Well I decided to check out how bad the premature rear brake wear was with the new Accords and found 140+ complaints on carcomplaints alone. They seem to be going bad at around 20k across all trims. I'm thinking the problem is with the brake distribution system set on too much rear brake bias. Is there a way to check how the system is set and change it?

 

The proportioning valve is not adjustable, but there are aftermarket adjustable proportioning valves, but I think this would affect the ABS system in a negative way.

 

It's got electronic brake-force distribution, right? So you don't want to mess that up by putting some other devices in the system. Then the EBD system will fight against that valve, & the EBD would probably win out.

 

Yeah the car has EBD.

Most of the complaints said honda told them the 08/09 Accords are set to brake using mainly the rear brakes. Many had worn inner rear pads so I still think the system is faulty. Two people said their rear pads were down to the metal while the fronts still had 6mm. How think are new honda pads because 6mm seems almost new to me. Also so said the honda dealer told them that the premature rear wear is caused by the vehicle stability assist using the rear brakes when they make a turn.

 

Some thoughts...
Seems strange that the EBD would be "SET" to use mainly the rear brakes. Sounds like salesman-fiction to me.

The use of rear brakes for stability control DOES make sense. Braking force applied aft of the CG would have some advantage for yaw-stability. But that means the car is being driven always so close to the limit that the system is always doing something. Why does that sound like the kind of driver that would complain the loudest?? Sometimes physics has to rule over stupidity.

The rear brake has single-piston calipers, so the wear of inboard vs. outboard pads on the same wheel CANNOT be controlled by any EBD or stability system. That would have to be caused by binding caliper pins or the pads stuck in the brackets.


Ideal brake-force distribution (front-to-rear) depends on weight transfer from acceleration. If it were ideally perfect, a very gradual stop would wear the brakes in proportion to the static weight distribution of the car. Any harder braking would use more front, & less rear brakes. A proportioning valve is a very crude way to accomplish this. EBD is better, but still depends on the measurement resolution of the ABS sensors. Which in turn depend on the longitudinal slip ratios of the tires.

Somewhere in all that mess, the designer has to pick a fixed proportion for sizing the brakes. Since not all drivers behave the same way, pretty much NOBODY will wear out the front & rear at exactly the same rate. All the people who wear out the front first, don't complain about it because "that's the way it's supposed to be".

 

Motor Trended had to replace their 08 Accord rear pads at 15k miles. Even if they changed it so most of the braking is done by the rear brakes then it should still last to around 25k.

 

Maybe the stability control is hyperactive? It's under warranty, right? Maybe a scanner hooked up to record the activity of that system can show that it's activating the rear brakes excessively?

First thing should probably be to verify that the caliper slide pins are sliding OK, not binding; and the pads aren't wedged tight in the caliper brackets. That would cause dragging brakes regardless of ABS, stability, or whatever is going on.