this is kinda wierd. i was driving a few days ago over some gravel/loose rock. and ust after that i noticed that my brakes (front right) were making some pretty horrible sounds. i figured it was prolly just some rocks that got stuck in the caliper/pads and would work them selves out. yesterday i looked at my rotor and it was all chewed to hell, the other 3 were fine. so this morining to had some extra time and decided to take the pads out and manually get the rocks out before they completely ate my rotor.. i was in for a surprise. the outer pad had no pad material left on it. it was just the metal backing plate against the rotor. uch: the inner pad was still almost new. anyway i replaced the pads with new ones. all my other pads seem fine. i am wondering if some debris from the gravel i was on knocked the pad material off the pad or something. any ideas?
Have you checked the caliper? I had a seized caliper on my 84 4000 Quattro and the piston would retract when I put a new pad in (thanks to the size large C clamp), but it wouldn't retract after i took my foot off the brake, so the pad would stay against the rotor, and wear out on that side. Might be something to check, you may just need a caliper rebuild kit. Otherwise, I have heard very isolated reports of brake pads coming off the backing plate...It wasn't limited to any one make/model, it seemed to be more of an aftermarket thing.
^^^ word, this happend to me TWICE in the front, i bought reman calipers and havent looked back, martin if you need one i can hook you up, i just payed 80 bucks for them 3 months ago (but now i have wrx front brakes) i dont need them
it seems that it is just like the caliper is sticking. it just doesnt seem right though. the brakes never stuck or hung before, cause normally when they stick y ou should feel alittle pull or here them sticking but i didnt get that. i am still thinking in the back of my mind that it is some how related to thegravel driving.
remember the rotor on my blue wagon when I got it?? when we say the caliper stuck, it doesn't mean it's dragging, but when you apply the brakes, it doesn't slide on the bracket properly, and only applies the force to one side.
