Hello - ok, I understand there are LOTS of variables, but ball park how many miles would you expect to get out of a set of brake pads on:
Generally 40t operation
Generally motorways/‘fast roads’
retarder fitted and used often … 
Volvo FH 6x2 Midlift.
600+k on the steer, possibly 1m on the mid lift, around 400k on the drive maybe 500k, all kms.
A good OD should be able to extend those figures by a fair bit, especially on major roads where the brakes should rarely be used at all except to bring the vehicle to a final stop, all depends on the person behind the wheel.
Juddian:
600+k on the steer, possibly 1m on the mid lift, around 400k on the drive maybe 500k, all kms.
A good OD should be able to extend those figures by a fair bit, especially on major roads where the brakes should rarely be used at all except to bring the vehicle to a final stop, all depends on the person behind the wheel.
Ta.
The reason I ask… the on board compoooter says they’ll be good for another 110k km. But my last inspection, the fitter was sucking his teeth saying they’ll need replacing ‘soon’. The inspection sheet puts them at 8mm remaining. The previous insp was 10mm.
To top it all, this time last year the insp sheet stated 40%. I do wish they’d stick to one way of measuring, it would make my life so much easier.
2mm wear between inspections then? There is an age element to this as well. Once they get to 6mm then it is very likely that what is visible hanging over the edge of the disc is 6mm but the rusty edge of the disc has cut into the lining and what is on the rest of the pad is lower or one pad is at 6 and the other is at 2 . Once the lining gets thinner so its ability to absorb heat decreases and the material deteriorates along with a certain amount of increased disc wear. If work is going to get busy soon then it is time to plan on having a proper look at everything to do with the brake wheel ends, pads are cheap, the discs and calipers aren’t. Get good quality pads in stock ready, you will need them even if that turns out to be not until next year.
Makes sense Cav, on my last motor they didn’t let the pad wear on the menu get below 25% before swapping out, changed at mileages a little less than those i noted above but exhaust brake not up to current standards, plus vehicle driven hard and on the brakes constantly* by others when i was off shift as is standard car driving method of todays lorry drivers 
, you can tell how its been driven by the brake dust mm thick on the wheels.
El presidente’s Volvo has a good retarder by comparison so be interesting to see just how long he can make them last.
*We had one bod who always turned the auto exhaust brake off and would only slow on the brakes because he didn’t like how it changed down by itself with the exhauster in auto mode, you couldn’t make it up.
I’m about to get the midlift pads changed and disks skimmed on a 2008 FH that’s done just over 1,000,000km. Original pads and disks, we run heavy on regional work.
The fronts and rears usually need pads every 350,000km
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