Curious how often you all change out your brake pads and rotors/calipers on your Discovery. Are you finding you can get 30,000 miles out of them? I tote a lot of crap around and do a lot of city driving. Took my vehicle in today and they quoted me $1500 for back and front rotors, calipers and pads. wowza.

I was told that they warranty their work and products for 30,000 miles. I was also told that I've put close to 20k miles on Bertha since the last time I had the rotors, calipers and pads replaced. They aren't under warranty because I supplied the parts in March 2016 after purchasing them at a local parts palace.

20 months, nearly 20k miles and everything needs to be replaced. I know that there is a difference between brands and you get what you pay for. I didn't purchase the least expensive parts, however, so am surprised that they went bad so soon. Also, I had them checked over this past spring and was told that I have another good year on them. Four months shy of a year.. should I be concerned?

I decided to just get the back rotors, calipers and pads replaced today and will do the fronts in the future. Total cost for parts $164. Labor $275. Any thoughts?

 

eh.. maybe it was a stupid question. Just read some threads regarding Discoveries and the trials and tribulations some have dealt with. Constant squeaking, changing out after 3000 miles, etc. Maybe I'm lucky to get 20k on them. Funny thing is the fronts haven't been changed since before that so I'm thinking one brand may not be as good as the other.

Now I know.

 

My last set of front brake pads went 43,774 miles before I changed them and the rotors nearly three years ago. That means the current pads have about 20,000 miles on them and they're nowhere close to needing to be replaced.

The rear pads now have over 60,000 miles on them and are admittedly getting thin. I plan to change them Thanksgiving weekend.

No fancy pads either - DuraLast Gold from AutoZone.

Also, changing pads and rotors is easy and relatively simple. It's a great DIY job and you'll save a LOT of $$$.

 

Thanks mln.. I appreciate the response. Yeah, I figured they're bad too soon. I hit a pothole about a month ago and that is when the squeaking started. I figured it was the same issue I had last spring (which I had inspected by brake place) but the noise got worse and only on the one side. I probably did damage to it, maybe gunk got up under there, the caliper wasn't seating and it wreaked havoc on my braking system. The front brakes have faired much longer so who knows what is up with it.

Believe it or not my husband doesn't want me changing brakes by myself.. we had an argument over it this morning while driving. He said it's 'impossible' and I said 'it's not impossible, it's something I don't feel comfortable doing by myself'. For $275 in the freezing cold, it's worth it to me to have them installed by a professional. In a perfect world, if I felt comfortable jacking up the Rover and man handling a tire I would do it. Ihscouts helped me once and it took an entire weekend to beat the tires off of the Disco and change them out. Granted that was because I wasn't routinely doing it... my own fault, I guess. I can see both sides of the equation. Saving money is good, feeling good about myself and my abilities is better, pissing my husband off isn't so much fun. In a perfect world I guess I could do everything myself, be self sufficient, run a boutique, work 50+ hours a week at my normal job, cook, clean, be a beauty queen, and be nice to everyone in the process.

TMI I know. I put a lot of pressure on myself already so to hand it off to someone else is sometimes ok. $1500? not so much, but parts are parts.. what's an extra $275 every 20 months.

It's good to hear that you are capable of working on yours. I know there isn't much to it but it seems that I cannot do it all. I'm thankful to the kind individuals on this forum (such as yourself) who keep my mind and wheels turning by being informed as to what can or has happened to my ride.

 

I'm not a professional and I remember changing those in the cold..... and beating your rear wheels off with a rubbah mallet. Thanks for coming to my defense the other day and for the coffee and donuts. I need the caffein and carbs cuz I'm freezing to death working outside all day long......

 

Since I switched over to slotted/cross drilled rotors I've been getting much better life out of the front rotors without any of them being warped like the OEM rotors would get over time and hard braking. Pad life has been about 40K front/60K Rear. I also strictly only use ceramic brake pads. All brake pads will produce dust, but ceramic puts out the lowest amount. If you leave that thick brake dust on eventually it is extremely hard to get off, can take the paint with it, and in the worse case situation hot brake material can fly off, land on the rim, burn thru the paint and pit the aluminum rim.

I don't know how many vehicles I see on a daily basis that have the cheapest pads on them known to man & the front rims of their vehicles have completely destroyed finishes.

 

and let's not forget the lack of coffee, day long drizzle and my phone ringing 24/7

...and here I thought you liked me hahaha..and then you said 'I don't know who will be doing your brake jobs in the future but it won't be me'... I'd consider you a professional, Doug.. you know your stuff and you've been working on/with/around vehicles for years.

 

my rims aren't much better. I was thinking about taking oven cleaner to them this fall before I go and invest in a new set of tires.

 

Is no one going to mention that a $1500 brake job quote is absolutely astronomical!?!?

I don't care about the warranty, that's insanely high. You could have your head gaskets done for as much or less!!

 

I thought so too??! Granted it was for front and back but I about had a heart attack at my desk when he told me. It was someone I've never met before but it's a family owned business and I've worked with the other two. After pricing out the parts locally (and they purchase their parts locally), it was a difference of $600 for not having the job covered by warrantee (ie; me buying the parts and having them install them vs. them purchasing and installing).

I thought the entire thing was odd but I know that brake shops charge a lot.