Troubleshooting Uneven Brake Pad Wear With Kodiak Trailer Disc Brakes

Question:

Kodiak 7k axle installed by MorRyde. Looks to be the 250 brake. 16,000 miles on trailer, but I did have controller set at 10 for about 3/4 of those miles. Reduced it to 8.5 which was too much of a reduction. While having wheels replaced another long story, I noticed the pass rear outer pad was almost completely worn. Pass front wheel was in better shape, but still near end of life inner pads are in pretty good shape. Calipers are moving freely, I did have to bleed the brakes, because MorRyde did a horrible job bleeding the brake lines. This was done roughly 3k miles. Ive noticed two things about the installed pads, One, the outer pads have tabs holding them in place, and two, the backing plate is black, not red. Are either of these points a concern for compatibility? Any thoughts on why outer pads would wear more than inner, even with the calipers freely floating? I did not even look at drivers side, just planning on replacing pads on all four brakes.

asked by: Phil H

Expert Reply:

Hi Phil,

If the brake calipers list Kodiak and 250 then the Kodiak Ceramic Brake Pads # K250CP would be a compatible replacement. The backing plate color doesn't matter in this case, and is really just for branding. Outer pad wear means the slides/pins are causing a bind and are just in need of cleaning and lubrication to freely move. The inner pads are just getting more pressure to clamp down on the rotor, giving you the uneven wear. It's not end of world concerning but I would definitely clean up the calipers when replacing the brake pads and then drive around for a bit and recheck them.

You can also jack up one side of the trailer and use your brake controller manual override to activate the brakes after replacing the pads to see if both pads are clamping down evenly.

expert reply by: Kevin C