I just bought a 03 Z with 30k miles on it and It just had an inspection done. All four brake pads have 5mm left on them. Is this a lot? When should I change them? Sometime I hear a sqweek when I brake at low speeds. What brand and type do you recommend? Thanks!~

 

That is not a lot. You should get new ones asap. The squeak you hear is the wear indicator. Get Hawk HPS or Nismo pads. Done.

 

The front non brembo pads are typically 17mm thick when new and this includes a 6mm plate. This means the pad material is 11mm. At 5 mm you are just over 50% worn. I would wait to change them.

On the rear, typicall is around 14mm less the 6mm plate. So 8mm of material when new. So again, no need to change the pads anytime soon unless you go on a race track.

 

I bought the Hawk HPS pads. I love them. A great feel and decently priced.

 

Brake help is in the brake forum. We put it there so that new members will have a hard time finding it. So far I think we are doing a stellar job.

 

Very helpful info....thanks! I was curious myself since I just had the car inspected yesterday and I had 8mm left on the front and 5mm on the rear. I guess I still have a few more miles to get out of them (06 Z w/ 28000 miles).

 

Looking at the over 38,000 posts that you have. I would say that about 90% of them are as useless as this one. Why comment if you don't have anything constructive to add ?

 

If you hear a squeak when you brake and your pads are good, look into your rotors. Basically feel them with your fingers (when they're cool) and see if there are any ridges; this will also cause squealing. I never literally measure brake pads, I just use experience to see when pads are low. If they look low, change em. The people who have posted to help you out have named the best brands, I wouldn't go a different route.

 

i just change my brake pads front and back brembo with hawks hps 3 weeks ago...just broke them in my z they have a good bit when driving in dry conditions....