Dumb Brake Question
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Dumb Brake Question I just installed my C5 brakes(complete C5 set up on the front and C5 calipers and pads on the rear) and I noticed on the fronts that the pads are wearing into the rotors only on the outside edge. It was only about 3/8 of an inch wide after the first few miles but is getting wider now. I reused the rear Fbody rotors so I can't really tell where they are wearing. It's been a while since I put on brand new rotors and can't remember how they wore at first. Is this normal for them to wear like this at the start?
my dad put ls1 brakes onto his 69 and it did that for a while, but i think its kinda like a break in thing because his arent doing that anymore. just put a few miles on them and see what happens.
I do not think that is normal. I had the same issue with some remanufactured calipers from Autozone. It turned out that the calipers where spread. However I have not tried the C5 set up.
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Yeah the rotors are untouched except for the outside half of the rotors. The calipers are used so they could be stretched but the C5 calipers are supposed to be resistant to that.
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Thanks for the replies, guys. I'll have to take the wheel off and look at them more. It's hard to see in that pic but the caliper doesn't seem to be pushed far enough onto the rotor, like it's just on the outside edge of the rotor and needs to be pushed in maybe a half inch or so which is weird because I don't know where the extra "slack" would come from if they are bolted up tight to the adapters and the adapters are bolted up tight to the hub.
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Hi. Guessing here. Any time I have run across pads wearing on one side diffrent. Look to see if the calipers sliders are ok and centering the caliper. Other thing is to check the pad end tabs, where they seat on the caliper bracket. Casting uglys can get a few lumps on the end tabs & bind in the slot. Could you take the caliper off, Then take the pads, and reverse them so the pad face is out. Now try to see if they slide into the slot to see if they feel that they slide back & forth free? Looks like that outside pad is cocked from binding when you apply the brakes. You'll know for shure when you take the cailper off and see how it's wearing. Nother thing is looking at the wear on the rotor. Looks like heated up or oil film coating wasn't taken off the new rotor. Just my thoughts. Dave
Last edited by locodave46; Sep 24, 2008 at 12:46 AM.
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Hi. Guessing here. Any time I have run across pads wearing on one side diffrent. Look to see if the calipers sliders are ok and centering the caliper. Other thing is to check the pad end tabs, where they seat on the caliper bracket. Casting uglys can get a few lumps on the end tabs & bind in the slot. Could you take the caliper off, Then take the pads, and reverse them so the pad face is out. Now try to see if they slide into the slot to see if they feel that they slide back & forth free? Looks like that outside pad is cocked from binding when you apply the brakes. You'll know for shure when you take the cailper off and see how it's wearing. Nother thing is looking at the wear on the rotor. Looks like heated up or oil film coating wasn't taken off the new rotor. Just my thoughts. Dave
It does sound like a pad getting hung up on the end tab. Does the inside of the rotor look the same Nate? Maybe the powdercoat is a little too thick where the pads clips/end tabs slide causing it to bind. Might have to grind it off a little.
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Brandon, Haven't checked out the inside of the rotor yet to see if it looks the same but that sounds possible that the PC is built up a little in the groove so it won't slide quite right. Should be able to check it out tonight.
Thats what i was thinking, sounds like the rotor/bracket are not sitting flush because of either paint or maybe rotor was not cut enough. Hard to say.
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Well I took off the wheel and noticed that the outer pads were both sticking and not sliding very well at all. But the inside of the rotor is worn correctly. So I took out the pads and cleaned up the tabs and abutment brackets and greased up the points where the pads come into contact with the abutment bracket and anti-rattle springs. Everything was sliding nicely so I put it back together and went for a test drive and got on the brakes quite a bit. I expected there to be a full wide ring around the outside of the rotor but nope, it still looks about the same. I posted thumbnails of what it looks like now.
I'm running out of ideas here. The only thing I noticed was that maybe the rotor sits a little more to the outside of the abutment bracket than to the inside. The last pic I posted shows this but it is not quite that severe once I put lugs on and pressed the rotor fully into place.
I'm running out of ideas here. The only thing I noticed was that maybe the rotor sits a little more to the outside of the abutment bracket than to the inside. The last pic I posted shows this but it is not quite that severe once I put lugs on and pressed the rotor fully into place.
Question...if you take off the brakepads and caliper...and put rotor flush against the hub (you can use a lug to keep it still) does it rotate freely? It should not touch the bracket at all. Just an idea..
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I'm pretty sure it will rotate freely without touching the abutment bracket but I will give it a try this evening.
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Yes it did rotate freely when I took off the pads and caliper. However the pads are not going onto the rotor far enough. They are hanging off of the rotor and actually causing a ridge in the pads where there is no contact with the rotor. It looks like the whole abutment bracket needs to be closer to the rotor/closer to the hub. I didn't take any more pics but will try to later.
Yes it did rotate freely when I took off the pads and caliper. However the pads are not going onto the rotor far enough. They are hanging off of the rotor and actually causing a ridge in the pads where there is no contact with the rotor. It looks like the whole abutment bracket needs to be closer to the rotor/closer to the hub. I didn't take any more pics but will try to later.
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I can double check for the tab but the adapter seemed to fit flush on the back. I was saying that the abutment bracket needed to come closer to the rotor/hub as in move closer to the front of the vehicle, you know?
ohhhh...that is odd..I could take pics of my setup, don't know if that will help you.