I've got around 57K on my HAH and my rear brakes are starting to sing. Like you said, Kaymack, very intermittent. The outboards look pretty thin, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch. So if they're anything like yours, my inboards must be thinner than 1/8 inch!

OEM rear pads from H&A is $46 plus $8 shipping = $54.

OEM rear pads from the dealer is $62, minus $6 for my discount, plus $5 tax = $63.

Raybestos Professional Grade Ceramic rear brake pads from Checker is $31, minus $3 for my discount, plus $2 tax = $30.

Raybestos Quiet Stop Ceramic rear brake pads from Checker is $40, minus $4 for my discount, plus $3 tax = $39.

I think I'll be going with one of the ceramics instead of the OEM pads. Just got to decide on which one.

And since I'm back there, I'm debating on whether or not to change the rotors out...

The only problem is, most of my tools are over 200 miles away! I hate to buy new tools when I have perfectly good tools already.

 

I ended up going to get my tools. I had other stuff to do down there anyways.

So, yesterday I bought the Raybestos Ceramic Quiet Stops for the front and back. I figure if I'm in there, might as well do them both. To my surprise, the rears were really really low. And the fronts were practically brand new! The old pads were almost as thick as the new pads.

I took pics along the way and will post them up with some instructions later when I have more time.

Since I was down there, I had Checker resurface all four rotors. $5 each.

Replacing the brake pads was easy. I've changed many pads over the years on cars, trucks, and motorcycles. However, when I took my car out for a test drive yesterday, I could hear some sort of whine. The pitch changed with the speed of the car. I rechecked my work and didn't see any problems. Nothing is touching or rubbing. I lifted the car and spun the back wheels. They both make the whine noise. I also put the car in gear and let it idle. No perceptible noise from them at all. So the sound is confined to the rear, but where? The only thing I can think of is the freshly cut rotors have some sort of crosshatch pattern from where the tech buffed them up after turning them. I've never had brake rotors make this sound before. At least, not that I've ever heard. How about you guys? Seen/heard anything like this before?

 

Well, after driving for about 350 miles, I don't hear that whine anymore. I'm going to chalk it up to the cross-hatch pattern that was on the rotor surface from when the tech finished the rotors after turning them. Now that it's worn down, the sound is gone.

 

I think you got it right, the noise was likely due to the machining.

Personally I don't see the point to machining. Rotors do wear out, and machining just gets them worn out quicker. Dealerships are machining happy, imho.

 

I had them turned because I'm starting to feel a slight pulsating when stopping. The pulsating is due to uneven wear and/or warping of the rotor.

I had a choice. Have them turned for $5 each, or replace them for $35-$62 each. I turned them this time because I was still above the minimum thickness. But next time, I'll definitely have to replace the rears as they were getting really close to the minimum tolerances. And since I'm at it, I'll probably replace the fronts at that time as well.

 

Here's the write-up of my brake job.

https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...ads-hah-21154/