faster rate from the front before.

 

What is a bit unusual to me is that they have worn out in such a low mileage but if you don't drive very far and do long distances without having to brake your going to be using them a lot more. Or maybe you just got a very soft set of pads.

 

My 2015 Superb II has just under 22K and both front and rears look like they have at least 70% left

[TheRobinK]

29 minutes ago, Danny 57 said:

Though it obviously depends on your driving style.

 

This is why I thought it was unusual. Your 70K miles is impressive anyways I think - but I've managed 40K miles minimum on other cars I've had and 2 of those were heavier that the SII.  I'm not hard on the brakes and if I was ripping up to corners/lights and throwing out the anchors, I'd have thought the fronts would get eaten too.... hell, a 1.6d on  a Superb isn't exactly raped ape,  drove it like you stole it territory....

[TheRobinK]

3 minutes ago, SuperbTWM said:

If both sides have worn at a similar rate I wouldn't be too concerned about them wearing out before the fronts. I've had cars go through rears pads at a faster rate from the front before.

 

Thanks for that  - and yes, the wear is even. I do a fair bit of distance/low braking driving and the rest is mainly rural roads and not cities - hence me wondering about this wear.

 

I'm thinking that the first owners 5000 miles  (Skoda Ireland as it happens), they  committed acts of abuse on my rear. Thought not in a biblical way, of course.  

[TheClient]

Rear disc corrosion and pitting is fairly frequent tale.

 

They don't do a lot of work at the rear and seem to be very susceptible to corrosion and premature failure as a result. On my mk2 FL Octavia at 33k miles / 5 years the  rears were pretty knackered. [ Using the 272mm disc as well. ] Quite a few have seen less than that. Short trips, coastal proximity, salt spray and arguably cheaper manufacturing composition all probably play a part.

 

Skoda prices are quite high to do the discs and pads. There are other options if you want to look further afield than a franchised dealer or consider doing yourself.

Edited 31 July, 2017 by TheClient

[silver1011]

Are they worn or are they corroded?

 

Annual mileage of 8,000 miles means corrosion will be more likely than wear.

 

Whilst the easier life of the rear discs reveals itself in terms of reduced wear a side effect of that is unfortunately increased susceptibility to corrosion.

[StuartTunstall]

I have just had rear discs and pads put on my 2014 Rapid with 27000 miles on the clock.... 

 

As stated above I think rear discs are common because most of the braking is done by the fronts, I thing new Superbs are prone... 

 

As you can see.... not good, but worked OK lol 

 

 

[ahenners]

What's the best way to stop corrosion on the rears, if largely used on motorway?

[TheRobinK]

1 hour ago, TheClient said:

Rear disc corrosion and pitting is fairly frequent tale.

 

They don't do a lot of work at the rear and seem to be very susceptible to corrosion and premature failure as a result.

 

51 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

Are they worn or are they corroded?

 

Annual mileage of 8,000 miles means corrosion will be more likely than wear.

 

38 minutes ago, StuartTunstall said:

I have just had rear discs and pads put on my 2014 Rapid with 27000 miles

 

I think you guys have zeroed in on the cause. The cars first 5000 miles / 1st year was driving between dealers  to be on show and sit for awhile. I havent done huge miles as you can see - mainly infrequent long drives - I'm also not a million miles from the coast. Salt is not an issue but those disks will be sitting around damp for some time, especially during a West of Ireland winter. 

[silver1011]

1 hour ago, ahenners said:

What's the best way to stop corrosion on the rears, if largely used on motorway?

 

Heavy braking helps. It doesn't need to be every day, one a week or so is all it needs. A nice long down hill stretch on a quiet road is ideal, leaving your braking later than normal, apply plenty of pressure to the brake pedal and for as long as possible.

 

Also after slowing down to 10mph normally try using the handbrake to bring the car to a stop*

 

Both these options maximise the braking forces on the rear discs which helps to scrub off any corrosion as well as putting some heat through them.

 

* clearly only do this when safe to do so and when no one is behind you (no brake lights).

