Tight Brakes (caliper/pad on rotor)

[RobPatt]

...I hear noises readily when driving, like the wheel bearings (no other symptoms of them..) or else pads dragging....

lift car, remove FRONT (right) wheel (so I can see what's going on better)... spin rotor.... rotor TURNS w/your hand... but does not spin. When you stop actively turning the rotor w/your hand...the rotor stops.

car drives fine, (needs thrut arms).. but braking is great... fairly recent akebono pads and brembo rotors... all clean and pretty... no squealing...

ALSO - think I hear the "pad carrier" clinking slightly against the rest of the caliper when cold and in reverse when applying the break... IF I try to rattle that, it does make a solid, yet slight clink.... probably lounder w/the force of the car against it....as when rolling....

So:
1. Is the rotor/wheel rotation resistance ok? Car doesn't coast very well....but not pulling to either side either.... Can I improve the "free wheeling/spin" ?

2. What about that little clink sound...?

Thanks gang,
Cheers, Rob sends.....

[txp135]

Stuck calipers. Do a search. I would change them since it's very annoying and it can overheat and warp your rotors. It should also reduce your mileage. I had that problem and I thought it was wheel hub problem. I did some search and looks like you can rebuild them yourself for cheap too. That's my guess for your case...

[Robin-535im]

Stuck calipers. Do a search. I would change them since it's very annoying and it can overheat and warp your rotors. It should also reduce your mileage. I had that problem and I thought it was wheel hub problem. I did some search and looks like you can rebuild them yourself for cheap too. That's my guess for your case...

Timely post - I'm about to step into the garage to rebuild my passenger side caliper right now. I did the driver's side last night and it moves much better now. $8 for the rubber bits, some brake cleaner and some brake grease and you're good to go. Getting the caliper out is tough without compressed air... even with compressed air it's pretty dangerous as you're basically making a metal potato gun with a metal potato.

[Ross]

Disagree. There is always some drag. If you need a lot of effort to turn the rotor or if it shows signs of overheating like warpage or discoloration then yes perhaps a sticking caliper. If the pads are dragging it's not going to be making noise anyway.

[Bellicose Right Winger]

As an alternative to compressed air, remove the caliper from the carrier and use the brake pedal to push the piston out. You'll have much better control over where the piston goes and you can remove REALLY stuck pistons.

Paul Shovestul

....... Getting the caliper out is tough without compressed air... even with compressed air it's pretty dangerous as you're basically making a metal potato gun with a metal potato.

[RobPatt]

...maybe this is an excuse/opportunity to:

- put on stainless or braided or somehow upgrade the front brake lines...

- powdercoat (?) or else paint the calipers... maybe blue...

can't hurt to rebuild the calipers, cheap too... if it fixes great, if not...little lost...

, thanks will dig deeper...
Rob sends....

[e34.535i.sport]

Disagree. There is always some drag. If you need a lot of effort to turn the rotor or if it shows signs of overheating like warpage or discoloration then yes perhaps a sticking caliper. If the pads are dragging it's not going to be making noise anyway.

Butting in here but mine do the same thing, they spin by hand and will stop shortly after i let go and i can here them against the pad when i do this. Thought it was the norm, but im no expert? Mine are brand new pads and discs too, so all pretty thick which could contribute.

[Robin-535im]

As an alternative to compressed air, remove the caliper from the carrier and use the brake pedal to push the piston out. You'll have much better control over where the piston goes and you can remove REALLY stuck pistons.

Paul Shovestul

I thought about that... good to know that works too. Took about 40 PSI to get the suckers to move. I remember shooting a master cylinder puck across the shop once, that was fun enough I had to do it again just to see how far it would go.

[RobPatt]

you said your's sotpshortly after you let go... ditto for mine if spinning the tire....(more torque we can apply..)...

but when the wheel is off and I spin the rotor by turning the hub... when my hand is away from the hub, it stops....

got some time off this week, will give it a try to rebuild and see what happens.

Butting in here but mine do the same thing, they spin by hand and will stop shortly after i let go and i can here them against the pad when i do this. Thought it was the norm, but im no expert? Mine are brand new pads and discs too, so all pretty thick which could contribute.

[e34.535i.sport]

I was thinking about this thread yesterday as we had my friend wheel off his e36 replacing his control arm - i tried to spin his via the hub and it stopped as soon as my hand left it, and we replaced the discs and pads personally a few weeks ago. I would only worry if the carrier is hitting the disc, as it'll cost you regularly for new discs and they aint cheap!!! Did you clean the carrier off with a wire brush in the recess that gors 'around' the disc when its on? I had to chisel a little bit of the crud off mine to make clearance for the disc. Hope this helps.