Just replaced my front pads

[alex16]

I live in the mountains, and drive through mountain areas much steeper than many in Pittsburgh. I went down a 9% grade only my daily commute 1 mile 9% on my 4 mile commute to my last job. Currently with uber I'm normally overloaded (I'm 300lbs) and with 4 other 200lb guys I'm sitting at 1100 passenger weight, which is 200lbs over maximum capacity. It's safe to say I drive my mirage extremely hard. My brake light. Ever came on and it shouldn't come on, a brake light is there to indicate low fluid level or parking brake is set. It's safe to say mirage front pads should be good for 50k, I'd be very suspicious if anyone recommends replacing them before that.

[flatbroke]

It's actually quite normal for the brake light to come on under fairly hard braking or when going downhill as the pads begin to wear out. The fluid in the master cylinder will move more into the caliper due to the caliper piston moving out more to compensate for brake pad wear. So the master cylinder will be low, but only because the fluid is now mostly in the caliper. Don't top off the fluid, replace the pads.

[Cani Lupine]

When you get new rotors, do NOT get the Duralast Gold ones, they're coated with some kind of junk that gums up your pads. Nothing but problems.

[Top_Fuel]

My car is still new (under 1,000 miles). I had my wheels off for a few days, so I decided to detail the calipers and paint the rotor centers silver instead of black. I disassembled everything, including removing the caliper mount brackets. I was fairly surprised at the lack of lubricant on the slides. I took care of that on re-assembly. I also put a light coat of lube on the inside pads where they sit in the caliper mount brackets.

I would suggest to anyone who has their front wheels off to pull the caliper slides out and hit them with some additional lube.

[flatbroke]

When you get new rotors, do NOT get the Duralast Gold ones, they're coated with some kind of junk that gums up your pads. Nothing but problems.

A can of brake clean and some rags to wipe the anti rust coating off before the install are needed.