Well...

I got new front discs and pads fitted today. These were the state of my old front discs. (on the side where you cant see..the other side looked fine)


Click

Clickaroo


Its shocking isnt it

They are quite shocking, yes

I haven't seen a pair of discs that look that bad for a long time.

You should be very ashamed

I don't know about ashamed...

But you should be relieved. They're not just brakes man... That's your life!

I hope whoever fitted your new brakes made sure the pads were free to move in the caliper as that`s what causes that problem.

Looks like the only bit of braking you had with the second pic was where the shiny inner ring is the inside of the disc .

Baz

shocking, thats as bad as driving the thread bare tyers. if you had wanted to stop in a hurry as a little kid run out in front of you

you would be up in the dock as we speek, probably getting charged with something

You shouldn't be so harsh on Vinno.

Not everyone has the knowledge to know how to check their cars over for faults and with the brake disc only being bad on one side - the inside, it would be hard to know it was like that unless you saw it from the inside.

Yes, regular servicing should have picked up how bad the discs were getting, but if Vinno doesn't look at his car from one service to another - which a lot of people don't, then he wouldn't have known.

The discs are in a shocking state, which Vinno is also shocked about, but now he knows, he's changed them.

Theresa, i don't think it was harsh, ill put it in to context

you little girl or boy (i don't thin you have kids though) is playing in the garden when a ball gets kicked in to the street. he/she runs with out thinking from behind a car in to the road
some one with no break disks happens to be driving past at the same time. Unfortunately due to excessive ware, poor breaking surface and per performing breaks, which would have been evident for quite some time to the driver
your daughter gets hit and sustains massive injury. she or he is now in a vegetable state because of blunt head trauma

tell me you would say that my comment was harsh then, tell me that you would forgive the lack of servicing and maintenance and knowledge that there wasn't something quight right with the breaks

we ALL have a responsibility to make sure the car we drive is in a state fit for the road.



thats a bug bear of mine, your right people don't, some people even think coolant and fluids are part of the MOT. ignorance is not an excuse when your driving a 1600? kg thats actually a lethal weapon

wile i think vinno is probably a great guy and he fully admits he is ashamed of him self (respect vinno for having the balls to a)post photos b)confirm your disappointment in your self)

he must have known this was going to illicit two types of response, yours and mine

To rap it all up, I stand by my statement. I think the statement came across as harsh, but i think its probably what would of happened if the worst had come to fruwision

Being a former motor mechanic I have seen plenty like this and plenty more much worse

The only shocking thing is that they would probably still have passed an MOT brake efficiency test, although they should have failed on the inspection.

Take note of the word SHOULD though. Many MOT places would have not noticed and passed it, and some may have only advised.

Bob

It's all 'what if's' though.

Brakes in that condition are not always evident to the driver. Brakes can be in a worse condition and still feel as if they have good stopping power to the driver, especially if he/she hasn't driven anything else before, or a car that's the same, to compare the stopping power.

We could go on about this forever, about various factors - for example - a Coupe with discs like Vinos, could have the same stopping power as, for example, a Fiesta, which has just had new discs/pads fitted.

Unless advised, the Fiesta driver, with their new brakes, wouldn't realise that they need to bed the brakes in before any harsh braking and would probably have the same or less stopping power than a Coupe with fccuked discs.

Would that Fiesta driver still be at fault?

For the record, I do have a daughter, a 2 year old grandson and another grandson on the way, but that's not the point.

theresa, its not an attack on you or any one really, its my opinion on the subject. i am not with out faulght and have to made many mistakes in my past

the best thing that could happen from this post is we all take away a little experience from it, ill be keeping a closer eye on the rear side of my disks from now on

To be honest i agree with Sam.

If you had a chainsaw that needed regular maintained to ensure correct and proper use and it malfunctioned because u hadn't stuck to that, and injured/killed someone, you'd be responsible for their death.

Lets simplify again.

U use an axe to cut down a tree to collect wood to keep your family warm. Its an old axe and has seen better days, but u see no reason to replace it. Whilst chopping the head fly's off and injures/kills someone. Again still responsible.

These are dramatic examples, as is sam's, but its the same principal. No0one is forced to drive. But there is a responsibility being a driver and that carries onto being a car owner.

I agree with T that unless vinno had purposefully taken the wheel off and checked the discs, he's not gonna notice but unfortunately he's still responsible. All in IMO.

Ross

p.s. just to add this is nothing to do with anyone personally, just in general. Its all supposition anyways, as Vinno is clearly on the ball. He obviously didn't drive around knowing his brakes were knackered but still changed them as he knew they were due and then realised the problem. So definately not applicable to Vinno

That would be me, as I for one wouldn't have a clue if my brakes were knackered if a mechanic / MOT didn't tell me, unless it was really obvious that they were grinding or generally c*ap at stopping the car!

I have always had my cars MOT'd and serviced annually (or more if an issue), does my lack of knowledge make me an irresponsible car owner??

I'm shocked, i've never seen brakes like these before - i'm amazed the car stopped at all

I’m not a mechanic, if I feel a change in my car, or am worried about it, or can see something not right. I get some one to sort it for me.

