The pads were looking real low but the rotors were still in really good shape so I decided to pad slap the rear axle before the backing plates ruined the rotors.
I bought new pads and guide pins, wire brushed the tin hardware on both sides to knock down any rust build up. Lubed everything back up and torqued to spec. I also bled the rear lines (doing front wheel bearing next weekend so I’ll bleed the fronts then)
The pads went in to the brackets real tight, seemed too tight but I’ve never had to mod pads before. Well they ended up sticking in the brackets so I took the pads out and filed them down where they interface the bracket. They slid enough to seem normal
I got to work this morning and they are still sticking, although not as bad as before but they are way hotter than the fronts. Before the truck wouldn’t move when in gear and now it will chug forward.
The GM truck discs out back just plan suck. My dad has to replace his ever 30K miles or so. They don’t slide very well so they always end up with excessive wear on one pad.
I always grind or wire wheel the paint off of the pads sides if they feel tight. A little synthetic slider grease on the edges helps also. After that they are always much smoother while sliding and fit into the caliper much easier.
Since you did that, I don’t know what to tell you.
EDIT, I never just do a pad slap on a FS chevy pickup. The rotors are always junk.
They always fail… father owns one of these fuckin’ things. Every year we’re tearing down the brakes. It got two complete sets & calipers the second time when it was under warranty. Rear disc on chevy trucks are junk.
should I just get a new hardware kit with the tin slide things? and/or file down the pads some more? I dont want them to be too sloppy though. After filing last night they seemed to have normal ‘grip’ in the bracket.
Forget the wire brush you need to bead blast the caliper bracket where the clips/pads mount. fyi never grind the pad down, always do the mount and use good brake grease (the thick black stuff).
If you want to bead blast the bracket, go for it. At NAPA, I know many customers (mechanics @ shops and dealers) who grind the ears. As I said, as long as they are greased, they are no different from bead blasting a caliper which is not an option to most.
I know this is not by the ASE books, but it is a great solution to someone like this.
And they are just “buzzing” the paint off. not actually grinding metal.
I am a salesman in the business for 15 years, not a mechanic, so take it for what it is. I do deal with brake pad warranties on a daily basis.
I’ve done lots of brakes before which is why I am particularly stumped why it didn’t work after the initial filing; it felt like the right amount of tension.
I’ll post back in a couple days after I find time to get to it.
So I think I figured it out; I bet the rear brakes have been on there for a LONG time, and since they were worn down to almost nothing the outer piston bore most likely got rusty. So now the caliper is sticking because of that. The pads didn’t seem overly tight after I filed them down the first time.
I’m buying calipers and new pads from autozone tomorrow. I just hope it hasn’t fucked my rotors as that’s another $80 on top of the $150 its already going to cost.