[ahenners]

Just now, silver1011 said:

 

Heavy braking helps. It doesn't need to be every day, one a week or so is all it needs. A nice long down hill stretch on a quiet road is ideal, leaving your braking later than normal, apply plenty of pressure to the brake pedal and for as long as possible.

 

Also after slowing down to 10mph normally try using the handbrake to bring the car to a stop*

 

Both these options maximise the braking forces on the rear discs which helps to scrub off any corrosion as well as putting some heat through them.

 

* clearly only do this when safe to do so and when no one is behind you (no brake lights).

 

Thanks, will give it a go! They don't look too bad at the moment but want to ensure they don't go bad. Have a nice country road near home I can do the stop safely.

[Danny 57]

My wife's Yaris does that to the discs so just before the mot I do five minutes of hard braking on a quiet road and the discs clean up very well.

[bigjohn]

 

Mine is also 3 years old at about 45k miles - disks and pads all round and don't hardly look worn (very slight ridge at the edge). Not sure if there is any difference in the brakes between my poverty S model and your Elegance model

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 August, 2017 by bigjohn

[TheRobinK]

1 hour ago, bigjohn said:

Not sure if there is any difference in the brakes between my poverty S model and your Elegance model

 

I wouldn't think so bigjohn. Both cars are big buggers - mine is just wearing a bit of lipstick. I'd say the brakes wouldn't differ greatly. Yours would probably wear more evenly all around as you wouldn't be so front heavy with that nice, light Tsi engine doing its work.

[wokwon]

Modern Volkswagens (this includes Skoda) tend to have light braking biased towards the rear with a progressive shift to primarily front braking as the pedal is depressed more.  This is to reduce the 'nodding' of the front of the car and that affect on the headlights. 

 

The nodding is reduced, as with rear-axle braking, the pivot point of the car when the weight shifts forward is around the rear axle.  With front-axle braking, the pivot point is around the front axle which is closer to the headlights and exaggerates the affect.

 

I read this in a training manual for the braking system of my 2007 MKV Jetta (A5 platform) and I can't imagine it's changed since.  I don't remember how they achieve the force distribution; I suspect the master cylinder has some sort of tricky valve thingy in it.

 

The end result is, if you do light braking a lot you tend to use up the rear pads and disks first.  I tend to use the gearbox to do my light braking (paddle shifter helps here) so my brakes tend to wear more or less evenly.

 

 

[bigjohn]

19 hours ago, TheRobinK said:

 

I wouldn't think so bigjohn. Both cars are big buggers - mine is just wearing a bit of lipstick. I'd say the brakes wouldn't differ greatly. Yours would probably wear more evenly all around as you wouldn't be so front heavy with that nice, light Tsi engine doing its work.

 

Yup my car is a big bugg-er - but so is it's driver . Suppose I should down size - But I like the comfort, refinement and waft factor tooo much . 

 

Didn't know whether some of the higher models of the MKII had electric hanbrakes - The MKIII Superb seems to be reported having rear disk wear issue with it's electric brake

 

 

PS I did look at the 1.6 and 2.0 diesel version but the petrol version was a LOT (many £1000's) cheaper at the time

[terrytowelling]

My rear pads last about 40 k, it's up to 160 k now and still has same disks

[terrytowelling]

On 7/31/2017 at 20:24, StuartTunstall said:

I have just had rear discs and pads put on my 2014 Rapid with 27000 miles on the clock.... 

 

As stated above I think rear discs are common because most of the braking is done by the fronts, I thing new Superbs are prone... 

 

As you can see.... not good, but worked OK lol 

 

 

that looks like the caliper isn't working correctly , it's probably stuck on it's sliding pins as it's not sweeping the disc

[StuartTunstall]

Calipers were fine.... did the brake test and passed the MOT at the dealers BEFORE they fitted the new one's lol ... Car was in for service, mot and brakes  

 

Edited 3 August, 2017 by StuartTunstall

[terrytowelling]

The pads clearly aren't touching the discs evenly and correctly

[sandspider]

My rear discs are corroded other than an inch or so width area near the hub. Should this be the case? Terry's comment above suggests not, and that the pads should move to cover the whole disc?