Brake Job -- Anyone?

[FlatcoatFarm]

I put a decent amount of miles on my Lightning (~14k in 6 months so far), and it got me to wondering about brake service. I use one-pedal all the time, and rarely touch the brake. So it got me to thinking: will I EVER have to do a brake job on this truck?

Just curious: has anyone had to perform brake service yet?

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[ScottyG]

Does anyone else enjoy that there is no response here?

ahahaha

 

[KeyWestEViking]

I keep track of the EV's coming into our shop and so far we haven't done a single brake job (pad swap) but one or two brake services (general clean and lube). Most of the customers make it close to 50-60K kilometers before we even recommend it and that also depends on their driving style. One of our customers in a Mach-E has done 180,000kms on his vehicle and his brake pads were at 60% remaining last time we checked. We haven't seen a Lightning with that mileage yet, but don't expect a brake job anytime soon!

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I put a decent amount of miles on my Lightning (~14k in 6 months so far), and it got me to wondering about brake service. I use one-pedal all the time, and rarely touch the brake. So it got me to thinking: will I EVER have to do a brake job on this truck?

Just curious: has anyone had to perform brake service yet?

What are brakes?

I have several Teslas nearing 200,000 miles on them….the brakes are fine. Just do a drain & fill on the lines every other year to keep the fluid fresh.

*You can likely go even longer but I used to be a track guy and fluid is pretty important to me.

 

[VTbuckeye]

Make sure you use the friction brakes every once in a while. Rust on rotors of EVs/phevs can get pretty bad if you drive with efficient braking in mind. We had a 2 year old Bolt that almost failed state inspection. I have had to replace rotors on our xc90phev at 28k miles...too much rust (even with a 1 inch line of rust around the outside of the rotor they still had more clean swept area than my coworker's Highlander).

 

[PreservedSwine]

Good tip. Every now and then, I’ll slide into neutral while cruising at 50+ and come to a stop just using brakes (no regen in N)

 

[Henry Ford]

I didn't measure the pads but they looked new when I did a tire rotation at about 20,000 miles. No ridges on the rotors either.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

I don't anticipate ever needing new brake pads. I just love that.

 

[SmoothJ]

Make sure you use the friction brakes every once in a while. Rust on rotors of EVs/phevs can get pretty bad if you drive with efficient braking in mind. We had a 2 year old Bolt that almost failed state inspection. I have had to replace rotors on our xc90phev at 28k miles...too much rust (even with a 1 inch line of rust around the outside of the rotor they still had more clean swept area than my coworker's Highlander).

Every once in a while I stomp on the breaks to force the calibers to be exercised. I also do a slow crawl, with one petal driving off, and "ride" the breaks for a few feet. I hear the screeching more after it rained out.

 

[Calvin H-C]

We had a 2013 Focus and I still have a 2017 Focus Electric, so this provides a bit of an apples-to-apples comparison...

2013 Focus:
All four brakes done at about 65,000 km and again at 128,000 km

2017 FFE:
Only the front brakes done at 134,000 km - pads still were just over 4 mm, but rotors were getting pock-marked; rear pads still had 9 mm

 

[RickLightning]

Every once in a while I stomp on the breaks to force the calibers to be exercised. I also do a slow crawl, with one petal driving off, and "ride" the breaks for a few feet. I hear the screeching more after it rained out.

There is no need to stomp on the brakes(sp). There is no reason to turn off 1PD, because all modes do regeneration first.

The easiest way to clean the brakes is to shift to N and gently apply them, shift to D and return to speed, and repeat.

The danger in not doing this is brake parts rusting out and needing to be replaced due to lack of use.

 

[Adventureboy]

Just do a drain & fill on the lines every other year to keep the fluid fresh.

Good callout. This is a very often under-maintained item. Brake fluid is Hygroscopic and will absorb water from the air over time contaminating it and evetually causing internal corrosion. Most modern systems are pretty well sealed now however Ford's maintenance schedule recommends changing brake fluid every 3 years.
My rule is pretty simple - New DOT3/DOT4 fluid is light yellow - if the fluid starts to turn amber, change it. The amber colour is an indication of water contamination. If it is brown, you waited way too long. Note if you have brake fluid in a bottle on the shelf that has been opened, it too absorbs water from the air unless well sealed. The general recommendation is to use a new sealed bottle every time. I follow the colour example - even light amber means it is contaminated.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

My rule is pretty simple - New DOT3/DOT4 fluid is light yellow - if the fluid starts to turn amber, change it. The amber colour is an indication of water contamination. If it is brown, you waited way too long.

You forgot the black colored ones. They're typically on vehicles that have slicks that are somehow marked as All-Season.

When I see those cars, I see this and I just walk away..

 

[marc_hanna]

On my first EV, in 10 years I never wore through a single set of brake pads. Being is a rust prone area, my issue was with corrosion on the pad backing plates and on the hub face. Generally what I do when I get a new vehicle now is pull off the brakes and rotors and put a thin film of antiseize on the hub face, and then on the corresponding face on the rotor (obviously not on the friction surface). This seems to keep the corrosion at bay. Also, very careful not to get antiseize on the wheel studs or wheel bolts.

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