I'm driving an '82 Vanagon downunder.

In preparation for a longish trip I looked at the front brake pads.  They
have been squeaking when not applied, almost since they went in maybe a year
ago.

There is loads of wear left on the pads but I found that the two I have
looked at so far are cracked (the lining, not the steel backing).  The crack
runs effectively radially when the pad is in the car.  It looks as if the
crack could extend through the pad. Except for very badly worn pads, I don't
think I have ever seen a pad cracked like this when it still has 80%+ of its
life ahead of it.

Has anyone had a similar experience?  Ay comments?

Thanks

dave

PS I recently ordered a spare pad set when I bought parts from a US
(Arizona) VW parts supplier.  I bought them partly because they were about
1/3 of the price of similar parts here.  When I received them, blow me down,
they had been made in Australia!