09 Rear brake pads...37,000 miles

Hi everyone,
Just turned 37000 mile. changed my rear brake pads. Very straight forward with instructions on the web.

I commute 33 miles each way to work so i was surprised it needed pads.

Some lessons learned:

I forgot to take release the parking brake, made it hard to pull the brakes off the left rotor.
I didnt turn the rotor.
the outside pads looked fine, but the inner pads were almost all the way gone.

Terry

How did you perform the wind back, without the wind back tool?

37,000 miles is pretty typical for rear pads on the MkV cars, TDI or not. My pads are just about shot at 32,000 miles and frankly, I'll be glad to get rid of them and throw a set of aftermarket pads on that dust less.

brake tool and pads

Yes,
I used the brake toolset from harbor freight tools. worked like a charm to wind the brake cylinder back in.

I also used Hawk pads.

Oh, i called my dealer and told them that the inside wore way more than the outside, they said that used to be an issue on 08 cars. They will look at mine regarding adjusting the e brake.

Terry

Do the rear brakes have a sensor to let you know when they need to be replaced?

Turning the rotors on a VW is not recommended. The rotors will warp fairly quickly since they'll be thinner.

To replace the rotors, you need to remove the caliper carrier, which requires the 14mm triple square and new bolts. The originals are in REALLY tight, and unless you have a lift available, it's really tough to get them out.

bombero said:

Do the rear brakes have a sensor to let you know when they need to be replaced?

Click to expand...

I don't remember for sure, but the rears may have the metal noise maker that hits the rotor when the pads are thin, but they do not have the electric sensor the fronts have.

No sensor on the rear brakes. you will need the tool to spin piston back in. Sensor only on the front pads. you don't need the tool on the fronts.

My lesson was to park on a flat area with no children around. My driveway has a gentle downslope. I had no brakes(no ebrakes, no fronts) until I got the car running and everything pumped up. Very snug pucker factor there for about 3 seconds!

What pads are suggested as replacements?

BTL said:

What pads are suggested as replacements?

Click to expand...

I used Mintex Red Box ceramic pads. I've never used ceramics before, but so far I'm happy with them. One big plus is no brake dust.

kafer65 said:

My lesson was to park on a flat area with no children around. My driveway has a gentle downslope. I had no brakes(no ebrakes, no fronts) until I got the car running and everything pumped up. Very snug pucker factor there for about 3 seconds!

Click to expand...

Yes, that's an important step when doing a brake job. Since you've compressed the pistons all the way in, the pads are nowhere near the discs....relatively speaking. Several pumps are needed to get things back where they belong.

I put ceramic pads on and then threw them out after a few months...not nearly as nice as the Hawk HPS pads.

I'm a huge fan of the hawk pads. search for them and you'll find a couple debates here on the forum. They're not ceramic but I don't get any brake dust either. I don't own stock in the company, and I stand to gain nothing by suggesting them Just a happy customer.

A lot of people have backed off the adjustment on the parking brake to reduce rear brake wear. Many people are finding that the cable doesn't completely release tension with the factory setting and it cooks through the inside pad.

The rear pads on our '09 wore pretty early as well. I have to do the fronts within the next few weeks; at 62k. I'm using mintex pads, no complaints. No sense in changing rotors this early unless they're warped, I'll usually run through 2 sets of pads on a rotor before changing them, just cause they're relatively cheap. I'll probably go 3 sets of pads on the rears of the '09.

inside wears faster???

So my real question is why do the inside pads wear twice as fast as the outside pads? is this and issue or normal. can anyone explain it?
Thanks
Terry

What you are describing seems like a issue the dealer should be addressing. It certainly does NOT sound normal.

It would seem that if not addressed, you will have the same pad wear conditions app 37,000 miles from now (70-75k miles).

ruking said:

What you are describing seems like a issue the dealer should be addressing. It certainly does NOT sound normal.

It would seem that if not addressed, you will have the same pad wear conditions app 37,000 miles from now (70-75k miles).

Click to expand...

This has been happening on VWs since the A4 line was introduced and is continuing with the A5 platform. It's a combination of the back brakes doing more braking, softer pads, and a sticky parking brake.

MayorDJQ said:

This has been happening on VWs since the A4 line was introduced and is continuing with the A5 platform. It's a combination of the back brakes doing more braking, softer pads, and a sticky parking brake.

Click to expand...

From what I have read, +1 on the sticking parking brake.

Fortunately, my A5s parking brake is O.K. At 71k miles, it looks like I have about another 20k miles left on the rear brakes.

I think another issue is that a lot of folks overuse their brakes, especially with automatics.......................

MayorDJQ said:

This has been happening on VWs since the A4 line was introduced and is continuing with the A5 platform. It's a combination of the back brakes doing more braking, softer pads, and a sticky parking brake.

Click to expand...

I think from a dealer/customer warranty perspective, if one suspects a sticky parking brake, bring it in.

As for the rear bias, softer pads (I would assume you are referring to softer rear pads), there are slight driving alterations one can do.

So for example on an A4 (I have an A5 platform also) they were designed for higher speed stopping on the autobahn. (130 mph- down). Because on American roads the speed limits are 65 mph braking is @ lower speeds (65 mph-down). So what happens is at lower weight transfers, we brake in such a way as to cause the rear biased and smaller brake pads and rotors to take on more of the stopping percentage. The consequences are predictable.

So i took it in to address the inside pads wearing more

than the outside pads. They assured me that is it normal and that they looked at the parking brake and it is adjusted correctly.

My buddy with and 03 sais his rear inside pads wear out way before the outside pads, but he gets 70,000 miles out of pads if not more.

T

I'd love to know how they checked the parking brake adjustment...just checking for free wheel spin is one thing, but it can be dragging just a bit and you won't notice by spinning the tire when the car is in the air.

I backed mine off to where the nut wasn't touching the plate attached to the brake handle just to make sure it wasn't under tension without me engaging the brake. I remember seeing another writeup where someone installed extra springs to disengage the parking brake arm...but I lack the ambition.

I suggest checking this on your own. Check the adjustment and also make sure the caliper is sliding okay on the carrier...