Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting What could make 1 brake wears more than the other?

Searched the forum but didn't find the exact conditions as I'm experencing.

Lately I have noticed the driver side front rotor being a lot warmer than the one on the other side after driving a while, so I decided to replace the front calipers with re-manufactured ones, as these have never been replaced or rebuilt since the car, 97 Tour Sport V6 MTX, W/O ABS, was new, so far at 87,500 miles, and I think I owe her calipers anyway.

When I took out the front brakes I found the driver side pads and rotors worn a lot more than the other side. Also in the driver side brake the inner pad and rotor surface worn more than that on the outer side. The inner pad is about 1.5 milimeter thinner in remianing pad thickness than that of the outer one.

As far as I know a seized piston can lead to un-even pad/rotor wear, but what could make driver side brake wear a lot more than the passenfer side? Could it be the master cylinder or the proportional valve?

The car has been running and stopping great with no problems with the brakes since I changed the rotors and pads 3 years ago. The fluid level has been normal. There is no fluid leaking, no vibrations, no squeaking, and the pedal has been firm and sure.

In addition to the calipers I'm changing out the rotors and pads as well. But I'm still worrying about the condition that causes one side brake wears more than the other side persists.

I wonder if anyone out there in the group has experienced the same and would share the info/idea by shedding some light on this.

Thanks a lot!

Your calipers may have been OK. The most common problem with uneven wear is from sticking caliper slide pins and/or lack of lubrication where the pad backing plate contacts the caliper.

When you install the new parts make sure that the slide pins on the new calipers are well lubricated and lide freely. Make sure that you also lubricate the pad backing plate wherever it makes contact with the caliper, especially any edges that tend to slide as the pad wears. You should be able to find disc brake caliper slide grease wherever brake parts are sold.

As long as you are replacing the calipers and need to bleed the brakes anyway, now is a good time to change all the brake fluid, fronts and rears.

I've seen people use vise grips to remove the caliper pins. The vise grips scar the caliper pins and cause them to stick. The scared caliper pins cause the brake pads to wear out quickly.

For me it was - Front Brake Pins
Grease the pins and bushings every 20,000kms
Replace if they are rusty , chewed or generally mangled.....
Replace brake fluid
Replace calipers(every 100K kms)
Replace rubber brake hoses