How long do brake pads last?

[scottm]

Well thanks for that. Baking, not braking, right!? Never heard of baking rotors in the oven at 500F.


I will google into that some more...

I can say that my long hard braking did help alleviate the grabby pulsations somewhat. But it's still noticeable. Maybe I can move this in the right direction even more.

It was also a good experience braking hard to get an appreciation of just how heavy this car is. And I understand why the rotors are so huge now, it's not just for show. It takes a long time to slow this beast down from traveling at high speed.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Depends on my mood. as does my Wh/Mile.

 

[AWDtsla]

Well thanks for that. Baking, not braking, right!? Never heard of baking rotors in the oven at 500F.


I will google into that some more...

I can say that my long hard braking did help alleviate the grabby pulsations somewhat. But it's still noticeable. Maybe I can move this in the right direction even more.

It was also a good experience braking hard to get an appreciation of just how heavy this car is. And I understand why the rotors are so huge now, it's not just for show. It takes a long time to slow this beast down from traveling at high speed.

Yes baking. If you have an industrial oven go hotter. You want to basically uniformly anneal the whole rotor before you try and use pads to heat it up.

Let's see if I can keep the same set of rotors and pads for the life of this car...

 

[jerry33]

Actual warped rotors are almost always caused by improper torquing of the wheels.

 

[glhs272]

"How long do the brake pads last?" 100,000 miles.

"How much does it cost to replace?" $207 for the pads. $150/hr labor. Loaner included.

At that price I think I will opt for for aftermarket pads and do it myself.

 

[Mickie]

Using TACC I find that the 'autopilot' uses a fair amount of braking in traffic at times/places where I wouldn't, as I can anticipate better than the camera can. I wonder how much effect this will have on brake pad wear. . .

Yep

 

[LastGas]

There is a story of a 100,000 mile Tesla taxi that had to have brake pads.

 

[smilepak]

I almost never use the brakes, brake pads should last forever. My 217K mile Prius has the original pads and about 85% left.

Wow, super amazing!

 

[CanuckS#69]

Mine has 235k km and the pads are about halfway worn.

 

[Quasar]

Normally on a heavy car you'd go through a lot of brake pads, but on the MS I find that I use the brakes very little due to regen.

Has anybody had to replace their brake pads on their MS? If so how many miles?

I have a 2016 AP2. I see a lot of brake dust on the front wheels. Is that normal?

 

[sorka]

I have a 2016 AP2. I see a lot of brake dust on the front wheels. Is that normal?

Depends on whether you use the brakes or not. Only time I use them is when I drop below 3 MPH and actually need to completely stop.

 

[whttiger25]

Using TACC I find that the 'autopilot' uses a fair amount of braking in traffic at times/places where I wouldn't, as I can anticipate better than the camera can. I wonder how much effect this will have on brake pad wear. . .

Not nearly as much as you would think. Brake wear is proportional to the total kinetic energy that is transferred into the brake pads through friction. Since kinetic energy is a function of velocity squared, the kinetic energy your pads must absorb at low stop and go traffic speeds is significantly smaller than highway speeds. Braking from 70 to 60 will wear brakes significantly more than braking from 10 to 0. Mathematically speaking your brakes must absorb 13 times more energy to brake from 70 to 60 than from 10 to 0.

Most brake wear occurs due to decelerating from more significant speeds. It also increases with heat buildup so if you are driving aggressively and heating up the pads, this will accelerate wear. Not as much of an issue at low speeds either as you need significant kinetic energy to heat up the pads in the first place.

 

[FequalsMA]

Most brake wear occurs due to decelerating from more significant speeds. It also increases with heat buildup so if you are driving aggressively and heating up the pads, this will accelerate wear. Not as much of an issue at low speeds either as you need significant kinetic energy to heat up the pads in the first place.

On a somewhat related note, I love how the wheels on these cars are rarely ever really hot.
Where I live there is a huge elevation decline just before i get home (+100m) and the heat radiating from the wheels on the old ICE car after braking would be enough to be felt at least a foot away.

Takikng that same decline on the MS, and the wheels are barely even warm. Increased surface area of the 21's probably also come into play but this is a testiment to how much I love that the reduced wear on these components.

 

[glhs272]

"How long do the brake pads last?" 100,000 miles.

"How much does it cost to replace?" $207 for the pads. $150/hr labor. Loaner included.

At that price I think I will opt for for aftermarket pads and do it myself.

So I went and got aftermarket pads from Rock Auto. Powerstop 161474A pads for $18.14 + shipping. A bit cheaper than the $207 pads from Tesla. They visually look identical to the Tesla pads and they are ceramic like the Tesla pads. Actually I am glad I decided to do these myself. I learned a lot. What I found on my front breaks was very ugly.

I found out that my brake pads were wearing unevenly. The Brembo brake calipers don't do well in salty environments. The outer pad was significantly worn. The inner pad had almost no wear. It turns out the inner pads were completely frozen. Not even touching the rotor (the inner side of the rotors was rusty). I was only getting half of my front braking force! I noticed the inner pad was cracking due to flexing from being stuck on the outside sliding surface with the caliper pistons pushing from the middle. Also, the outer pads were beginning to freeze as well, I noticed the brakes were dragging a bit. What is happening is the pads (which are steel backing plate) slide on the caliper (which is aluminum) corrode and jam up (perhaps galvanic corrosion?). So they won't slide. To fix this I removed the caliper and pad pins, pounded and pried out the old pads. Cleaned up the corrosion on the sliding surface on the calipers, and generously applied anti-seize to the slide surface. Hopefully this will prevent the issue from re-occurring too quickly. I will probably make this a yearly routing in the spring where I re-apply the anti-seize to the calipers and pads. Perhaps this will make the pads last a lot longer than 100K miles.

Huge improvement in stopping ability and wh/mi efficiency in my car after this service.

 

[Zetopan]

"What I found on my front breaks was very ugly."

If you had breaks in your front it is unsurprising that it would be ugly. Perhaps your meant "brakes" instead?

 

[William13]

I drive harder than some people here. P85 Sig with cold weather. I put the regeneration on low in the cold to avoid accidents or the car cuts the regeration. My 70,000 mile Wh average is 365. My pads required replacement at only 40,000 miles.

 

[ada43952]

"How long do the brake pads last?" 100,000 miles.

"How much does it cost to replace?" $207 for the pads. $150/hr labor. Loaner included.

At that price I think I will opt for for aftermarket pads and do it myself.

Is changing the pads and rotors on the ms as simple as on most standard cars?

 

[scottm]

Simpler than standard cars.

In my model S (Brembo supplied calipers) you just knock out two pins and the pad slides out alongside the disc. Slip the new pad in and two pins tapped back into place. Done with the wheel off. But caliper remains bolted to car. Easy peasy.

You may have to "pry" the piston back into its pot to make allowance for new pad thickness. Do that with a plastic or wooden tool and careful of the rubber boot around the piston.

 

[glhs272]

Is changing the pads and rotors on the ms as simple as on most standard cars?

Yep

 

[glhs272]

"What I found on my front breaks was very ugly."

If you had breaks in your front it is unsurprising that it would be ugly. Perhaps your meant "brakes" instead?

My English not so good.