Brake Rotors & pads

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Jose Santana

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I just got an awful grinding noise out of nowhere in my brakes... I removed the front brakes and found the drivers side pads to look pretty decent but the passenger side inside pad

was down to metal, no pad left, the outside pad looked decent but was worn a little uneven.... Maybe rotors are warped? Anyhow the rotors themselves looked like the pads were not touching all the way. The width of the unrusted area was small very thin as if the pads were not touching too great. Calipers? The passenger side rotors seemed to have a little wider area of pad contact, and the pad that wore out seems to have the most rotor contact.... Why would this happen and should I just go buy new rotors and pads? Any help would be great. I am waiting to hear so I can get to work sometime today.... Whew



Joseymack
 
You slides were stuck. The reason the inside pad was worn is becuse the Trac uses a "floating caliper" design.



Check your slides and lubricate them with a silicone based lubricant. It is more resistant to water.





Tom
 
They are what holds the caliper in place. You have to remove them to remove the caliper.(of course you have to do this to replace them) Get some brake parts lube and put some on them and also where the pads set inside. I had the wrong clipers in mind the first time I posted here. Go into the project section and you will see a pic where the wrench is on a bolt to remove one side of the caliper. The slides are inside the rubber piece that the wrench is on.;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
stonemiser,

Not exactly true. The slides are what the brake pads slide on and are part of the caliper mounting frame/bracket and does not need to be removed to remove either the pads of the caliper. The caliper slides on the mounting pins, but both should be lubricated with special high-temperature brake grease.



joseymack,

It definetly sounds like you have a problem with caliper your passenger-side caliper sticking. The pad slides should be checked carefully for rust, nicks and burrs that may cause the pads to stick. A small file works great to remove and nicks or burrs that potentially can cause the pads to stick. Brake grease should be applied to the slides and to the little tab on the pad that contacts the slides on the caliper frame.



It is also possibly that your caliper is sticking internally. Moisture trapped in the brake lines will travel to the lowest point in the brake system which happens to be the calipers. The moisture can cause rust and corrosion inside the piston bores that prevents the caliper pistons from retracting. That causes the pad to drag against the rotor and cause excessive wear. The fact that the pads were worn unevenly on the passenger-side could indicate that one of the pistons is sticking causing the pad to wear more on one end than the other.



...Rich
 
Looks like that slide on the passanger side was difinitly stuck! I had to pry it out carefully and it was dry and full of rust. I am gonna regrease it. I just bought some wagner rotors for $64 apiece and some wagner thermom quiets... I got the ceramics for 64 but I think I am gonna go get the semi's as I tow a trailer every now and then.. Now to get the rotors off....Any easy way for this?
 
Jose, you have to remove the whole mounting bracket to get the rotors off. Not tough to do. You have to remove the caliper and then the two bolts on the back side to get the caliper mount off.;)
 
stonemiser,

Sorry if I may have misunderstood your previous post. I thought you were saying that you had to remove the caliper bracket to remove the brake pads or calipers. I do agree that you must remover the caliper brackts to remove the rotors on the Sport Track and many other vehicles.



...Rich
 
No problem Richard. I didn't really understand what you were getting at by the post but, hey, I'm an easy guy to get along with and I don't mind someone correcting me when or if I'm wrong. That's what this site is for. I try to give info to people when I can and I count on someone to correct me if I'm wrong. That is the way this site should work. If you can't handle the rebutance someone might post to your solution, don't post it. Just my opinion. Thanks for the appologie even though it wasn't nessassary.;)
 
stonemiser,

Again, I appologize for misreading your prior post, and I appreciate your gracious attitude regarding my misunderstanding. I too reply to posts to help others who have questions and jump when I see, hear, or read something that doesn't sound right. Sometimes it's only my perception that something is wrong, and clearification always helps.



...Rich
 
Thanks for the help folks. As i said I did find a bad slider rusted up on the brake calipers.

I cleaned it up as best I could and greased it well. I also greased the rest of the slides. The truck feels 100% better now. I will check it again in a week or so to make sure it didn;t seize back up.



NEXT QUESTION: Can I just buy that piece of the caliper that has that slider or would I have to but the whole caliper unit? If I see any issues I will need to replace then next week as I spent 200 bucks and a day off of work to do this and I don;t want them to go bad again...



Joseymack
 
Jose, don't worry about getting an extra. Just try to keep them clean (I know impossible) and every time you replace the pads and such, give it a good cleaning and such. I will always check them out when I change the oil. Just a little habit I have now. I just take the front tires off and inspect them for hang ups or if it looks like it's pretty dirty in there I give it a quick cleaning. May sound like overkill, but it only takes about 15 min to check both sides.;)
 
Josey,

My 2002 Trac has the same symptoms and I've posted this question before. Most folks just said replace the caliper, but I appreciate your thorough posts and getting to the bottom of the problem. I suspect lots of others out there could learn from this and not have to replace pads so frequently. Hopefully the 2007 will have better brakes!

Thanks again,

Greg
 
josey,

Siince badly rusted caliper slides and pins are a common problem with most cars, I find it cheaper and more reliable in the long run to just buy rebuilt calpers everytime I do a brake job. I don;t think it;s anymore work since I also flush the brake fluid with every brake job.



The fluid needs to be flushed about every 2 years, and you should never just push the caliper pistons back inot the calipers, especially with ABS or you stand a good chance of pushing a lot of dirty nasty brake fluid back up into the ABS servos and that can cost big money



...Rich
 

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