2021 26,000 highway miles needs brakes all around???

[Whyme]

Ok, 2021 TB custom. 26,000 mostly highway miles, towed maybe 3 times on short trips. Hauled very infrequently. Mostly just a 15 minute drive back and forth to work and weekend chilling, almost always with nothing but a cooler in the back and almost never towing anything. I live in the country, its mostly flat here, I drive like a grandpa (as I frequently get clowned for). I took it to the dealership for “service brake pad monitor” thinking it was just what it says and hoping under my (extended ) warranty. First thing desk jockey says is “probably needs brakes” and im like yeah right . They call me later saying brake pad monitor is just doing it’s job and front brakes are “almost metal to metal” and rear are “2-3mm”. Needs brakes and rotors all around, for the low low price of $1200. I see alot of 40,000 minimum for fronts and twice that or more for rears. Am I being scammed? Anyone else burn brakes this fast??? Any help greatly appreciated

 

[clstark7]

Ok, 2021 TB custom. 26,000 mostly highway miles, towed maybe 3 times on short trips. Hauled very infrequently. Mostly just a 15 minute drive back and forth to work and weekend chilling, almost always with nothing but a cooler in the back and almost never towing anything. I live in the country, its mostly flat here, I drive like a grandpa (as I frequently get clowned for). I took it to the dealership for “service brake pad monitor” thinking it was just what it says and hoping under my (extended ) warranty. First thing desk jockey says is “probably needs brakes” and im like yeah right . They call me later saying brake pad monitor is just doing it’s job and front brakes are “almost metal to metal” and rear are “2-3mm”. Needs brakes and rotors all around, for the low low price of $1200. I see alot of 40,000 minimum for fronts and twice that or more for rears. Am I being scammed? Anyone else burn brakes this fast??? Any help greatly appreciated

There was a recall on mine regarding the brake pad life indicator in your dash settings. It was saying the brake pads were wearing out quicker than they actually were. It was a simple software update. You might ask them if that recall applied to your vehicle, and if it has been done yet. Might went from like 75% at like 20,000 miles back to 90%, which seems way more accurate.

 

[Trail Brian]

57 k and at 65 percent front

 

[as73]

I'm at 31,500 and I think fronts are 78% and rears are 85%
I have a 200lbs shell a 200lbs Bush ax27 RTT a ARB 45QT refrigerator and lithium power system in the bed.
I'd say either they are full of shit or there is another issue with the system
Get photos ask for the old parts or get a second opinion

 

[Baz]

They are just scamming you like most service departments do.

 

[Gangly]

Ok, 2021 TB custom. 26,000 mostly highway miles, towed maybe 3 times on short trips. Hauled very infrequently. Mostly just a 15 minute drive back and forth to work and weekend chilling, almost always with nothing but a cooler in the back and almost never towing anything. I live in the country, its mostly flat here, I drive like a grandpa (as I frequently get clowned for). I took it to the dealership for “service brake pad monitor” thinking it was just what it says and hoping under my (extended ) warranty. First thing desk jockey says is “probably needs brakes” and im like yeah right . They call me later saying brake pad monitor is just doing it’s job and front brakes are “almost metal to metal” and rear are “2-3mm”. Needs brakes and rotors all around, for the low low price of $1200. I see alot of 40,000 minimum for fronts and twice that or more for rears. Am I being scammed? Anyone else burn brakes this fast??? Any help greatly appreciated

I'm at 115k miles and still have ~65% left on the original rear pads and ~45% on the original front pads according to my instrumentation. IF yours are wearing out at ~26,000 miles, you have an issue.

Regardless, brake pads are SUPER easy to change yourself so there is no reason to pay $1,200 for them to do it. You could do all 4 corners in under 2 hours easily.

 

[Spyderwebb]

Get a second opinion from another dealership.... I've got 45k on my 2020 LT 6.2 (and I drive aggressively) and brake life in still in the 90% range.
There is likely an underlying problem!

Plus: What Gangly said above!

 

[Guest1854]

I would go look at the brakes while they have them apart. Do not take the advisor or tech word on it. They work on commission. If you say yes to replace they will remember you and do the same the next time you go there.

 

[jaycub]

I know I'm late to this post but I was getting a lot of pulsing in my brake pedal which is odd because my truck is at 32K miles. When I got home I started looking at my rotors, rear ones both look fine, the front ones look bad and have a pretty big lip around the outside of them. Gonna pull the front wheels off tomorrow to get a better look and I'll let you know. Mines a 2022 6.2L and I jumped on here because I thought I was going insane. It did sit in Virginia near the Bay so best I can think is that maybe the salt water warped my rotors a bit?
Anyone have any ideas? Or should I just keep riding them. When I got the truck the sensor wasn't activated for my brake pads so I don't know if turning it on now will be accurate.
Thanks kings.

 

[Gangly]

Salt wont warp your rotors, only heat will do that. If your rotors are warped, they have seen excessive heat due to excessive braking, or improper caliper performance.

 

[Off_the_grid]

I just bought a CPO 21 with 29k on odo and the dealer replaced the rotors and pads prior to. I've never had to do a brake job on any of my vehicles, I'm pushing 60yo had quite a few, with only 29k on the parts. So it's very suspect that they needed replacement so soon IMO.

 

[Poppi]

Get the dealership to show you the pads on the truck when they inspect them. I had a Toyota dealership tell me I needed brakes at an unusually low mileage and I declined on that particular visit. Told me I was below minimum allowable millimeters 4 mm or something like that. Next 3 service visits, they never brought it up again, and I never had any issues with the brakes. Traded that truck on this '21 TB with 32k on the odo currently. My brake reminder is like 72% front and 83% rear, or somewhere therabouts.