I was told that to check for brake pads, I do not need to remove the wheels. Is this true?

 

Not exactly, but it would be easier to check properly if the wheels are removed. It depends on if your brakes have been functioning normally. If they are, you do not need to remove the wheels.

All you have to do is look through the wheel at the brakes and look at how thick the pad is left. With this method though, you can only see the outer pad. The inner pad would be hard to see unless you remove the wheel. Maybe you could feel the pad thickness of the other side sticking your hand through, but that's just annoying. I'm sure there could be tools that would make it easier without removing the wheel.

If your brakes are functioning normally, the outer and inner pads should be about the same thickness. Most shops won't take off the wheel since it is more work and just check the outer pad and assume the inner pad has the same thickness. Sometimes, the inner or outer pad could be significantly different than the other side, but that means you may have a slightly sticky caliper, which could be fixed without replacing it.

 

Most pads have a simple wear indicator which is a slot down the middle of the pad. Once the pad wears to where the slot is gone, it's time for replacement. Like Mathnerd says I just eyeball it and look for the pad meat left. Note that sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the pad backing and the pad material - especially if the pad is ready for replacement.

To build on Mathnerd's warning... I recently had a wheel (left rear) where the outer pad was fine and the inner pad was gone due to a rusty caliper pin (boot not installed correctly) so the best way to check pad is to remove the wheel and look through the window on the caliper.

Brian

 

Every time i get my tires rotated/balanced i stick my head in and check. Much easier with the wheels removed.

Also, cheater way. Check your brake fluid level. As the pads wear, the fluid has to push further, thus it will be low as you are nearing needing new pads. If you are low, and you top it off, remember that you'll need to remove that when you do finally change the pads.

 

+1
Easily put for people who didnt know.