After road racing my brakes were feeling pretty mushy, I'd have to put the pedal down half way to get it to begin braking.

Today, I pulled off the front caliper on the driver side and I see that on the inside bottom, the pad is almost worn completely through. To me that says that the top one is hardly working and the bottom one is working too much. The outside top of the pad is pretty new looking.

What do you guys think and how can I fix it?

I'll have pictures as soon as I can get near broadband.

 

I have always considered the "top" of the pad the edge furthest from the hub center and the "bottom" of the pad, the closest. So let me get my bearings on your description ...

Sounds like you are describing the "top" as the trailing edge of the pad and the "bottom as the leading edge, correct?

And as for "the top one is hardly working and the bottom one is working too much", I think you are describing the caliper pistons.

If that description is accurate, sounds to me as though you have a guide pin issue, not a caliper issue. It is possible a caliper piston is siezed, but not likely ... and that based upon the kind of road consitions yuou typically drive on. I don't know where you live, so ...

 

I took off the other side and it has the exact same wear. I wasn't able to get any pictures (camera was dead), however, I am quite the artist. Here's my sketch as to what it looks like:

 

Any ideas guys?

 

That would be leading edge taper. Is it on the inner pad, the outer pad or both?

What kind of pads?

Does the caliper move freely?

At this point, I would definitely suspect the guide pins.

 

Thanks for the reply. Only on the inner pad of each caliper. The pads are stock.

Please clarify what you mean by if the caliper moves freely.

If it's a guide pin, how do you fix that issue?

 

If it's only the inner pad, then the pistons are moving, but the caliper isn't "floating".

As the pedal is pushed, it moves the pistons out, forcing the pads against the inside edge of the rotor.

The caliper floats on the guide pins and equalizes the pressure to both sides of the rotor.

If the caliper doesn't move, then the guide pins are stuck and all the braking force is being generated on the inside.

Remove the calper, remove the abutment bracket. The guide pins are in the abutment bracket and the caliper screws into them. Remove the guide pins.

Clean the pins and the hole where they ride. Use a high temp grease on them. Make sure to reseat the rubber "seal" or hood to keep them dry and clean.

If you can't get them out, it's time for a new set of brackets and pins.

 

Rock on, thanks man! I guess I'll get my new brakes ordered and do all that at once.

 

This happened to my Camaro when it was under warranty...one of the guide pins had completely seized in the abutment bracket...wouldn't come out even with a torch. The dealer replaced it and it solved the problem.
Next time it happened was on my wife's car...one of the guide pins was stuck, but it came out with a pair of pliers and some heat. I cleaned all the old grease out, regreased the pins and reinstalled...all good now.

 

Sounds like I could have my work cut out for me!