unusual wear pattern on front brake pads w/pics

[JSHOE]

I just replaced front brake pads on my 2009, sport, rav4. I noticed an unusual wear pattern on the drivers side, outside pad, (see photo). The passenger side, outside pad has a similar pattern, but not as significant. It does not appear to be from contact with the rotor, as the wear is perpindicular to rotor wear pattern. Has anyone ever seen this, or have any idea what it could be. The replacement pads, (Duralast Gold), do not have these beveled edges.

[ronbo1313]

I believe certain brands are manufactures that way , with a beveled edge. I've seen them before.

[MrPulldown]

Originally Posted by ronbo1313

I believe certain brands are manufactures that way , with a beveled edge. I've seen them before.

agreed

[WJBertrand]

Yup, nothing to worry about, this is called chamfering and it's done to help the pads operate more quietly. The chamfered area will look smaller and smaller as the pad wears closer to the backing plate, which might explain the differences you noticed from one side of the car to the other.

[Octane]

to me they look like they still had lots of life in them?

[JSHOE]

Thanks everyone. I suspected as much, but wasn't sure. Yes, Octane, they did have plenty of life in them. The stealership told me the were down to 3 mm and they needed to be replaced, (for a hefty fee of course). Needless to say, I was a bit shocked when I pulled them off. At least I didn't let them do it.

[JTRAV]

Originally Posted by JSHOE

Thanks everyone. I suspected as much, but wasn't sure. Yes, Octane, they did have plenty of life in them. The stealership told me the were down to 3 mm and they needed to be replaced, (for a hefty fee of course). Needless to say, I was a bit shocked when I pulled them off. At least I didn't let them do it.

Good old service departments always trying to sell work you don't need. I find it really annoying and it pisses me off.

I changed a cabin air filter 3 months before an oil change and they told me it was filthy and needed to be changed. More recently, when I put my winter tires on I checked my brake pads and they were fine with lots of pad left. My next oil change which was 2 days later, they said my pads were 3mm and should be changed. I told the service guy his tech was blind and asked if he even took my wheels off to check pad thickness. All he could say is "this is what the tech found".

[dtalk]

The bevel edge is on certain type of pads, my Maxima front pads look like this.

[avs]

You have at least 20k to go before you wear the pad down to the backing plate. Btw the pad will make a high pitch squeaking noise when it's time to change the pad.

[autotechazo]

yes that chamfer edge is built in for sqeeking noise. the crisp straight edge causes a vibration thus making noise. sorry to hear that the service centers are more worried about profit than service.
yesterday a 70 something lady was in with her van , had a clunk in the front end and her son told her to have the struts checked, yes we found the noise coming from the strut mounts. the we asked her about the future needs of the van. she told me that she was hoping to replace it soon. well the clunk was minor and we advised her to hold on to the money and put it toward the next car. as she would have little benifit of the money spent. but if she changed her mind and kept this van it would save her in the long run as it only had 88000 mile. I work to find the customers best choice by giving them the information