This past year, the Global Brake Safety Council (GBSC) conducted an engineering field study of 3,200 discarded brake pads, to determine whether the pads had failed or were just worn past specifications.

The study classified each of the pads into five distinct categories or failure modes. The geographic location of where the pad was collected also was taken into account to help make the connection between weather- or environmental-related corrosion of the backing plate, shims and attached hardware. GBSC provided data on the number of brake pads that fell under each category and provided a potential explanation for each trend in its report.

Recently, the Council provided an update to the study to include a third geographical location to be evaluated in this ongoing work. Results from this study will provide an opportunity to share field-use observations related to brake pad rust and its direct impact on vehicle safety, with the goal of providing awareness to the industry and consumers, says the GBSC.

To read the full, original study from the Global Brake Safety Council, click here.

To read Part 2 of the study, click here.