Hi All,
about 20k miles ago I tried to significantly improve brake performance by replacing front brake lines, calipers, pads and rotors. My indie mechanic did the work. The idea was to overcome sticking calipers etc.

The job had its moments but went OK. In the time since we have observed the inboard pads wear at a very high rate and the outside pads wear hardly at all. About 10k ago we actually did an emergency inboard pad replacement. We did wondering what was going on and trying to eliminate pad material as a cause. This last oil change the inboard pads were down to 0 almost and the outside still had plenty of meat.

So yesterday we changed out the calipers and fitted new Volvo OEM pads. We are surmising that the rebuilt calipers must have been rebuilt by the same person/place and that both calipers had the o-rings to the inboard side somehow mangled such that the fluid was not traveling to the outside--thus reducing pressure on the outside.

We are all about the science here and are treating this latest move as an (expensive)experiment. If things "even out" I will eventually replace pads and rotors (when needed). My indie guy has worked on Volvos for 20 years and never seen this before. It goes without saying neither have I.

The car is a '91 wagon, 290k auto, NON-ABS car, if it is not going downhill it is usually going uphill.

So my question is: Has anyone ever experienced this before? Can anyone develop a theory explaining it?

Thanks in advance,

Rod