Brake Pad life

[Waterbug]

I haven't seen this topic before, so I thought that I would approach it. What kind of brake pad life are Ridge owners experiencing? I know that it will vary greatly due to driving conditions and driving habits. I also expect that the traction control will have some effect, since one or more wheels could actually be braking while you are accelerating.
I have just over 30K miles and suspect that I am due for brake pads. My last vehicle was a Durango and it still had the original pads on it when I turned it in at 60K. Has anyone done their own brake work? If so, are the brake pads on the Ridge easily changed?

[nhsledding]

Like you said it all depends on driving style. My wifes 05 civ has 58k on it and the brake pads are not even 1/2 worn. On the ridgelines and any other Honda/car especially the rear brakes with calipers. You need too get your caliper slides cleaned and lubed. I have seen too many cars with unmaintain calipers.

[Webwader]

A member on another site who has a long daily commute just had his brakes done for the first time at 109,500 miles.

[Waterbug]

Well, tomorrow is my brake maintainance day. I already bought the pads and I've looked at the rotors and they are pretty smooth. Hopefully it will be a walk in the park. I'll post if I run into issues.

EDIT: Just came across this old thread: http://www.ridgeline4wd.com/viewtopic.php?t=2026
Guess I'm not the only one who has seen rear brake pad issues

[Waterbug]

BUMP

[Waterbug]

Well, I did my brakes yesterday, or at least the rear pads. The front pads still had about 60% life left. The passenger side rear had about 60% on the inside pad and 40% on the outside pad. The driver side rear had about 50% on the inside pad and METAL on the outside pad. The brake cylinder applies pressure to the inside pad, so the outside pad must not have been releasing.
One thing that concerns me as a design issue is that there are only wear indicators (scrapers) on the inside pads. On both sides, the outside rear pads wore quicker than the inside pads, but the inside pads have the wear indicators. The cost of Honda incorporating wear indicators on the outside pads is infantecimal, when compared to the cost of replacing a rotor. Even moving the wear indicators to the outside would be an improvement. The pads appear to be reversable but I wouldn't do it on my own. The pad compounds could be different or there may be some small difference that could cause a brake to hang-up or fail.

[Webwader]

So the issue isn't really short pad life but sticking caliper pistons. I have seen several reports on this. Do you live in an area where they use salt on the roads. Did you lubricate the pistons when you installed the pads?

[kdogofjtown]

Last winter my back calipers froze to the roters and trashed the back breaks - dealer said it was from road salt and winter grime. They replaced them under warrenty since I ony had 22K miles - at that time the front brakes were in terrific shape. Now at 49K miles and the front brakes are still above 50% - the replaced back brakes are also at about 50% so seems like my back brakes are wearing faster than the fronts.

[Waterbug]

Yes to both, but I did not observe excessive corrosion on the brake calipers. I have a 1990 3/4 ton Chevy truck and it hasn't had any brake issues in 18 years, driving under the same conditions.
If Honda knows that it has sticky caliper issues, that is all the more reason to put the wear indicators on both pads.