Are you having problems with the brakes in your car? Can you tell if it’s the pads or the rotors that need to be replaced? You might need to replace the brake pads or the brake rotors, or possibly even both.
So, do brakes come in pairs? Brake pads are sold in sets of 2, and brake rotors are sold singly. Each wheel requires two brake pads. You must replace both pads on a wheel at the same time.
You should also always replace the brake pads on the other wheel on the same axle. So, you would want to buy two sets of two brake pads and replace the brake pads on two wheels at a time.
Read on to learn more about brakes and how often you’ll need to replace them!
Can you replace one Set of Brakes at a Time?
It can be beneficial to replace one set of brakes at a time. If you find that only your front or only your back brakes are worn out, then go ahead and replace those.
Typically, each set of brake pads on the same axle is going to wear out at the same rate. If one set of brake pads is worn out, then the other one will also be worn out. Therefore, if you do not replace the brake pads on both wheels on the same axle, your car will still be unsafe.
How Do You Know if Your Brakes Need to be Replaced?
What tells you if your brake pads are worn out? Is your car making a squealing when you apply the brakes? That’s the first indicator that something needs to be fixed. Rely on your senses to know if your brakes need to be adjusted or replaced.
- Sound: You might hear a squealing noise when you apply the brakes. You might hear something different than squealing too. You could hear the brakes pumping and working harder than normal. If the sound is your trigger, you will need to look at replacing your brake rotors in addition to your pads. Oftentimes, a squealing sound is a trigger that your brake rotor has gone bad.
- Sight: You can look at the brake pads. Look at them when they are new, so you can see how thick they are supposed to be. Then, you’ll have an idea for what they look like when they are worn down. As a general rule, if they are under a quarter of an inch thick, they probably need to be replaced.
- Touch/Feel: Does your car list to one side more than the other? It could mean that the brake pads on one side are worn down. What does the brake pedal feel like when you push down with your foot? Are you pushing harder than normal? That could be an indicator as well.
- Smell: Do you smell rubber burning? If you smell something burning, it could mean that at least one set of your brake pads needs to replaced.
How often do you need to replace the Brake Pads?
Make sure you monitor your specific car. A lot of it depends on how you drive your car and if you rotate your tires regularly and evenly. Also, if you have a manual transmission and downshift gears a lot instead of hitting the brakes hard, your brake pads will last longer. If you have long steep hills as part of your daily commute, that might make the brake pads wear sooner.
- That said, a good rule of thumb is that the average brake pad should last about 50,000 miles. If you make it to 50,000 miles and nothing seems out of the ordinary, this is still a good time to do a more hands-on physical inspection to check on the quality of your brake pads.
If only one of the front brake pads is problematic, you can replace just front brake pads. If you find that both the rear and front brake pads are wearing, go ahead and replace them all.
Do you also need to replace the Brake Rotors?
If you are replacing your brake pads, you might find that you also need to replace your brake rotors. How do you know if you only need to replace the brake pads or if the brake rotors are bad too?
Chances are you will replace the brake pads more frequently than you will replace the rotors. Most of your brake maintenance will involve replacing the brake pads.
If you can get almost 50,000 miles out of your brake pads, you might get close to 70,000 out of your brake rotors.
How do you know if the Brake Rotor is bad or if it’s the Brake Pad?
If you think your brakes are bad because of a noise you heard, it might be the brake rotor instead of or in addition to the brake pad. To determine if your brake rotors have gone bad, also note if you feel any vibrations when you are braking. If your car feels like it is bucking and it is vibrating, your brake rotors have likely gone bad.
You can also look at the brake rotor. It should be smooth. Deep ruts or grooves indicate that the rotor should be resurfaced or replaced.
Are Brake Rotors Replaced in Pairs?
Unlike brake pads, brake rotors are sold singly, so you can replace or resurface just one brake rotor at a time. While you should always replace your brake pads in pairs, you can replace your rotors one at a time as they wear out.
That said, if you find that more than one brake rotor has worn out, you can replace as many as you want at one time.
Helpful Tips on to replacing your Brakes
Here are some videos that help you know when it is time to replace your brakes:
- How to Tell When Your Car Needs New Brakes – If you follow your senses, and maybe something smells or looks wrong, but you are still not sure if you need to replace your brakes, give this video a look. It goes through 5 warning signs that will tell you if you need to replace your brakes.
- When this happens, you need to change your Car’s Brakes Fast – Here is a video that shows you a warning sign that indicates it’s time to change your car’s brakes and you need to do it before driving much further.
- What Happens when you do not replace your Brakes – Here is a visual indicator of what happens if you have bad brakes, and you do not replace them.
There are a lot of resources available to you if you have questions about replacing your brakes. You can look around at more YouTube videos, you can ask a mechanic for his opinion, or you can search online and read some different message boards to see people that have had your same questions.
Brake Pads do come in Pairs
You now know how brake pads come – in pairs. You can indeed replace one pair at a time, and it’s not mandatory that you replace all brakes at the same time.
Take a look at if you only need to replace the brake pads, or if you should also repair the brake rotors at the same time.
Read the manual on your specific car, and even talk to the manufacturer. Make sure that your car is considered standard, and there are no special needs for the brakes on your model, and you should be able to replace your brake pads and your rotors without too much difficulty.