Brakes

[cal]

No I’ve owned three Teslas and the Lightning. Over 300 miles and never even came close to needing a brake job. Tires on the other hand… First set only lasted 22k miles.

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[21st Century Truck]

Over the past 22 years I've had three Priuses (Gen 1, Gen 2 and Gen 3), a ord Fusion Energi and a Ford Mach E Mustang.

The Fusion lasted 126 thousand miles and the Mach E lasted 75 thousand miles before I traded.

None of these hybrid & EV cars ever wore out any brake pad or disc.

 

[Joe Dablock]

You are probably due for a tire rotation. Have your tires rotated and ask them to look at you brake wear at the same time.
But most likely your brakes are at 80 percent.
My MME has 60k on it and its brake wear is about 60 percent. My Lightning has 34k on it and brake wear is better than 50 percent.

 

[Calvin H-C]

I use 1pd and my foot rarely even touches the brake pedal. I expect my brake pads will last the life of the truck. Am I wrong?

There's a good chance they will last the life of the truck.

That said, there are a few things to be aware of. While 1PD will get you the most regen braking possible, it won't eliminate all friction braking. Regent's capability drops off rapidly at close to zero speeds, so friction braking is needed a bit to bring the vehicle to a stop. On the big picture, that's negligible wear on the pads.

The bigger concern is what happens to other brake components from lack of use. I'm hoping components have advanced a bit in the past few years to better withstand light use. If you want to give your pads and rotors the occasional use to "clean them off", you can shift to neutral as you start to brake and that will use friction braking for 100% of the stop.

 

[jetfixr1]

I expect my pads to turn into dust before they need replacement. 1PD all the time, only touch the brakes to shift.

 

[Henry Ford]

There's a good chance they will last the life of the truck.

That said, there are a few things to be aware of. While 1PD will get you the most regen braking possible, it won't eliminate all friction braking. Regent's capability drops off rapidly at close to zero speeds, so friction braking is needed a bit to bring the vehicle to a stop. On the big picture, that's negligible wear on the pads.

The bigger concern is what happens to other brake components from lack of use. I'm hoping components have advanced a bit in the past few years to better withstand light use. If you want to give your pads and rotors the occasional use to "clean them off", you can shift to neutral as you start to brake and that will use friction braking for 100% of the stop.

No need to shift to neutral. If you want to use the brakes just press the brake pedal with a bit more force than you usually do.

 

[Calvin H-C]

No need to shift to neutral. If you want to use the brakes just press the brake pedal with a bit more force than you usually do.

That will apply some friction braking, but check your brake score when you're nearly stopped. It's way easier to get a lower score in the FFE compared to the Lightning, but even when stomping hard on the brakes, it requires quite an effort to get a score below 40%.

Braking in neutral is a 0% score with less effort (the score won't show).

 

[Henry Ford]

That will apply some friction braking, but check your brake score when you're nearly stopped. It's way easier to get a lower score in the FFE compared to the Lightning, but even when stomping hard on the brakes, it requires quite an effort to get a score below 40%.

Braking in neutral is a 0% score with less effort (the score won't show).

Sure, but the point is to clean off your brakes not to bed them in.

FWIW, I have not found rusty or dirty brakes to be a concern in my 28k miles driving a Lightning. My truck lives outside in an area that uses salt and frequency sits in an airport parking lot for days at a time. I've never used the brakes for cleaning purposes and have always been gentle on brakes. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Ragman]

Like others after 50k brakes were 7-8 mm at last tire change - no concerns on the pads we were advised to potentially have calipers lubed every couple years they see more seized calipers then brake jobs on the evs.

 

[Tom Jensen]

2023 White Lightning
I'm at 28k miles
Anyone have guidance on when to replace front pads.
Put on new Michelin's at 21k.
I know it's heavy and it ate cheap Hankooks pretty fast. I know about regenerative braking.
Still.....who has done any brakes work

I was speaking with my dealer’s principal Lightning mechanic this morning (took truck in for two CSPs related to sensor modules) and discussed brake and other maintenance issues. His ballpark guess on Lightning brake pad wear was about 10 years/100k miles for those who use 1PD or are otherwise largely reliant on regen. It’s a guess, of course, since we don’t have 10 years’ worth of actual experience, but his guess aligns closely with what Lightning owners in this Forum tend to report. Notwithstanding the CSPs for module reprogramming, I love having a low, low, low maintenance vehicle.

 

[Ron Roman]

Yes sir.
I'm tired of pumping $85 in gas plus oil change and brakes.
Almost forgot what a WaWa is

 

[Webbo85]

Sure, but the point is to clean off your brakes not to bed them in.

FWIW, I have not found rusty or dirty brakes to be a concern in my 28k miles driving a Lightning. My truck lives outside in an area that uses salt and frequency sits in an airport parking lot for days at a time. I've never used the brakes for cleaning purposes and have always been gentle on brakes. Your mileage may vary.

Funny, I don't doubt your personal experience, but in PA during the winter they brine and salt the hell out of our roads (I would think Michigan would be the same). If my truck or my wife's mach-e sits for a few days, the brakes will grind at the end as you stop normally. I've used the Neutral trick whenever it happens and it clears them off pretty quickly. Just slamming on the brakes doesn't get me the same results.

 

[wighty]

Just had my truck inspected (3 years+1 month old now, 34k miles) and the shop said "all 4 brakes" and "rears really low". We've used this place the past few years for inspections, independent shop and they haven't really tried to upsell anything before. I've replaced brakes on 4 of my different cars (6 total changes I think), but by all means not an expert so just want someone else to chime in here... the rear pads look like they have plenty of life (though appear to be wearing asymmetrically), do you agree? I can't get my phone into a spot that I could see to get a good picture of the front pads.

Upstate NY so we get a good amount of salt exposure in the winter. I'm not a heavy footed driver and strive to hit that 100% on the brake score (I don't know if I ever dipped below 75%).

 

[P-38]

That is a lot of pad left. Easy should get you another 34k.

Does your truck sit at times (like weeks months)? That level of rust on the rotors is odd even with Regen.

 

[MaintGrl]

Just had my truck inspected (3 years+1 month old now, 34k miles) and the shop said "all 4 brakes" and "rears really low". We've used this place the past few years for inspections, independent shop and they haven't really tried to upsell anything before. I've replaced brakes on 4 of my different cars (6 total changes I think), but by all means not an expert so just want someone else to chime in here... the rear pads look like they have plenty of life (though appear to be wearing asymmetrically), do you agree? I can't get my phone into a spot that I could see to get a good picture of the front pads.

Upstate NY so we get a good amount of salt exposure in the winter. I'm not a heavy footed driver and strive to hit that 100% on the brake score (I don't know if I ever dipped below 75%).

Well,, It looks like the calipers are not seating correctly(Hanging up somehow), as noted by the thinner top of the pad than the bottom, and Rotors have some pitting. BUT that being said, it looks like you have plenty of pad left.

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