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Is Some Brake Drag Normal?

SleeperLS

TCG Elite Member
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Oct 19, 2008
14,352
8,177
West of the Mississippi
I rotated tires on my truck the other day and noticed that the wheels spun freely, but make a slight grinding noise from the brake pads making contact with the rotors. I just replaced pads and rotors a few months ago along with all of the brake hardware and re-lubricated all the hardware and guide pins. Both driver and passenger side do this, didn't check the rears. Is this normal for brakes or do I need to take stuff apart and re-lube things? Rotors are definitely hot after driving for a little bit. Doesn't seem normal, but I am not an expert.
 

TCG Member 5219

TCG Elite Member
Mar 22, 2005
12,447
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I rotated tires on my truck the other day and noticed that the wheels spun freely, but make a slight grinding noise from the brake pads making contact with the rotors. I just replaced pads and rotors a few months ago along with all of the brake hardware and re-lubricated all the hardware and guide pins. Both driver and passenger side do this, didn't check the rears. Is this normal for brakes or do I need to take stuff apart and re-lube things? Rotors are definitely hot after driving for a little bit. Doesn't seem normal, but I am not an expert.

When I do brakes, I always grind down the nubs on the pads where they slip into the bridge. Make sure they are lubed and that chrome piece is in there. And if the pads do not slide in the bridge with no effort, they are too tight and will cause mild binding after a while.

As to answer your question, some drag is normal when you first put them on. But it should go away after a few miles when they bed in. Id pull the pads and grind on those guide nubs a tad to give them some room to slide buttery smooth.

A tech friend of mine said it was always good to let the pads move freely in the bridge, because over time they will rust and get gunked up with debris. And if they are tight in there from new, it will only get worse.
 

DEEZUZ

NO PUKESTERS
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Nov 20, 2008
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NWI
ok... so if you grind down the 'nubs on the pads', then your going to take away the shiny coating thats on them. Once you do that, you welcome rust and corrosion to start and then for sure your shits going to seize and not slide freely.

Instead of doing that, you need to take down rust/corrosion thats BEHIND the caliper clip in that channel.

Yes pads will almost always rub on the rotor, unless you have a badass caliper spring setup that ive only seen on super duties. but it shouldnt be causing much heat or sounds.


FWIW, I didnt like the EBC colored series. they left behind alot of dust and lastsed maybe 6k miles.
 

SleeperLS

TCG Elite Member
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Oct 19, 2008
14,352
8,177
West of the Mississippi
Hmmm, I will take a look behind the clips to see if there is anything back there that would cause issues. I don't recall any rust or corrosion as this has been a southern New Mexico truck it's entire life.

I wouldn't say that the noise is very loud. You can hear it while manually spinning the tire, and I felt like I could hear it a time or two while going through a drive through or driving by a wall that reflects the noise well when my window is down. The wheels don't get hot, but the rotor gets quite hot after not using the brakes much. I would imagine that the rotors get pretty hot not matter what though.

These pads have been extremely dusty and noisy. I bought them because I was going to be towing a good bit, but that has changed so they no longer seem necessary. The pad thickness is probably half of what it started as and these have about 8k+ on them. Probably don't need that aggressive of a pad on this thing.
 

TCG Member 5219

TCG Elite Member
Mar 22, 2005
12,447
18
ok... so if you grind down the 'nubs on the pads', then your going to take away the shiny coating thats on them. Once you do that, you welcome rust and corrosion to start and then for sure your shits going to seize and not slide freely.

Instead of doing that, you need to take down rust/corrosion thats BEHIND the caliper clip in that channel.

Yes pads will almost always rub on the rotor, unless you have a badass caliper spring setup that ive only seen on super duties. but it shouldnt be causing much heat or sounds.


FWIW, I didnt like the EBC colored series. they left behind alot of dust and lastsed maybe 6k miles.

I used to do that. And mostly there is no rust under the clip that can't just be wiped away with a rag. Mostly rust dust. Besides the chrome clip will sit on top of that anyway. It's way easier to sand a millimeter off the pad ears and then put synthetic grease on them. Never had a problem doing this in the last 15 years. And when taking out old pads, they still would slide out with no effort at all. That's again what I have been doing my whole adult life. I don't work on cars much except brakes. I've always done my own brakes, along with family and friends since high school.

Not saying you are wrong seeing as you are a professional mechanic. But this had worked for me over the years.
 
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