My wife, the brake killer
 

My wife's daily driver is a 2019 Traverse AWD. It has about 50k on it and I just installed the third set of front brakes on the car. I got about 40k out of the OEM pads, which I was disappointed about. I installed Duralast Gold ceramic pads and freshened up the rotors in March and 10k miles later, they are toast.

She's notoriously hard on our cars and has a heavy foot, but I've never seen someone who can kill a set of brakes so quick in daily driving! Granted, we do live at the top of a pretty steep hill, but it doesn't seem to be an issue for my daily driver.

It looks like some debris may have got between the pad and rotor on the passenger side which hastened the demise. She does drive on unpaved roads several times a week. Either way, these pads were down to the nub. Not surprising since the front wheels are always covered in black brake dust. Oddly, the rear brakes have plenty of meat on the OEM pads and look great.

I ended up replacing the front pads and rotors with a PowerStop Z23 Carbon Fiber-Ceramic set for towing. Hopefully I get more than 10k out of them otherwise I may have to get used to doing the brakes when I change the oil.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1705102323

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1705102052

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1705102049

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1705102055

the running joke in my house.. my wife has smoked brakes in our fords chevys pontiacs now a tundra. she insists the brake engineers have moved from every car co we have owned to the next car we have owned..yet i watch in horror the few times im in the pass seat as she speeds up to red lights then slams on the brakes at the same time STANDING on the brake pedal,,she will never understand the theory of engine braking..

It’s pretty simple guys.

Women shouldn’t be driving.

Period. :D

Can't complain about my wife or my daughters. The wife has put 240,000 miles on her Cadillac and is now on her third set of pads.
I taught them early on about engine braking and they all know how to downshift on hills or steep grades. The Cadillac is pretty easy. Move the shifter to the right and slap it forward or back

I’ve mentioned this before in other threads.
Example, my wife drove an ‘03 Avalon for years, I NEVER got more than about 8-9 months (around 15,000 miles) out of the front brakes, even using top of the line NAPA pads and rotors. She gets a new car, I use the Avalon as a daily driver. I never did the brakes in the couple years I drove that car!
She is oblivious to stop signs and red lights, speed up to them, SLAM the brakes on.
As of right now, I have 101,000 miles on my Duramax brakes. Just sayin’

Does she drive around with her left foot riding the brake pedal? I think a lot of people do that without paying attention to it.

Thats pretty nuts. I mean I dont think Im particularly easy on the brakes. In fact my dad always complains that I wait too long and brake too hard. (but hes a baby) I always tell him hes better at driving slowly than I am, and I am better than him at literally every other aspect of existing on this planet.

I changed the pads and rotors on my 2017 Ram 1500 at I think 90k, or maybe it was 100. Whatever the schedule was.

That's how my mother drove. Left foot resting on the brake the entire time with just enough pressure to have the brake lights on continuously.. I used to watch her drive away down the long road from our house, brake lights on the whole time. No matter how I tried to convince her not to do that she would not listen. It's a miracle she never got rear ended. With the lights on continuously, you could never tell when she was braking.

:) ;)

LOL.

My Mom, when she was alive....and driving. She either had the throttle pedal FULLY applied, or the brake pedal fully applied!

NOTHING in between!!!

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...3&d=1705142572



Frank

To address the OP's actual problem, the rear brakes need the attention. The Traverse layout is a brake system killer for sure. A super heavy FWD car basically, with a truck/SUV body on it with possibly an AWD system if equipped. My estimate is when working properly, 70-75% of the braking would be done by the front anyway. Now add in those glazed rear rotors and old, super hard rear pads and the rear may be doing 5-10% of the braking. Super high center of gravity, tons of weight transfer when braking, no front brake pads will last long. Also IMO, the front brakes are way, way too small for what amounts to a small school bus. I really like your choice of Power Stop front pads and rotors. I have had excellent luck with those. But to really solve the issue or extend the life, I would put the same stuff on the rear.

Good call. I hadn’t considered the rear rotors might be glazed, but there’s such a difference between condition of the rear and front, that may be the case.

Most people are like robots where they don't look ahead, stab the gas and brakes, ride the brakes while tailgating in heavy traffic rather than leaving a gap, etc.

I have 25 years and 170K miles on the original brakes on my Honda accord. The original factory front brakes have about 25% wear. The rear shoes have less than 5% wear. I grease the pins in the front brakes every 5 years so they don't seize up.

The car will probably end up in the junkyard with the original brakes all around.

FWIW;
Always use Acebono pads if available for your application.
No dust.
https://akebonobrakes.com/
Use the quality high carbon version of rotors.
Don't just pad - rotor slap it and call it good.
New-rebuilt calipers are cheap, also new rubber brake lines.
I usually buy online from rockauto.
and lol
https://i.postimg.cc/LYXpVJYd/b6eb1ed741d319da-Copy.png

Part list; 2019 Traverse AWD w/V6 I assume,
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...D0chC%2B3JCH6S
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...D0chC%2B3JCH6S
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...rake+hose,1792

My wife used to do EXACTLY the same thing to every vehicle she's ever owned. Some of the cheaper models she's owned lucky to get 10,000 on a set of front pads/rotors, a few of the higher end models she's driven in more recent years 30,000 best case scenario.

I second B-man's vote that women shouldn't be driving and even if they were allowed to there should be something in the vehicle that automatically disables their cell phones till the reach their final destination.

Anyhow and on a more serious note I've ran the gauntlet with brake pads and rotors. Years ago NAPA was the place to go, now all these auto parts store pretty much sell the same low to mid-level junk. In recent years I"ve switched to Power Stop and compared to what else is out there they are closer to the top of the pile. I always select the zinc plated rotors when the option is available, vs plain or painted as it really wards off the rust we get from all the salt on the roads this far North.......

Agree,
The power stop parts [drilled-slotted rotors and coated calipers] have been solid.
The zinc coating on the rotors for my BMW 328I are still like new after 2-1/2 yrs. out here in WA state.

My wife doesn't kill brakes but all four rims are curb struck. It took forever to get her to NOT have her foot on the gas pedal when starting the car.

Not all women drive crazy, I replaced the front brakes on my mothers Toyota Camry at 130K miles and again at 250K miles. It has over 300K miles now and still on the factory original rear shoes.

My grandfather was a 2 foot driver, and to make things worse, had neck surgery that left feeling in his legs at around 50%. He pretty much stabbed the throttle and controlled the speed with the brake pedal on an early 80's Lincoln Towncar, goin through front brakes every 5-6 months even though they never traveled more than 10-15 miles from home. Also blamed my grandmother for going through brakes even though she drove conservatively.