This is topic Driver Side Rotor Hard To Turn After New Pads in forum General Talk at Northern California Ford Owners  .


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Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
Just put in new rotors and pads (cross drilled/slotted)...passenger side front went in good. The driver side front inside brake pads were really tough to slide in place when in the caliper...so i tried to see if the pad would slide in place out of the caliper, still very tough to place in. Almost like the area where the pad seats on spindle is smaller than the passenger side. It came to the point where i had to tap it in (while in the caliper) and it eventually "installed" and i bolted the caliper in place. But after torquing the caliper bolt to 45 pounds, the rotor was hard to turn, it is not spinning freely like the passenger side. It only turns when i spin it by hand with the wheel on.

What the deal? Thanks.

[ 2013-12-08, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: fredfifty ]
 
Posted by 915.0gt (Member # 9518) on :
 
Not trying to be a smart ass but did you take the cap off the reservoir?
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
Actually no...is that important?
 
Posted by LXjames (Member # 10791) on :
 
Did you squeeze te brake fluid out of the caliper?? Caliper depresser will work good
 
Posted by red5o (Member # 12651) on :
 
Tech talk [Razz]
 
Posted by red5o (Member # 12651) on :
 
Compare the pads to the opposite side see if they are some type of defect
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
Yea i pushed the piston back in and used the brake pads on both sides...same result for the driver side inner brake pad
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
This is as far as i can slide the inner brake pad on the drivers side front...after that, i have to tap it in...unlike the passenger side..
-
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
Shit, maybe a bent/faulty spindle?? Anyone encounter this problem?
 
Posted by LXjames (Member # 10791) on :
 
What manufacturer pads did you buy? Monroe has had a string of poorly made products I've encountered on multiple cars
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
Oreilly auto "brakebest" brand
 
Posted by Stang66 (Member # 10504) on :
 
Clean up the spindles and remove paint of the pads
 
Posted by red5o (Member # 12651) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by fredfifty:
Oreilly auto "brakebest" brand
Try another brand of pads before you condemned anything else try autozone brakes (duralast) or napas brakes
 
Posted by 915.0gt (Member # 9518) on :
 
Removing the cap lets the pressure release when you are composing the caliper back in, o r you can loosen the bleeder nipple. If you try and compress the caliper without allowing the pressure to escape then your brakes are doing their job

Its sounds like your caliper pistons are not compressed completely which would cause it to not want to slide over the rotor our make it tight like you are describing. They are supposedto be a little tight but not were you have to manually turn them.

Just start at step one again, open cap, compress the caliper, place the pads in the caliper and it should slide onto the rotor.

[ 2013-12-09, 04:34 AM: Message edited by: 915.0gt ]
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by 915.0gt:
Removing the cap lets the pressure release when you are composing the caliper back in, o r you can loosen the bleeder nipple. If you try and compress the caliper without allowing the pressure to escape then your brakes are doing their job

Its sounds like your caliper pistons are not compressed completely which would cause it to not want to slide over the rotor our make it tight like you are describing. They are supposedto be a little tight but not were you have to manually turn them.

Just start at step one again, open cap, compress the caliper, place the pads in the caliper and it should slide onto the rotor.
Started over, and it seems easier (but not by much) to slide the caliper and pads onto the rotor (driver side), and now there is more space for the rotor to turn, and it does. Now, this mofo rotor tightens up when i torque down the caliper bolts to 45 ft/lbs...the passenger side is torqued down the same but is way easier to turn...and ive swapped pads to both sides so it shouldnt be the pads...

So, with that said, can i still drive the car? (i put gear in neutral and car rolls so that tells me its not seized up) but will driving on a rotor that is hard to turn by hand be a problem to drive?

[ 2013-12-09, 07:44 AM: Message edited by: fredfifty ]
 
Posted by 915.0gt (Member # 9518) on :
 
I would say the rotor or pad may just have some extra meat on them. Try driving it around the block a few times with as little braking as possible and see if the rotor gets crazy hot. After the pads and rotors see some wear they will loosen up, don't forget to bleed the system for air bubbles
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by 915.0gt:
I would say the rotor or pad may just have some extra meat on them. Try driving it around the block a few times with as little braking as possible and see if the rotor gets crazy hot. After the pads and rotors see some wear they will loosen up, don't forget to bleed the system for air bubbles
i definitely want to bleed them, is that possible with one person? lol

just saw the 1 man bleeder kits [Cool]

[ 2013-12-09, 08:23 AM: Message edited by: fredfifty ]
 
Posted by 93coupessp (Member # 8418) on :
 
If you installed new rotors did you install new bearings and rAces? If you did when you put the new rotors on you need to tighten down the spindle nut until the bearings are set then loosen the nut until the correct clearance is obtained for the rotor to spin on the spindle correctly if the rotor is not in the right spot on the spindle it will throw caliper alignment off
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by 93coupessp:
If you installed new rotors did you install new bearings and rAces? If you did when you put the new rotors on you need to tighten down the spindle nut until the bearings are set then loosen the nut until the correct clearance is obtained for the rotor to spin on the spindle correctly if the rotor is not in the right spot on the spindle it will throw caliper alignment off
Yes, new inner/outter bearings, seals, spindle lock nut kit, and grease cap. The rotors came with races installed. What torque do you recommend to seat the bearings? That is something i did not really think about..i just tightened half turn past hand tight, backed off, then tightened half turn again...
 
Posted by 5.0 LsX (Member # 10017) on :
 
what did the wear on the old pads look like?
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by 5.0 LsX:
what did the wear on the old pads look like?
Nothing out of the norm that i noticed, wear was even on old pads...probably still usable, it had about 50% life left, and the old rotors didnt look bad either.
 
Posted by 93coupessp (Member # 8418) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by fredfifty:
quote:
Originally posted by 93coupessp:
If you installed new rotors did you install new bearings and rAces? If you did when you put the new rotors on you need to tighten down the spindle nut until the bearings are set then loosen the nut until the correct clearance is obtained for the rotor to spin on the spindle correctly if the rotor is not in the right spot on the spindle it will throw caliper alignment off
Yes, new inner/outter bearings, seals, spindle lock nut kit, and grease cap. The rotors came with races installed. What torque do you recommend to seat the bearings? That is something i did not really think about..i just tightened half turn past hand tight, backed off, then tightened half turn again...
I usually just tighten them has tight as I can by hand with a 1/2 drive ratchet obviously you don't need to torque the shit out of it or step on the ratchet or any of that you don't wanna damage the bearings.
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
drove with the new rotors, and the driver side initially smoked a bit along with that brake burning smell. this is after a couple gradual braking stops.

a little bit of smoke normal? although its only on one side...passenger side is good to go.
 
Posted by 93coupessp (Member # 8418) on :
 
I've never had pads smoke after a brake install
 
Posted by saleen428 (Member # 7535) on :
 
Bleed the systwm if you havent already. Report back then.
 
Posted by SLOWSN95 (Member # 8269) on :
 
I've actually run into this problem before on a 95 cobra. The brake pads that i used were too thick and wouldn't allow me to slide the caliper on. I guess it can also be possible that the aftermarket rotors could be too thick as well or maybe a little bit of both. I actually took a few thousandth off the rotor and shaved down the pads a bit to get them to fit. Pads were aftermarket as well.
 
Posted by LXjames (Member # 10791) on :
 
Dave take some kinda rough sand paper over those pads see what happens
 
Posted by fredfifty (Member # 10320) on :
 
I have yet to bleed the brakes...i will do that soon. And i will sand down the pads a bit more and see if that helps. I compared the new rotors to the old ones, and the new ones are noticeably thicker...
 




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