One bad rear brake rotor and pad. Is my mechanic a crook?

Question

I needed my truck towed to my mechanic because my transmission line got damaged while trying to change the starter. Anyway, long story short, my brakes were fine when I took it to him. No indication whatsoever that my pads were worn or needing replaced soon. I KNOW WHAT THAT SOUNDS AND FEELS LIKE! As soon as I drove it out of his parking lot, I could FEEL the brakes grinding. Not just a squeal. Ok, so I figure I could do this job myself. I buy both rear brake pads and rotors, planning on just changing them out and having the old ones turned to have an extra set ready for the next brake job. I get under there and cannot get my bolts loose on my right rear rotor. And, no way without using a breaker bar that would require the truck be on a mechanics lift. The thing that really got me was that this was the only brake shoe and rotor that was even bad. The left side was perfect and the pads really had barely been worn.

I would say the probability and likelihood that my mechanic did this and is a crook, is 98.9%. But, I AM just a girl mechanic in a man's world.

I would like your opinion on this. No idiot would just replace one brake pad and rotor without doing both. I would like to add that I just bought the truck in March, less than six months ago.

Answer 1

I get your misgivings about only one side being bad, but really I highly doubt it was your mechanic which caused an issue. Really, it wouldn't be worth his time to mess with them. If he'd actually done something to them, he would have said something. As I've stated previously, if a mechanic finds something wrong exterior of what they are assigned to fix and bring it to management, the mechanic will get extra money for doing so if the owner agrees to the work. If the mechanic had done something, they would have said something. If they'd done something and it wasn't fixed, this leaves open for a HUGE lawsuit against the shop. Really I doubt they did anything to harm your truck. In working on cars, time is money. The more work they can get out the door, the more they get paid (generally). If they took time to mess with your brakes, it takes time away from other jobs which they could otherwise be doing.

Now, as far as your issue, you bring up two things which I'll talk about.

First, you said the left side was perfect and the right side is done. The most likely cause for this is something in the braking system on the right side is sticking, causing it to wear faster. This could either be the piston(s) in the caliper, or the slides for the caliper. Either way, it can cause excess wear in short order. I'd take a look to ensure neither is an issue for your truck.

Second, you said you could feel the brakes grinding after the fact. I would submit to you the grinding was there before (maybe not as bad), but you really just didn't notice it as such. When we get work done to our vehicles, we become hyper sensitive to the vehicle for a period of time. You'll notice things you may not have noticed prior to it. It's just the nature of the beast and happens to the best of us.

To me, there's no reason why the shop would have messed around with anything other than what they were working on if they weren't going to say anything about it before it left the shop. More than likely this is just a coincidence. Obviously you know your truck better than I do. As for the shop ... if you still believe they did you wrong, don't go back to them. Plus word of mouth is an awesome weapon. If you fully believe the mechanic did something to your brakes, take it to the shop's manager. If they are worth their salt, they will do something about it.