New pads, weak ebrake?

[pbcstylez]

They were 70 bucks each from kragen after the core swap.

[motorsnail]

Originally Posted by THEMkris

backwards??? as in the shims facing the rotor?? well noo..

but putting them the other way wouldnt work either. the hawk pads have two "studs" on the back of two pads. they wouldnt let me install them backwards cause the caliper wouldnt go on all the way. so there was basically only one way to put them

not shims facing dude as in the brake pads thats closest to you should be on the far side. And you can put them on backwards I just went and looked. Go feel your rotor dude just to make sure, if its rough feeling you got to buy some new pads and rotors. Im not saying this to make you feel stupid trying to save you some headache.


:Edit: Try and explain it easiest way I can sence im not a teacher you might have to read this a couple times. A brake pad is like sharks skin rub with the rotor one way stops it smooth. Go the other way rubbing the pad on the rotor its like sand papper. So if you put them on the wrong sides (just because the shim is facing the right way doesnt mean its on right sorry) they will distroy each other. Go get a brake pad and a rotor then you will see what im talking about.

[THEMkris]

^^ can anyone else vouche for this?

i need to pin down the problem..

1. brakes have a lil "drag" (hear brakes dragging on rotor)
2. stepping on brake or pulling ebrake makes sound louder.
3. ebrake is weak. does not lock wheels at all.
4. piston on rear caliper is ripped. no leaks.
5. improper wear on brakes (not fully using entire brake pad surface)

what can be my problems?

the only thing i can think of is that my piston is bad. the caliper isnt retracting all the way, isnt pressing the brake pad sufficiently, and pushing in the brake pad crookedly.

any other reasons that i should keep in mind?

[S14DB]

You turn the piston to set it inside the caliper or did you push it like the front?

[THEMkris]

turned clockwise .. but how difficult should it be to turn it back in? it was pretty hard to turn it back in. almost striped the tool used to turn the piston in.

[chuy]

I changed from HPS to the lower level of Hawks. If you didnt use some lube or brake them in nice and good they will make noise even after they will. Ive got my e-brake tightened so much that I cant go no more and I still cant lock em up.

[Tearlessj]

Originally Posted by Dousan_PG

tighten up the cable then
thts usually it

with a stock rear caliper
after using fancy rears for ebrake
i went back to stock pads cheapies from autozone
they dont need any heat to lock and lock up fast and easy

Good advice Aaron. Im ganna go try some Autozone pads now. My e-brake only lock up when I pull as hard as I freaking can. Its even hard to do in the rain with wal-mart tires.

[frankist]

are you screwing in the piston while pushing it in, and lining up the piston with the pad? if not it'll create that uneven'ness.

[frankist]

whoops, just read 2 post above, but it still needs to be lined up with the piston, thats the only other reason i can see the uneven wearing of the pad to the rotor, ive seen this once where this happened and they cross threaded the caliper bolts. so check it out, make sure the pad fits on there correctly.
cheers yo.

[aznpoopy]

Originally Posted by THEMkris

^^ can anyone else vouche for this?

i need to pin down the problem..

1. brakes have a lil "drag" (hear brakes dragging on rotor)
2. stepping on brake or pulling ebrake makes sound louder.
3. ebrake is weak. does not lock wheels at all.
4. piston on rear caliper is ripped. no leaks.
5. improper wear on brakes (not fully using entire brake pad surface)

what can be my problems?

the only thing i can think of is that my piston is bad. the caliper isnt retracting all the way, isnt pressing the brake pad sufficiently, and pushing in the brake pad crookedly.

any other reasons that i should keep in mind?

#1 you probably need to screw in the piston more
#2 yes its going to be hard. you are fighting old ass brakes, not to mention the hydraulic pressure in the system.
#3 the boot would worry me. i would personally replace it. next time make sure the boot doesnt crimp when you are screwing in the piston. yes its a pita
#4 take out the pad. if it has little stubs on the backside, you'll need to line them up with a 'gap' in the face of the piston for it to sit flat and not at an angle.

[motorsnail]

1. The brake pads shouldnt be grinding. Thats what brake fluid is for.

2. Your rotors are getting eatin away.

3. Ive seen this happen more then once.

4. Its really easy to put them on wrong.

5.Can nobody read my post or somthing his rotor is fubared.

[THEMkris]

aznpoopy- .. can you elaborate more on that? i'll check that out tonight.

and everyone else saying they're ebrake isnt catching.. what in the world? with hawk hps, shouldnt it lock up really hard??

[THEMkris]

and can anyone vouche for motorsnail??

[karl wasabi]

I have a similar problem with my Hawk pads. I had project mu pads before, and they locked up no problem. I guess it's just the pad material.

I think you just need to break them in more. =)

[THEMkris]

i think i've done all the breaking in i should do.

but anyways, i just checked my rotor.. its starting to etch onto the inner portion of the rotor..

[Turtle]

Sorry to highjack the thread but, I got a similar problem my E-Brake isn't grabbing right with new pads installed either. I went to put gas on my car when I got off my car to the gas station my rear smelled like brakes really bad... What could be wrong?

[THEMkris]

how long ago did you install them? did you break them in?

[Turtle]

Installed about 2 weeks ago, I set my car aside so I can fix it but, haven't gotten around to it since I've been reading on what could be wrong... Its been driven for about 2 hours... Pads are half gone.

[THEMkris]

wait your new pads are half gone already? what pds did you get?

[MrChow]

Give us pics guys. It'll help us help you.

[Turtle]

35$ dollar pads off of autozone... My bro used it and my rotor needed like 1/8 inch to reach the other side...

[Turtle]

I changed the rotors to drilled and slotted...

[THEMkris]

well im buying new calipers and bleeding my whole system on monday morning.. i'll take pictures then.. until then, i just read that my brake lines may be bad. if i open up the bleeder and the fluid just rushes out, the something is wrong with my lines.. i'll be sure to check that on monday too..

does anyone else have any more input??

[MrChow]

Go download the FSM...

[cloudstrife930]

I the same problem with my new rear pads, I know this may sound silly, but I couldnt get my rear calipers in, the guy i bought the car from told me, there was no more pads left. The pistons came all the way out. I took the pistons all the way out til the brake fluid came spraying all out to relieve pressure. Then they went back in easy, all the way in. I got autozone pads as well. After turning them all the way in. There is a little bump on the pads. You have to make sure that the space on the caliper is corresponding with the piston. Also I dont know how, but i may have bent the backing plate a lil. Stuck a screw driver in it and made sure it wasent hitting rotor, then i was good. Of course i had to bleed the brakes afterwerds

[THEMkris]

Originally Posted by cloudstrife930

You have to make sure that the space on the caliper is corresponding with the piston.

can you elaborate more on this?

hmmm.. trying to make sense of what you just said.. tonight i'll check it out. it was pretty tight putting the caliper on .. i'll try it once more but making sure i push the piston ALL the way in.

[Turtle]

So, should we push the piston all the way in and bleed the system? I didn't bleed my brakes when I changed the brakes and calipers could that be it? What has me stumped is that the rear brakes are always grabbing but the E-brake doesn't lock up.

[THEMkris]

grabbing? as in???

[Turtle]

Always braking... This sucks I need my car to work.

[THEMkris]

always braking or dragging? as in it slows down your car?