Sounds like that caliper may be sticking. It may be an issue with the brake line on that side, or that caliper may need a rebuild.

Typically instead of rebuilding the caliper yourself, people just swap calipers for another remanufactured one. You may be able to find an OEM replacement instead of a remanufactured caliper if you search for one online.

Replaced 2 rear calipers and pads.right caliper has chomped thru 1 brake pad within a month. Any ideas

One pad is worn substantially more than the other on the same caliper?

Hey Ben, thanks for the comment. To clarify #3, brake pads are supposed to be only installable in one direction. However, if the installer is not paying attention, they could install the pads with the backing plate facing the rotor (in other words, on the wrong side of the caliper). Obviously the installer *should* notice this error very quickly when they go for a test drive.

Thanks for #7 and #8. Those are good tips to include.

Pull the caliper off and inspect how tight the pads are held in place.
They should be able to move fairly freely, unless the shins are specially designed to hold them in place.

If they’re too tight, pull the shims off, and file beneath the shims to remove any corrosion that has built up.

Next, check the slide pins (if equipped) to make sure they move freely. Add brake pad lube as needed (not anti-seize!)

If all those are free from issue, I’d suspect the caliper if it has multiple pistons.

Your post doesn’t clarify well how the pad is wearing unevenly, top to bottom (outside of rotor to inside of rotor), or left to right (side to side of pad). But there are very few moving parts that go into brakes…

If you ever solved the concern, please let us know!!

2. Can be bad pistons, but more often than not, it’s sticking caliper pins, which can be easily corrected. Use something me valve lapping compound and an impact gun in the pin hole, spin at high speed for 30 seconds, CLEAN THOROUGHLY, and grease well with pad/slide grease, not anti-seize, which is sticky…

3. How do you “misalign” pads? They only go in one way, even if they’re not pushed in all the way, the caliper will push them flush, unless they’re not in correctly at all.

4. Brake rotors don’t need to be cleaned with a specialized formula. We all use brake parts cleaner, but your ASE certification should teach you that the proper way to clean off the shipping anti rust oil on rotors is with soap and warm water, not with Brake Clean…

Also, where would you apply an anti-rust coating? The surface that makes contact with the pads has constant friction on it, it would wear off any coating, plus a coating would prevent the pads from making proper contact with the rotor, harming braking performance. Any rust on the perimeter won’t make any difference to brake performance…

5. The water part of this is accurate enough for the average reader…

Warped rotors can definitely effect pad wear, you’ll usually notice it when braking from speed, a pulsation in brake pedal and/or steering wheel specifically when braking…

6. 100%, do not mix pad material/manufacturer per axle (different on front and rear is ok, but will wear at different rates in respect to each other)

7. Corrosion buildup on brake hanger (where pads slide), causing binding and preventing movement

8. Wearing/degrading brake hoses, allowing pressure to enter and not leave the caliper, though this is usually more notable when brakes are wearing excessively on one side.

I’m not sure. If it were my car I’d pull the brakes on that side and inspect them. I would be curious to know if the wear on the inside pad looks like what you’re seeing on the outside, or perhaps the opposite wear pattern.