Brake pads rubbing

Friedhouse

Friedhouse

Member
I've fiddled with the brakes for what seems to be a million times now, and they have just been my biggest pain point. I have taken the calipers off, and "twisted" the piston brake in to reset the brakes, then as soon as I put everything back together again and test the brakes, the piston brings the pads back to rubbing on the rotor 100% of the time. This is happening on all 4 brake zones. Any idea what I'm doing wrong? Or is anyone near NW Arkansas that would be interested in helping me troubleshoot this?
 

Attachments

Stretch2126

Stretch2126

Well-Known Member
I don’t think these are meant to be free floating rotors. As long as the wheel isn’t hard to free spin it’s probably meant to do that.
 
Desert Sasqwatch

Desert Sasqwatch

Goblin Guru
Very light pad to rotor contact may occur with all new parts until they are 'bedded' - broke in - and the pads get into their nominal positions. If it is more than light contact on both sides of the rotors you'll need to check that your brake pedal is all the way out and there is no residual pressure being placed on the master cylinder, which could push your pads to constantly make contact with rotors. If it's just one side, the centering alignment of the rotors relative to the calipers mounted (fixed) position could be slightly toward the rubbing side. Brake set up is not an easy thing, stick with it and you'll get there.
 
duthehustle93

duthehustle93

Active Member
Some drag is normal, especially when everything is new. Also, if you haven't mounted the wheel yet the rotor won't be flush the hub and won't spin nicely. I would recommend mounting the wheel and spin it by hand, if you get ~1 rotation of free spin or more then you're good, if it feels locked up then you have an issue.

The square seal in the caliper gives you some retraction after releasing the brake pedal. The pads will still touch the rotor a bit at all times, but the piston shouldn't be applying any force to them.
 
Joebob

Joebob

Goblin Guru
Make sure your parking brake isn't keeping tension on the system when released. Should have just a little bit of slack before it starts pulling on the cables.
 
H

Hellproof

Member
Joebob said:
Make sure your parking brake isn't keeping tension on the system when released. Should have just a little bit of slack before it starts pulling on the cables.
Click to expand...
This. Parking brake tension was my issue. Took a few tries and test drives to get it just right. I could smell the pads burning just going a block or two if they were too tight.
 
Rttoys

Rttoys

Goblin Guru
Friedhouse said:
. This is happening on all 4 brake zones.
Click to expand...
happening on all 4 wheels or just rear? If all 4 wheels, I would check the master cylinder still being active and holding pressure. Something like the pedal not fully retracting (check the brake lever rod), the pedal box/booster/master alignment, or even a faulty brake booster.

if it’s just the rear, check the same things, but add in park brake adjustments too, like others have said.
 
Friedhouse

Friedhouse

Member
Thanks all, I'm going to have Ross come over to help me troubleshoot. Based on what you guys have said the bedding needs to come in on the pads. The front pads are touching, but I get a at least a full rotation on the wheel, the rears however seem to be sticky.

When I took it out on a quick first drive (maybe 3miles) I pulled back home and the passenger rear brake was smoking like hell...that's what prompted this....this issue happened before I installed the parking brake as well...I just wanted to make sure from the pictures shown that I had all the hardware and washer in the correct places.
 
G

Gtstorey

Goblin Guru
This can happen from issues with the master cylinder also. The Bleed port becomes clogged not letting pressure release.
 
Desert Sasqwatch

Desert Sasqwatch

Goblin Guru
If your rear brake was smoking you probably scorched the pads and rotor, probably making it less effective and definitely taking some life out of them. Check the rotor to see if it is showing any bluing of the metal. If so, I would also check the run-out to see if it is warped.
 
ctuinstra

ctuinstra

Goblin Guru
We had an intermittent issue much like this. They would work fine for a while and then every now and then they would not release all the way and heat up the brakes. It turns out it was the brake switch not allowing the pedal to release all the way. Bent the switch mount away a bit and never had the issue again. Make sure to check this. I could be as simple as that. Try pulling up on the brake pedal to see if it's better.
 
Friedhouse

Friedhouse

Member
Good news. Problem is fixed thanks to @Ross for the trouble shooting help. Ross is a wealth of Goblin knowledge! Turns out I had my pedal switches set to far in, so it was basically emulating me riding on the brakes. He just pulled them back a bit, and poof! Problem solved.
 

Attachments

Robinjo

Robinjo

Goblin Guru
Friedhouse said:
Good news. Problem is fixed thanks to @Ross for the trouble shooting help. Ross is a wealth of Goblin knowledge! Turns out I had my pedal switches set to far in, so it was basically emulating me riding on the brakes. He just pulled them back a bit, and poof! Problem solved.
Click to expand...
Is that the before or after photo?
 
Friedhouse

Friedhouse

Member
Robinjo said:
My setup presses the whole trigger buttons in. I’m not sure if this is right or not now.
Click to expand...
For me, when those two switches were pressed all the way down with the pedal at rest, it was simulating me riding on the brakes while driving the car. That's why I had issues with overheating the rear brakes. Moving the switches back a bit allowed the pads to fully retract off of the rotor.
 
Ross

Ross

Goblin Guru
Robinjo said:
My setup presses the whole trigger buttons in. I’m not sure if this is right or not now.
Click to expand...
Chad did say he had to bend the brake mount to move the switches farther away. Maybe your car needs to do this too, if the brakes are dragging.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top