brake pad wear?
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,719
Likes: 4
From: cinnaminson n.j.
St. Jude Donor '14
It's not uncommon for 4 wheel disc brake cars to need rear brakes 1st. I think it's because they are usually much smaller thinner pads. Also with abs they work a little harder than non abs cars. Abs won't let them lock up.
I can't say for sure on a c5 if it's common. Other long term owners might chime in and lat you know.
I can't say for sure on a c5 if it's common. Other long term owners might chime in and lat you know.
Instructor
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 146
Likes: 13
From: San Jose CA
I have never seen this on ANY car, 4-wheel discs or not. Marty is correct that the rear brake pads are smaller, but the bias in the hydraulics apply LESS force to the rear wheels when braking. Think about it, as you brake, the nose gets "heavier" and the rear gets "lighter". If equal braking force were applied to the fronts and the rears, the rears would lock-up, or activate the ABS in any hard braking situation.
I have personally put over 146,000 miles on my 2001 C5, including about 3 dozen days at the track. In my experience, the rears last almost twice as long as the fronts in every situation. If you're wearing out the rears faster than the fronts, I'd suspect something is dragging, and would check that your guide pins are lubricated properly.
I have personally put over 146,000 miles on my 2001 C5, including about 3 dozen days at the track. In my experience, the rears last almost twice as long as the fronts in every situation. If you're wearing out the rears faster than the fronts, I'd suspect something is dragging, and would check that your guide pins are lubricated properly.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 16,028
Likes: 170
From: oregon
i haven't seen it on a corvette but i have on smaller hondas that use rear pads about the size of your thumb
that said the most common cause of rears wearing faster is sticky pistons in the caliper that don't completely retract
that said the most common cause of rears wearing faster is sticky pistons in the caliper that don't completely retract
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,507
Likes: 9
It's not uncommon for 4 wheel disc brake cars to need rear brakes 1st. I think it's because they are usually much smaller thinner pads. Also with abs they work a little harder than non abs cars. Abs won't let them lock up.
I can't say for sure on a c5 if it's common. Other long term owners might chime in and lat you know.
I can't say for sure on a c5 if it's common. Other long term owners might chime in and lat you know.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 16,028
Likes: 170
From: oregon
did you check to see how smooth the pistons in the rear calipers were when you bled the brakes. they should slide in pretty easy, if you have to really get on a clamp to make them budge that's your problem
if you love in a corrosive area or the rubber booties are compromised or you haven't changed the brake fluid every other year like you're suppose to that could be it as well
brake fluid absorbs water and some lazy owners who have never changed their fluid wind up with 4 stuck calipers. not good for the abs system either having so much water in the lines
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 56
Likes: 2
Calipers,rotors,pads and fluid all have 32,000 miles on them. Pistons are smooth functioning and slide pins are lubed and smooth operating. About 6 miles per day is extreme slow and steep hills. Rear brake wear is about 20% greater than front. Car stops perfectly and in a straight line. Back end does not try to come around in a panic stop.
Instructor
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 146
Likes: 13
From: San Jose CA
Hmmm.
Are both sides, and all 4 pads wearing pretty much evenly? Non-lubricated or sticky guide (or slide) pins would cause uneven wear on each pad within one caliper. A piston that isn't retracting properly (but with well-lubricated guide pins) would cause pads on one caliper to wear out sooner than the opposing side - assuming they aren't BOTH stuck.
Do you know the complete repair history of this car?
Just grasping at straws here, with limited information, butOf course, you could be chasing after a problem when the simplest explanation might be that this is "normal" for your driving style. The easiest solution might just be to keep an eye on your rear brake pad wear and replace them when needed.
But in answer to your original question, this is unusual for a C5.
Are both sides, and all 4 pads wearing pretty much evenly? Non-lubricated or sticky guide (or slide) pins would cause uneven wear on each pad within one caliper. A piston that isn't retracting properly (but with well-lubricated guide pins) would cause pads on one caliper to wear out sooner than the opposing side - assuming they aren't BOTH stuck.
Do you know the complete repair history of this car?
Just grasping at straws here, with limited information, but
- Is it possible that someone changed the proportioning valve within the master cylinder before you took posession of this car? I have no clue how one might test this valve...
- Are the wheels the stock sizes? The traction control expects to have the rears slightly larger than the fronts, resulting in the rear wheels rotating slower than the fronts at the same speed (the rear wheels travel ~7% further for every revolution.) If you have all 4 wheels the same size, the traction control could be activating the rear brakes in an attempt to slow the rear wheels down; but if the traction control was kicking in on a regular basis, you should get a message like "TCS Active" on the DIC.
But in answer to your original question, this is unusual for a C5.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 16,028
Likes: 170
From: oregon
you have 10 plus year old brake fluid in this car?
pistons may not be operating correctly, that fluid will boil easy with so much water in it.
you might get lucky and not have wasted the entire abs system but running a car this old on stock fluid is just wreckless
likely rust in the system from your watered down degraded brake fluid
flush that fluid pronto with a decent dot4, ate typ200 is a good bang for the buck and is sold on amazon
you always always always change brake fluid in cars you care about yearly or every other year
pistons may not be operating correctly, that fluid will boil easy with so much water in it.
you might get lucky and not have wasted the entire abs system but running a car this old on stock fluid is just wreckless
likely rust in the system from your watered down degraded brake fluid
flush that fluid pronto with a decent dot4, ate typ200 is a good bang for the buck and is sold on amazon
you always always always change brake fluid in cars you care about yearly or every other year
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 16,028
Likes: 170
From: oregon
i honestly have no idea
if you inspected the rear calipers and the pistons move freely
the last guess is your driving conditions are somehow the culprit
i really doubt at 32k your wheel bearings would have wobble, that in theory could do it
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 7,876
Likes: 254
From: Hillsboro OR
I have noticed excessive rear pad wear (but not more than front) on the track. I have attributed it to Active Handling. Per the Service Manual... if you are aggressively braking and turning at the same time (i.e. trail braking) AH will engage. I now turn off AH and TC on the track and the rear pad wear has resumed to a normal wear (significantly less than the front).
HTH
HTH