Scary uneven brake pad wear

'01 Jetta acquired a year ago, replaced just the pads all around, and replaced the rear rotors. I left the front rotors in place since they were OK thickness-wise. I lubed (silicon grease) the pins and everything by the book or so I thought, and I have zero symptoms - no shudder or anything. Brakes perform excellent. Rear pads and rotors look perfect.

Today I noticed some insanely uneven pad wear on my fronts.
Questions: What did I do wrong to create this scary wear pattern, and how do I make sure and correct it once new pads are on?
I want to replace the front rotors and pads ASAP.
Left front:


Right front:
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showfull.php?photo=132322


Advise, please and thank you!

Perhaps I'm having trouble with one photo not being next to the other (I have to follow the link) but they look fine....

What's wrong exactly? Left more worn?

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If you look carefully at the above photo, you can see that most of the pad is not even with the rotor. The metal backing of the pad is parallel to the rotor, the body of the pad itself is not (if you compare to the backing).
The pad has become wedge-shaped with the front way slimmer than the rear of it.

The wear pattern is the same left vs. right pads.

I'll have to wait for my gal to get free so she can exercise the brakes while I watch what's going on with the motion there.

Check guide pins for wear and properly greased.

I'd stick a phone camera in there and look along the disc, some pads are tapered on the edge that would create an optical illusion like it's wearing uneven.

Take a look at the last photo on this page:

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/431445-abnormal-brake-pad-wear/

Were your new pads tapered?

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STDOUBT said:

If you look carefully at the above photo, you can see that most of the pad is not even with the rotor. The metal backing of the pad is parallel to the rotor, the body of the pad itself is not (if you compare to the backing).
The pad has become wedge-shaped with the front way slimmer than the rear of it.

Click to expand...

uh, look at some brand new pads, the ends are cut down like that from the factory

Looks like a wedge, not like a typical tapered end. Clearly more meat at the bottom.

When I saw the taper on my new pads it threw me for a loop too. If the taper is anything like the ones shown in Figit090's last post, it's normal.

Yeah gotta agree with everyone else, I see nothing wrong. That swege missing is supposed to be there.

STDOUBT-I'm with you on this... They DO look wedge shaped, not tapered. Optics can be deceiving, however that picture looks like uneven brake pad wear big time. Look at the rear pads again. Post a pic of the rears at the same exact angle you took of the fronts. If they are perfect like you say, there is no way your fronts should be this far off. I bet someone here has a pic of their brake pads for comparison.

Dang. Just when I thought I was hallucinating after all...
I'll go pull a tire tonight and get a full on look-see.

It could be the camera angle . If you don't have a dial caliper or small metal machinist ruler to measure the pad thickness to see if it is tapered, try this. I would grab two wooden toothpicks and a marker. At the non beveled part of the pad, place the tip of the first toothpick on the rotor, and measure back to the backing material. That will give you a point of reference for how thick the pad is THERE. Measure the distance a few inches away (or at the end of the possible taper), mark the second tooth pick THERE. Place booth toothpicks side by side. The marks should line up if the pad thickness is the same. If one line is shorter than the other, then you have a taper and don't need to pull the rear wheels off.

It must have been the viewing angle. Those goofy bevels. I guess they're
there for a reason? Anyway, I only checked the driver's side. Looks A-OK IMO
Thanks everyone!
From directly above, no tire:

From rearward from hub:

There, now you can rest easy, enjoy some of this rain we're getting.

Nero Morg said:

There, now you can rest easy, enjoy some of this rain we're getting.

Click to expand...

Truly heaven sent - I love our climate!
Yes, Worry less - Drive more!

Dam engineers!

STDOUBT said:

Truly heaven sent - I love our climate!
Yes, Worry less - Drive more!

Click to expand...

Them optical illusions! I thought that's what it was. Glad it's ok.

Figit090 said:

Them optical illusions! I thought that's what it was. Glad it's ok.

Click to expand...

Wish I would have seen this sooner, but I just did all my pads and rotors and that taper is on the pads brand new.

What is the purpose of the taper? Anyone know? I've seen it on other vehicles, not just VW. Of course as the pad wears, the surface area in contact with the rotor increases. It must have something to do with the fact that the rotor speed increases in direct proportion to the distance away from the center?

I had no problem believing there was something wrong. I may even have the wrecked pads still, but there was about 3/16" difference in thickness as you went out radially. Caliper was bent. New one with new pads did not wear that way.
cheers,
Douglas

SteelyTed said:

What is the purpose of the taper? Anyone know? I've seen it on other vehicles, not just VW. Of course as the pad wears, the surface area in contact with the rotor increases. It must have something to do with the fact that the rotor speed increases in direct proportion to the distance away from the center?

Click to expand...

I would guess that it's to eliminate brake noise on new pads that haven't settled in yet, and throughout most of the brake pad life. If it's a tapered edge it should slide on the rotor smoother than a block. Imagine a sled on snow, you want to have a tapered front or you'll dig in.

Similar concept, a brake pad might vibrate or squeal if the leading edge is perpendicular to the rotor. Kinda like nails on a chalkboard!