The front brake pads on my car work well but while doing other work today I noticed that on both sides the outer pads don't sit square..the inner (piston side) is fine, it sits in one place and has no movement but the outer pads won't sit square..it's as if they float a little..there doesn't seem to be wear in the caliper (I overhauled it a little over a year ago) and I have tried 5 different sets of pads and all have the same issue, the wear on the new discs and the pad wear seems to suggest all is well (no lip and both pads wearing at the same rate. In this pic you can see that if i sit the pad correctly at the bottom the top "floats"..the new disc appears to we wearing evenly.. No wear on the bottom of the caliper where the pad sits (the shiny bit) A tiny bit of wear at the top but not enough to make that much of a difference.. 5 sets of pads (plus the ones fitted) and all are the same..inner perfect but the outer pad moves.. Is the floating outer pad normal..I can't say I have noticed it before but do I have a problem (the car..not me!)?
'72 95 (The Flying Banana),'72 96 (Bridget),'74 95 (Veronica)
The caliper bearing surfaces have uneven heights and widths. The piston side is narrower but deeper and the pad fits using the first set of slots. The outerside is wider but less deep so uses the second set of slots on the pad. Wear on these surfaces will impact on the alignment of the pads. The piston side is easier to weld up and file. The outer is more difficult, but tends not to wear as much as the inner. You appear to have some wear ledges on the outerside John which is affecting the seating of the pads. Is is also possible that the outer part was incorrectly manufactured.
Cheers Woody..I thought it wasn't right but the wear looked so minimal and to make it work properly i'm going to have to add about 3mm top and bottom..i'm guessing it's not a real issue but will get them done sooner rather than later.
'72 95 (The Flying Banana),'72 96 (Bridget),'74 95 (Veronica)
Uh Oh... All this time I thought it was normal, as all 6 of the V4s I've had were the same. I thought it was caused by something deflecting during braking.
Does the welding up successfully cure this anomaly?
Topic 
Brake pad seating.
Posted - 07 Jul 2012 : 17:46:01 
