Rear brake pads thickness

[compnurd]

Does anyone know the default rear brake pad thickness. Just had my yearly insection done. 2013 hybrid se. 24k. Front pads had 10MM left. But only 5 on the rear

[lolder]

I "think" they're both 11mm. premature wear on the rear pads has been an occasional complaint since the 2010 models. At first it was thought to be a manufacturing fault or defect. I'm of the opinion now that it is usually aggressive braking habits. Many FFH's have gone over 100kmiles with little wear. It's hard to judge an individuals braking habits from their verbal descriptions. Very high brake scores might yield long life. Significant braking can be done by regen in the 2013+ models. Two and a half times more regen braking energy can be absorbed by the 2013+ vs. the 2010-12 models. With the higher regen braking available, the rear mechanical brakes may be applied more to effect stable braking behavior. Very few people drove conventional cars in the way that hybrids must be driven to eliminate almost all pad wear.

[jeff_h]

With the higher regen braking available, the rear mechanical brakes may be applied more to effect stable braking behavior.

 

The pads on my 2010 FFH lasted a long long time and I replaced them at 140k just because I had the news ones sitting in a box on the shelf in the garage for over a year. There was about half of the pads left, as I've posted that pic in a couple different threads on the forum already.

 

However on my 2006 Escape Hybrid, a few years ago I went for an inspection and they called back to say I needed rear brakes replaced (had about 60k miles at that time) and I thought sure they were BS-ing me just to get me to pay for a brake job, so I said put the wheels back on and put the failure sticker on the windshield, I will check it out myself. Got home and pulled a rear wheel and sure enough the rear brakes were gone at 60k, while the fronts were fine.

 

Now to the present with the 2013 Energi where I've had lifetime brake score of 98% over 56k miles, and I got the tires rotated a couple weeks ago and was told "we looked at the brakes and the fronts look new, but the rear ones are going to need replacing before too long" -- that was a surprise, and I plan to pull the rear wheels this weekend or next to get a look for myself. So it's a sharp contrast between the 2010 FFH which had virtually no wear and the 2013 which potentially has much more wear, all with the same driver who drives very smoothly and conservatively with good brake scores. So ya never know...

[compnurd]

I am kind of in the same boat. I also have a very high braking score. I looked through the wheels and they still have alot of meat.. Not sure if the mechanic was an idiot and listed the MM Wrong.. That and the service adviser seemed to think the rears were not as thick as the fronts to start off with

[hybridbear]

It appears that the car engages the rear pads first since the regen braking force comes from the front. There is a Ford patent describing this behavior. This would explain why rear brake pads get used up first.

[Texasota]

It appears that the car engages the rear pads first since the regen braking force comes from the front. There is a Ford patent describing this behavior. This would explain why rear brake pads get used up first.

That is an interesting side effect of a hybrid with regen braking. On a conventional car, where the front brakes perform ~70% of the braking, the front brake pads generally wear faster than the rears.

[JonL]

I just got my 2013 FFH but I owned a 2005 Escape Hybrid. I didn't have to do either front or rear until it had 130,000.

The rear wore out but the front still had another 20-30K left but I did them anyway.

One thing I do worry about, especially in areas that use salt and solutions on the road, is sticky calipers and caliper seals deteriorating.

I'm in a climate where there isn't much need for salt and solutions but many in the northeast and Midwest are. I would recommend they be checked and a little lube applied to the caliper slides every couple of years.

My opinion as an ASE Master Auto Tech.

[Jon G]

Just found this forum...very nice. Have a 2015 FFH SE with 98k mi and dealer (yup the dealer) miced em at 8MM all around... The advisor said "Yeah, the FFH, yeah, not sure I've ever replaced pads on one... ever". Incredible.

This model has the braking coach...zowie it is good and surely helped.

[mwr]

4 hours ago, Jon G said:

Just found this forum...very nice. Have a 2015 FFH SE with 98k mi and dealer (yup the dealer) miced em at 8MM all around... The advisor said "Yeah, the FFH, yeah, not sure I've ever replaced pads on one... ever". Incredible.

This model has the braking coach...zowie it is good and surely helped.

Welcome to the forum. I had a 2015 FFH SE with 100K miles; never did anything to the brakes. I'd still have that car except that it got rear-ended a few months ago and my insurance company totaled it. I replaced it the a 2017 FFH SE with 60K miles ?

[MeeLee]

On 7/16/2015 at 11:12 AM, Texasota said:

That is an interesting side effect of a hybrid with regen braking. On a conventional car, where the front brakes perform ~70% of the braking, the front brake pads generally wear faster than the rears.

I guess the brakes on the FFH are more like 50/50. Fronts get aided by the electric motor, though that one loses braking power as the battery ages. At times, my 130k mile hybrid will only use little regen, as it feels like it's just coasting. Also a lot lower power to the motor.