I feel I need to clear this up as i have been PM'd by a mod regarding my earlier post.

The title of this post is "Should I be ashamed of myself?"

I have been asked to give an opinion or response to the thread, and I have. I will not change what i have said and stand bye it

now it must be noted that the responsible thing has been done here and the breaks have been fixed. its also worth noting that my response isn’t targeted at vinno, its at the issue all togever with car maintance. not knowing how to do something to check something isn’t a reasonable excuse
if I didn’t check my tyres and crashed in to some one because I couldn’t stop in the

wet and they are thread bare. Would the defence I’m not a mechanic or I didn’t know how to check fly in court?

I wander if the responses would have been different if we were talking about tyres here. In reality there is no difference, it’s a part of the car that wears. Only difference is most people on here have the knowledge to check there tyres. I know people that cant however. Its all the same principle

I hope this turns in to a healthy debate and not a argument. No one here is mud slinging and I believe its an important topic that should be discussed sensibly

On my old scooby my front passenger side caliper had seized up and I was unaware until I started to hear some strange grating sound. I wasn't sure what it was but eventually decided to see if it was the brakes and I was in for a bit of shock. The whole of one side of the caliper was down to about half the width it should be and the pads where on the metal. I certainly learn't my lesson with regards to regular checks on brakes and IF the worse had of happened I would have been to blame. Lucky for me nothing bad happened and I just looked like an idiot and will never let it happen again!
I wouldn't say you should be ashamed as everyone makes mistakes.. but if it happened again.. Then you should be very very ashamed lol

Sam you are right that not knowing would not be any defence in court, but the only mandatory check in place at the moment is the annual MOT. (and there is serious though going into making this a bi-annual check).

Millions of drivers out there have no idea how to do any other maintenance than put petrol in. millions never have a service and wait for the MOT or a breakdown to identify faults.

I can see what you are getting at but in the real worlds people do not chack these things. You could even role your bald tyre argument out to tyre pressures (which the law *might* do in a fatal accident. but there are lots of other variables too. As T points out the brembos with worn discs might still have better stopping power than a corsa or a fiesta. and what about old cars? Newer cars have softer impact zoned bumbers and 'pedestrian friendly (dont think that's the correct term ) bonnets and wings.

What id you ran over some one in an old Morris Minor with drum brakes all round, steel bumpers front mounted glass headlights. would you be considered irresponsible for driving such an old car

We can't wrap everyone in cotton wool.

your point is valid come to dance, i cant argue with your logic, and nothing perfect in the real world. we can do are best to minimize the risks however.
your morris minor still has to conform to a break test and safety tests. ill go with the earlier posts that a set of bremcos with poor disks will probably have the same stopping power as a minor/festa ect.

one could also argue that in a car thats doing 220 bhp and ways more then a festa, bremcos working with the efficiency comparable to festa isn't a great idea

im not trying to make a point against vinno, i have already said

"theresa, its not an attack on you or any one really, its my opinion on the subject. i am not with out faulght and have to made many mistakes in my past

the best thing that could happen from this post is we all take away a little experience from it, ill be keeping a closer eye on the rear side of my disks from now on "

Wow. I didn't exect that i'd start such a heated debate

In my defence, the braking ability of the car hasn't changed (that I've noticed) since I have had the car. And it used to brake quite well to be honest with them on.

However, its nobodies responsibility but my own. And, I can see where you are coming from Sam.

In actual fact I aren't ashamed of myself. I was oblivious to the problem, the performance etc was fine, neve had a problem. As soon as I found out that they were infact in bad condition and in need of a change, I bought the stuff and got it changed.

Let the debate rage on...

Just had mine changed and they were nearly as bad as those!!! And yes it had just passed it's MOT.

Perhaps everyone should go out and check the inboard side of their brake discs, particularly the rears, to see if any more folks have brakes like this. I would be surprised if nobody has

Such wear was common on older cars and I have changed many Audi 80/90 and VW rear discs that were exactly like this, and spotted whilst servicing. Such wear is due to worn calipers / stuck brake pads even poor quality (Cheap) discs. It is also not entirely down to poor maintenance, it is possible it could occur between annual servicing.

I do though think that the concern here is somewhat out of proportion to the problem. Like I said earlier discs worn like this could still pass an MOT brake efficiency test, thus they would still be adequate for stopping the effected car. Granted if one were to add some weight or increase the speed and the braking effect would be greatly diminished, but it would still have passed the test

Personally I would like to thank the original poster for bringing this subject to the fore. Hopefully it will make at least one person who reads this think twice before deciding to try and scrimp on maintenance. There are people out there who ignore servicing, yes they change the oil but only ever do other work as indicated by an MOT, or when something breaks. Any good mechanic would have found such disc wear during a routine service, and would have advised the car owner to seriously consider a brake overhaul.

Bob

So I am not making this stuff up

You must have posted that whilst I was writing war and peace

Just thought I'd add - Took the car for its MOT on Saturday, Sailed through