How long do you pads and rotors last?

Do you replace them both at the same time, or do two sets of pads per rotor?

Do you replace front and back at the same time?

 

200 views, no replies, wow!

 

I feel the same way....the forum is very quiet lately.

 

for sure...

 

I unfortunately can't help you with how long your pads and rotors will last since I've not yet owned my 991.1S long enough to know. On my other daily driver cars, I'm easily getting over 50,000 miles to 70,000 miles. I'm pretty sure the 991 will be a lot less than that. You do not need to replace the rotors at the same time as the pads unless you have issues with your rotors. Rotors have a minimum allowed thickness that is often cast or stamped into the rim of the rotor. Somewhere on the forums I would assume someone has posted the minimum rotor thickness. If you are doing the work yourself you would need the tools to measure the rotor thickness. That is basically the first step. If the rotor is too thin it will need to be replaced. If you see excessive cracks between the drilled holes, grossly uneven rotor surfaces, you would want to replace the rotors at the same time. There are specific reuse guidelines for cracks between the drilled holes. If you feel any pulsation through the brake pedal when braking you could also have a warped rotor and in that case you would want to replace the rotor at the same time as the pads. Now, if all of the rotor inspections show acceptable results you can change pads as much as you want. Each time you change the pads you should follow a "bedding-in" procedure to mate the new pads and materials to the old or new rotors. A dealership or Indy mechanic should perform all of these checks. I know some folks don't want to mess with the worries of reusing rotors and just pay the ransom of new rotors and pads at the same time. You do not need to do that. If you put new rotors on, you still need to bed the pads in to the rotor.

As far as replacing the front and rear at the same time...no you do not have to do this at the same time. Note, the pad and rotor wear rates can be significantly different between the front and rear. With the modern electronic control systems they can modulate braking independently on all four corners for improved handling/yaw control of your car. I've had a car that would go through 2 sets of rear pads for every 1 set of front pads. (tracking) You should have pad wear sensors on the front and rear to let you know when you need to change pads. If you have a calibrated eye, you can also visually check the pad thickness with the wheels off and determine when to change pads.

Oh...I should have mentioned on the rotor inspection, if your pad wear sensor popped out of the caliper and you happened to run the brake pad steel back into the rotor, the rotor surface will look over heated and have all sorts of surface issues. And, it would have squealed like crazy to let you know something wasn't right. In that case, change the rotors.

I hope this answers your questions.

 

Zoiks,
Fantastic!

Thank you for your very detailed response!

 

I just got new OEM pads and rotors on my 2012 991.1 C2S Cab at 49k miles. The old ones were squealing when braking, and there was about 3mm left on pads. Price with parts, labor, tax, etc. for all four wheels was about $1,800 at my indy shop in Atlanta.

 

That sounds like a great deal!

amazed you got 49k out of the original brakes

 

I have heard people get 15k, 50k and some 80k, depends on how you drive. But just street and no last second stopping should get you 50k. And Rennlist is much more active in the 991 Forum.

 

86k so far on the front...the rear rotors and brakes were replaced for reasons other than wear at 58k. 991c2

 

Rotors last a long time. Pads depend on use. I’ve burned up the stock pads doing a track day (rears). If you drive aggressively then look into upgrades like Pagid. They are easy to replace; I did it myself in a few hours (first time). Now that I’ve done it I could do it again in 1-2 hours most of which is getting the wheels on/off.

 

Thank you Zoiks!

How do you read the sensors to know when to replace the pads?

If using an Indy mechanic, where is a good source for pads? I track my daily driver 2-3 weekends a year.

 

I visually check my brake pad thickness since I swap my track brake pads out for street pads on a regular basis. I do not use street brake pads on the track. If you have downloaded the "Good to Know" Porsche app that has the owners manual in it there is a section that explains the dash lights and dash messages. For the brake pad sensor, the warning and information message comes up on the multi-function display. I pasted what is in the owners manual below. Each brake caliper has the pad wear sensor but the watch out is that sometimes these wear sensors can pop out of the caliper and you may not get a warning if that happens. It is easy to visually check the pad thickness as a back up approach. Of course you want to avoid hearing the metal to metal contact since you will end up replacing a rotor if that happens. Many folks that track there cars just zip tie the brake pad wear sensor out of the way since they break easy and are expensive to replace. If you are checking the pad thickness regularly you don't have to worry about relying on the wear sensor. I would expect a brake job at a Porsche dealer might always replace the wear sensor too. An Indy mechanic probably will not do that. As to where to buy, most appear to use Suncoast parts, Pelican Parts, or Apex Performance. For track pads I buy them from Clark at Apex performance. The folks at Apex performance are great at customer service. Call them for pricing. I've not purchased any street pads yet but I would be checking what Apex sells when I get to that point.

Hope that helps.