SO I took my car for inspection at the local infiniti dealer last month and it passed but they recommended rear brakes. I passed on having them do it and ordered pads. I just put them on this past weekend and the stock pads appear to be fine. They told me they were down to 2/32" (PA state requires 1/32" or more), but when I measured and had another inspection place measure, they said 6/32". I confronted the dealership and they said they measure from the squeeker, not the base plate. I've never heard of this, I know the squeeker is there to warn when pad are getting low but the dealer says they want to catch it beforehand to avoid the squeeker digging into the rotor. Any thoughts here? How do they measure if the pads don't have the squeeker? I put hawks on and they have nothing. I think the dealership tried to screw me but they won't admit it, obviously. I need some opinions. Thanks. Oh, my car is an 03 coupe with brembo's that has 37k miles. Thanks.

 

What dealership?

 

Infiniti of West Chester.

 

they measure from the squeeker that wasn't there. how the hell did
they pull that off?

 

Sorry, this is the tab type squeeker the hangs out the side of the pad.

My question is, if this is true how do they measure pads that don't have this wear indicator? To my knowledge, PA requires no less then 2/32" for glued pads. My problem is that they said I needed pads soon even though I'm at 6/32". I think they made up there own measuring technique I just wanted some more confirmation.

 

http://autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker...3d801931d8.jsp

I found a picture from autozone's website in the DIY section. At the bottom of the page for disc brakes (Figure 21). You can see the metal tab that is similar to the ones found on the stock brembo pads. They measured 2-3/32" from that tab and reported my brake pad thickness as such. I confirmed that the pad is actually 6/32" from the metal base, which is perfectly acceptable and should last some time.

 

I had the same thing from mine. We went in for the 30,000 service and the service writer (whom I have had NO reason to distrust) said "do you want to do the brakes, they're down to 5 mm" and showed me a piece of plastic corresponding to the size. I said no thanks and that was it. So now I have 42,000 and with all the brake wear talk on here, I decided to change them my self. I order some "Green Stuff" pads. and go to work.

I get the car jacked up (took almost as long as the whole brake job) and get the wheels off. The rotors look as good as the day I bought the car, no ridges, grooves and just the slightest bit of wear. I pull the pads and check them against the new ones. 1.5 mm difference!!!! At 42,000 miles! I don't know what they did with the new brakes in the 2005's (sport), but they are wonderful. Twin piston fronts. (BTW, it uses the same pads as the M45 in the front)

So, I put in the new pads, rotate the tires and give them a good "bedding in". They stop like dropping a Battleship anchor!

PS: you need a BIG gear puller to get the back rotors off.

 

I measure the actual pad thickness. If you were to measure your old pads vs. the squeaker, I would bet it is somewhere around 1/32-2/32.

If you don't trust them ask them to ESCORT you into the shop and show you YOUR car. A piece of plastic would not do it for me.

As much as I bitch about my customers being picky *******s, they did hire me to do the work hence that makes the customer the boss. Don't let some PITA service writer tell you how or what you are going to your car.

 

Texasscout, I love this... Political Correctness:A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.--- Kati

 

Well I had the old pads and a steel ruler to measure them, and the actual pad is 6/32". They are claiming that the proper measurement is from the squeaker which is attached to some of the pads, not all. From this squeeker they claimed I had 2/32", which would mean I had 4/32" which is still plenty of pad. The 2/32" that they claimed was also incorrect because it was actually 3-4/32". I spoke to the Director of Service today and got nowhere again, probably because he is the service managers father. I'm most likely going to contact corporate Infiniti because I believe they are crossing over the ethical borderline. They are used to rich infiniti owners that believe anything they say, unfortunately for them I caught them in their lie and won't let it go. I wish I could post a picture, I'm sure everyone would be amazed. If anyone can host let me know and I'll email it.

 

Remember, you still need SOME pad material to attach it to the backing plate. So you can't count at least 2/32" of that pad.

I had a Chrysler Sebring that has the pad material shucked off the backing plates 3 times! Of course each time, my teenage daughter was driving and it was some kind of "panic" stop.

 

I took some pics today. They clearly show that the pads measure between 6/32" and 7/32" from the metal base of the pad. I realize that once they get down to 1-2/32" they need to be changed. Our state minimum is 2/32" which tells me that 2/32" is safe to drive on.

 

So you have 2/32" left and you pass your annual state inspection, how long will they last? Darn sure not a year.