53000 km and i hear my brake wear bar, normal?

[OkieRich]

+1 on the brake grease on the rear of the pads. Also, there is some lubricant on the back of the pads. Heavy spray car washes into this area could have washed away that lubricant and be the culprit. If everything else looks normal, this is the area I would focus on!

[Don67]

Originally Posted by TunedOut

Also, I was told by a co-worker that they normally replace roters when they replace pads nowadays? this is only true if you wait and let the wear bar or bad brakes scratch up and rub on the rotor right (like Don67 mentioned)? If you get them replaced a little early you can save the rotors?

The rotors should last through 2 sets of pads, assuming minimal abuse and annual pad lubrication. I don't even machine them when swapping out the first set of pads, unless they've become warped or have suffered serious scoring. Why grind away metal and risk warpage if everything's working fine? You're gonna want to replace them next time anyway, when you see how rusty the edges have become.

[TunedOut]

I finally got around to checking on them last weekend. I took some pictures and the brakes look like they have a tonn of life left.

2012-11-23_16-02-36_246.jpg

2012-11-23_16-03-03_362 (1).jpg

I do get a lot of car washes, so maybe it could have been the oil and grease behind the pads getting washed away. When I saw how much was left on the pads i decided not to take the calipers apart.