Checking Brake Pads

[forevered]

is it possible to check the depth left on my front and rear brake pads without taking the wheels off , i could do this with my last car a nissan but dont know if i can make out the material depth of the pads on my auris, also do any of you guys put copper grease on the bolts to stop the wheel jamming on them

this is the first car ive had with alloy wheels,havnt had the wheels off yet ,does the locking nut have to come off first, and can it be put back on any of the bolts ? any advice would be appreciated

[Mooly]

I always smear the wheel bolts with copper grease and smear the hub where the wheel fits too. Locking nut goes on any... just treat it like any other

You should always use a torque wrench on alloys to tighten evenly and recheck after 100 miles or so.

I can see the brake pad friction material clearly through the alloys for a quick check but I'm "lite" on brakes... never worn a set out yet, even after 70K in the TSport.

[forevered]

thanks for the info

[forevered]

had the wheels off today to check pads which are fine, tightening the nuts back up with torque wrench to 103 nm didnt seem very tight at all, there wasnt much of a turn of the wrench after hand tightening the nuts ? :unsure

[tavy]

...unsure

if you tighten them at 103 it's ok, won't be any problem