Should I replace my rear brake pads?

[pierson181]

My 2003 ford explorer has 160,000 miles on it and I am pretty sure the rear brake pads have never been changed. They have recently started to squeak real bad and I dont know if I should get them changed or not? Is there a way I can check and see if the pads are still good?

 

[mikwik]

When you check the pads and they are fine then you will have to go down a check list to isolate the cause of the squeaking, however (and this is no guarantee), I have found that when the brakes squeak the pads usually need to be replaced; if they squeak real bad the pads usually need to be replaced as well as the rotors that the overly worn pads have damaged. Pick up a Haynes repair manual and you will find the procedure for properly checking the brake pads. They need attention now!! and checking them for wear is simple.

 

[Sedition]

I think it's time for some new pads. They are not hard to change your self. I doubt you will need new rotors. You may find this video useful if you would like to change them yourself.

 

[pierson181]

Thanks that helped a lot!

 

[Exproblems]

My 2003 ford explorer has 160,000 miles on it and I am pretty sure the rear brake pads have never been changed. They have recently started to squeak real bad and I dont know if I should get them changed or not? Is there a way I can check and see if the pads are still good?

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If your rear brake pads(Disc Brakes) are bad and have never been changed before, you can pretty much expect the Parking Brakes(Drum Brakes) are shot as well. The Parking Brakes are located under the inside portion of the rear rotors. The rotor would have to be taken off to inspect the Parking Brakes but for the Disc Brakes, just remove the rear tire and you can see how much good brake pad you have left on them. Check pad thickness on the inner and outer pads and make sure your rotor surface doesn't have any ground in lines cut into it from completely worn down pads where metal on metal was scraping. Also, disc brake pads usually have a low pad thickness warning tab built into them, that will scrape the outer edge of the rotor letting you know the pad thickness is low. This could be what you are hearing now. Like Sedition said, the rear brake pads are easy to do, but if you need new Parking Brakes as well, you better have someone else do them for you because they can be a PITA to do and more work involved than the disc brakes.

 

[pierson181]

Thanks exproblems.