If you have ever had to replace the brake pads on your car, then you know this is never an expense we look forward to. If only you could do it less often it would be so much better. You can. All you need to do in order to save those brake pads and make replacement repairs happen less often is to change some driving habits. Changing those habits is the best way to save your brake pads, unless your car has a mechanical problem.

Speed

You've likely heard the term "speed kills." This statement is true for your brake pads as much as it is anything else. Driving at even moderately higher speeds can have a huge impact on brake wear, according to Edmunds.com. Brakes turn their stopping energy into heat through friction, and this heat is what eats away at the brake pads. When you have to quickly slow down to a stop from 65 miles per hour as opposed to 55 miles per hour, your brakes transform about a third more energy into heat. This is a major difference in the impact it has on the pad.

Don't Use Left Foot

If you learned how to drive like a race car driver, using the right foot for the accelerator and the left foot for the brake, then you need to stop doing that. Use the left foot only for the clutch, if applicable, and do not touch the brake pedal. Avoid this habit because this driving style makes it easy for the driver to drive with a foot on the brake at all times, applying it when it does not need to be compressed. If you ever notice cars moving along at normal speeds with their brake lights constantly illuminated, you are probably behind a left-foot braker.

Coast

Take notice of what is coming up ahead of you when you drive. If you see a stop sign or traffic light ahead in the near distance, allow the vehicle to coast to a slower speed before you have to use the brakes to stop. Simply letting off the brakes and letting your car drop naturally from 50 miles per hour down to 30 miles per hour before applying the brakes will go a long way in reducing the wear on your brake pads, according to Edmunds.com. Do not worry about the amount of time you'll lose on the trip. The time wasted by slowing down a little early probably wouldn't be noticeable over the course of your day.

Light Load

If your brakes could talk, they'd definitely complain about how much weight your car or truck is carrying. The friction that the brake pad experiences is directly correlated to the amount of weight that has to be stopped. A lighter vehicle will stop easier and require less braking than a heavy one. You will sometimes have to haul a heavy load and your brakes can usually handle it, but if you do not have to haul it, then don't. Keeping the four-wheeler loaded in the bed of the truck for a couple of months just because you're too lazy to unload it and put it in the garage not only increases the chances of theft, but it is significantly shortening the life of your brake pads. If you don't need to haul it, unload it.

Source:

Edmunds: Top 10 Ways To Make Your Brakes Last Longer