Q45 pad/rotor issue

[S13shaka]

I dont have any brake pad clearance on my q45 setup, the pads scrape the rotor as the hub turns. Suggestions on how I can fix it? Could it be the rotor? I have Hawk HPS pads.

[golfer17]

My guess is either incorrect installation or wrong rotors. Just for reference though, I run Q45 brakes and Hawk HPS pads up front, and the pads and rotors I have fit up perfectly.

[S13shaka]

im 99.9% confident I did not install anything wrong, its all pretty straight forward. I am going to check the rotor thickness tonight.

Its aggrivating because there is not even a mm of space between the pad and the rotor, this is for a S13 BTW

[mestizo]

Um stupid question but did u put new pads on and forget to push the pistons on the caliper back?

[S13shaka]

^yeah I made sure, I can see what youre saying tho.

[mestizo]

That's weird I have done a J30 and Q45 swap before but I have not had a spacing issue at all. With new pads on my q45 brakes I had about 2-3mm space per side.

[projectRDM]

Um, the pad is supposed to seat against the rotor. Otherwise when you depress the pedal you would loose pressure having to move the pads inboard.

[S13shaka]

^I know. The fully loaded caliper is only fitting over the rotor w/ the pads right against the rotor. There is no room to move the pads back a mm or 2 so the rotor can spin freely.

[5t341tH]

isnt the pad supposed to be on the rotor at all times as to create some heat? if it wasnt heated, the pads wouldnt perform well at all when you press the brakes. thats wat i learned in my brake class anyway

[SilviaSR20DET]

yeah brakes are supposed to be set on the rotor, mine does the same too so it should be fine.

[Fricshon]

check your brake assist piston length but do not adjust unless needed, if your not lighting your rotors/calipers on fire then your fine, drive locally and make certain they don't heat up. I just finished my Q set up with PORTERFIELD pads...dope

[S13shaka]

ok, well its frustrating to hear the pad rubbing against rotor noise every revolution the wheel makes, but if its natural then w/e, ill just ride it out

[cdlong]

Originally Posted by 5t341tH

isnt the pad supposed to be on the rotor at all times as to create some heat? if it wasnt heated, the pads wouldnt perform well at all when you press the brakes. thats wat i learned in my brake class anyway

no, the pads aren't supposed to ride against the rotor with any pressure. that would drastically reduce your mileage and life of the pads and rotors. not something the engineers that designed the car had in mind. light pressure is fine, but you should be able to spin the rotor by hand. there's a square seal in caliper that is designed to pull the pad off the rotor just a little bit for that reason.

OEM pads are designed to work with no heat in them. only race pads need heat to work well. and making a panic stop from 80 with zero heat in the rotor/pad isn't something that comes up on a track (but does on the highway occasionally). managing heat is what big brakes are all about. why would you want to add heat to the system unnecessarily and slow the car down at the same time?

like Fricshon said, check that there's no more room to spread the caliper out. you could disconnect the brake line and see if you can push it back more. if you can, the input rod on the MC might be out too far and not allowing the plunger inside the MC to back out past the fluid port to release fluid back to the resivor.

it's probably the rotors though, i think z32s are 30mm and q45s are 28mm. maybe you got the wrong ones.

[SoguRacing]

you should probably rebuild your calipers because your pistons are sticking/not retracting when you release the brake pedal. That should solve your problem.