How long should brake discs last?

sparkthatbled

I was getting my car serviced in May and decided to get my front brake discs replaced, as i was getting some nasty juddering under braking and figured out the discs had warped over time. Drove out of the garage and they were great, nice smooth braking etc, but here I am 3 months later and it's back and worse than ever. Is there any way they could have naturally warped to this point again?

I know it happens over time with the heat of heavy braking. I have a long commute and anyone who uses the M50 in the mornings will know that you end up jamming on your brakes most mornings when you hit the congested exits. I also drive slightly faster than most where I can (nothing crazy) so I would do a bit more braking, but I have had the same driving style for years and the last set of discs lasted at least since I bought the car in 2008, only starting to judder over the last year or so.

I just want to be sure that this is definitely not the norm before I go back and complain.

keithclancy

Could be a dodgy caliper that's constantly rubbing against the disc and causing excessive heat.

sebastianlieken

is it one or both discs do you know?

if it's one disc then it's probably down to some mechanical component being faulty whereas if it's both discs then it's most likely your driving style.

jimgoose

Here's a thing - do you brake down nice and hard for traffic lights and so forth, all the usual stuff, and then keep the brake on hard until it's time to move off again? This can start off a "pad-imprinting" process that leads to uneven disc thickness and gets progressively worse.

Hal1

It could be worn suspension bushings or an alignment might be needed.

sparkthatbled

jimgoose wrote: »

Here's a thing - do you brake down nice and hard for traffic lights and so forth, all the usual stuff, and then keep the brake on hard until it's time to move off again? This can start off a "pad-imprinting" process that leads to uneven disc thickness and gets progressively worse.

I usually use my handbrake at traffic lights. If i know it will be changing soon, I might use the footbrake, but don't hold it harder than necessary.

I have no idea if it's one or both of them, but the car seem to pull left a bit too.

sebastianlieken

sparkthatbled wrote: »

I usually use my handbrake at traffic lights. If i know it will be changing soon, I might use the footbrake, but don't hold it harder than necessary.

I have no idea if it's one or both of them, but the car seem to pull left a bit too.

could be your front left brake caliper sticking. easy as pie to diagnose or rule out.

Jack up your front left wheel (make sure you apply handbrake or chock the rear wheels. also make sure you're not in gear if it's a front wheel drive car.)

can you turn the wheel freely by hand? you should be able to.

how about the other side? any disernable difference?

DuckSlice

what kind of car is is? another way to know if the caliper is sticking is after you have driven it one of the wheels will be considerably hotter than the other.

sparkthatbled

It's a Honda Jazz. I'll try jacking up the wheel later and see if it will turn. Thanks for the help, all.

I'm not sure if I should bring it back to the place that did the discs for me. It was part of a service/pre-nct booking and they also totally misjudged the wear on the rear brake pads and nearly failed me my nct. They also made a similar schoolboy error last time I had a service there. So, even though it may be their fault, I don't really trust them to fix it properly.

What do people think? If it's their fault they should set it right for free, but either way i'm not confident in their workmanship. I think maybe I should bring it to another guy I know who is a bit awkward to get to since I moved, but never messed anything up on me when i used to go to him.

DuckSlice

sparkthatbled wrote: »

It's a Honda Jazz. I'll try jacking up the wheel later and see if it will turn. Thanks for the help, all.

I'm not sure if I should bring it back to the place that did the discs for me. It was part of a service/pre-nct booking and they also totally misjudged the wear on the rear brake pads and nearly failed me my nct. They also made a similar schoolboy error last time I had a service there. So, even though it may be their fault, I don't really trust them to fix it properly.

What do people think? If it's their fault they should set it right for free, but either way i'm not confident in their workmanship. I think maybe I should bring it to another guy I know who is a bit awkward to get to since I moved, but never messed anything up on me when i used to go to him.

i cant see them doing it for free, what did you ask them to change? if you just asked them to change discs then they have done nothing wrong. but they should notice that a caliper is stuck when changing discs as it would be very difficult to move the piston on the caliper back in to the housing.

mathepac

Have you checked the wheel studs / nuts are correctly torqued?

It is next to impossible for brake discs to warp. It is much more likely that some other steering / suspension component / bushing is worn or out of whack allowing the disc to rotate out of true, creating judder.

The mating face of the stub-axel and disc is a place to start. The stub axel face needs to be copper brushed free of rust and debris and then treated with a film of copper grease to stop the faces rusting and binding together. Repeat the process for the mating faces of the wheels and discs.