Hello,

Preface: If this question is answered somewhere else in the forum, please point me in the right direction.

My 2008 xD has about 35K miles and my brakes have been making a horrible squealing/scraping/very light grinding sound. The noise does not happen all the time. Seems to be more pronounced at lower speeds(below 30mph). I was commuting home last night and had to brake HEAVILY at a high speed and the my xD pulled noticeably to the right and the steering wheel shuddered.

I'm concerned that there is something wrong with the brakes. I'll be taking my car in for an oil change and inspection early next week and want to be as informed as possible.

I understand it could be an alignment issue too...but my breaks definitely make sounds that are not normal.

Could my pads be toast? Should my break pads wear out that early?

 

Ya... you have no pads left. My guess is you should see 30-50K out of a set of pads, if you do more city driving or heavy braking, it will be in that lower range. Don't drive anymore except to take 'er in for new pads. The grinding will destroy your rotors and the heat could seize a caliper...

 

Agreed.
And a seized caliper is not very fun.

 

yea. u must use your brakes alot lol.

 

heavy city traffic driver i'm assuming?

 

It's def. just bad luck.

 

I have 66,000 on my original 2008 xB pads and I'm just starting to squeak a bit.

 

Brake pad life is all about how you drive and where you drive. Watch people as they drive... you'll notice that a lot of people use their brakes when they just aren't needed. People zoom up to the car in front of them then step on the brakes, when they could have just let off the gas. People weave in and out of traffic just to get one space ahead... with their foot either on the gas or the brake. Many people just don't anticipate what is coming up and need to hit the brakes all the time because of poor planning. I crack up when I see people going up a long, steep hill and hit their brakes for no apparent reason. They'd slow down just as fast if they just let their foot off the gas.

 

is your car an automatic?

hmm... sounds so oddly familiar.

 

The vibration you are getting is probably warped rotors. I would highly recommend getting them replaced. From past experience warped rotors will come back to haunt you after they resurface them, in just a few weeks.

 

I commute roughly 80 miles a day through NJ(automatic trans). Lots of braking required. Sometimes high speed braking...So sound like the brakes are appropriately worn.

I'm eyeing up EBC components as replacement parts. (EBC Greens).

anyone have a preference in brake pad/rotor brands?

 

i have relatively normal driving conditions; traffic here and there, and I've never had to brake from high speed on a consistent basis, though it does happen from time to time. brakes are already squeaking and I only have 12.8k miles. Pretty sure its just glaze cause the last time i measured there was 10mm up front and 9mm in rear. Oh well.

 

mine squeeked from the beginning, but i noticed it gradually getting louder and louder, even though the performance is about the same. normally under 20 mph on slow stops. i have 19k and do mainly city driving, but i downshift before i touch the brake. at first i just thought it was a normal sound of new brakes but im suspecting that the brakes arent that good. ill probably replace them soon anyways, gunna put some tc rims on and i dont need/want any change in brake patterns

 

I swapped out to TRD pads at about 50K miles. My stock Pads still had some life on them when I swapped em. I was just looking for an upgrade... BTW, the TRD's stopping power is noticeably better than the OE ones...

 

Since there has been a lot of rain in the North East you probably have damp pads and a couple of good firm stops from 45 mph will clean off the squeeking pads for a while. Try not to come to a complete stop or other problems can occur. Constant light use can make them squeeky since they don't get hot enough to burn off dirt and moisture.

 

yeah...I had to change those back when I had 27k miles (1 month and 1/2 ago)...I have 28k miles now

 

I have 14,112 on my xD and also recently hear the squealing noise. I live in Palm Springs and do mostly in-town driving, takes me barely 10 minutes to drive to work- I'm thinking its just desert dust and needs a cleaning but going to take to dealer just to make sure. If I do need new pads, I'm leery about the dealer doing them, they usually charge an arm or a leg, should I just go Midas or Meineke instead?

 

I just bought my RS1.0 and the brakes sound like the pads are dragging constantly. I've got 9500 miles on it now and I can't believe the brakes are bad. I'm heading to Auto Zone to get new pads Friday. Any suggestions??? Ceramic Maybe? I've used them before but wondered what you experienced Scion owners suggest.

 

I have EBC Greens on my xD, they work very nice when warmed up but occassionally squeak. I would try to fix it but I gave myself many headaches when embedding the brakes a month or two ago

I swapped my original brakes out around ~30k miles which I thought was supposed to happen where I live, ie. heavy traffic and stop-and-go.