Author Topic: Front disk brake pad wear  (Read 3725 times)

Offline NCali

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Front disk brake pad wear
« on: October 24, 2013, 06:10:07 pm »
87 2wd 1/2 ton

The front brakes on my truck wear consistently like this

R/s the inner pad wears more than the outer pad
L/s the outer pad wears more than the inner pad

 One pad will be worn twice as much as the other

anyone ever have this problem?
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Offline zieg85

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Re: Front disk brake pad wear
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2013, 06:11:47 pm »
The sliders sound frozen or rusted up.
Carl 
1985 C20 Scottsdale 7.4L 4 speed 3.21
1986 C10 under construction
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Offline Irish_Alley

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Re: Front disk brake pad wear
« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2013, 11:01:05 pm »
The sliders sound frozen or rusted up.
x2
buy a tub of synthetic brake grease, i think 8 or so bucks. take your brakes apart clean the pins and slides(or buy a new set)  and lube up the pins. you should be able to slide the caliper by hand if you compress the piston.
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Offline NCali

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Re: Front disk brake pad wear
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2013, 11:01:48 pm »
Grease the pins? I have always put them in dry, they arent rusted but the last time I changed brakes I did have a broken pin
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Offline Irish_Alley

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Re: Front disk brake pad wear
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2013, 11:13:23 pm »
yes grease them. if you dont then you will have metal on metal and after a while things just dont slide as well as they used to.
If you can’t tell yourself the truth, who can you tell it to?~Irish_Alley

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Offline bd

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Re: Front disk brake pad wear
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2013, 12:42:14 pm »
I agree with the prior posts, but wish to fill in a few blanks...

Unbolt the caliper and collapse the piston.  How easily does the piston retract into the caliper?  If the piston binds and doesn't retract smoothly, replace the caliper. 

Remove the pads.  Use ~80 grit sandpaper to burnish the milled caliper slide faces and matching surfaces on the caliper supports of the steering knuckle.  Be careful of sharp edges and burrs.  The idea is not to remove metal, but clean away baked dirt and rust and polish the slides. 

Procure a caliper hardware kit and replace the rubber o-rings in the guide pin holes of the caliper.  You'll need to push the guide pin spacers out of the caliper to replace the large o-rings.  Use only the specified silicone or synthetic brake grease to sparingly lubricate the milled caliper slide faces and liberally lubricate the o-rings.  You don't need to slather the pins and, in fact, shouldn't, because exposed grease will collect dust and increase the possibility of excess grease falling onto the braking surface of the rotor and pads.  Push the new guide pin spacers provided in the kit into the caliper using thumb pressure.

Make sure the outer pad fits snugly onto the caliper without rattling.  Squeeze the mounting tabs of the outer pads together with large rib-joint pliers to pinch the caliper and tighten pad mounting as necessary.  Install the inner pad with the new anti-rattle spring provided in the kit.  It's prudent to install the pads using a little CRC Disc Brake Quiet or equivalent anti-squeak compound.  Reassemble the caliper onto the knuckle and torque the pins.  Verify that the caliper slides smoothly back-and-forth, before stepping on the brake to seat the pads. 
Rich
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87 R10 Silverado Fleetside 355 MPFI 700R4 3.42 Locker (aka Rusty, aka Mater)