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[Thanassis Gritsopoulos]

Hi,

Three months ago I replaced the front brake pads with ATE new ones
at 65000 kms (last replacement 51000 kms).
When I removed the caliper (driver's side) and gained access to the pads, I noticed to my surprise that the pads were worn much more in contrast to the other wheel's pads which were more or less double the thickness.
My question is why the pads were worn in such an uneven way?
The car stops when braking without being pulling right or left - when it stops it remains at the original direction.
My local Alfa dealer told me that because my car always travels with one person , the left hand side, when braking, is efforted with the driver's extra weight. So it is logical that this side's pads will be more worn in contrast with the other side which does not have this extra weight.
Also he told me that Alfa Romeo had anticipated this problem when Guilias and Guiliettas and generally those good old Berlinas were in production; the driver's side caliper was equipped with a more hard tampered spring in order to get over this problem.

Does anybody know if this is the real problem or there might be something else happening?

Thank you in advance
Thanassis Gritsopoulos - Athens, Greece
1991 Alfa 33 1.4 IE

[James Granger]

Hi,

I have always noticed that my driver's side front wheel gets covered with far more brake dust than the one on the passenger's side. I have picked up on this because I clean my wheels after virtually every drive (I only use the car occasionally when the weather is good).

The brakes are apparantly 100% and I have never encountered any pulling to the left.

Your account has kind of explained this mystery, thanks!

James