Not bike related, but the brakes on my Tahoe had been pulsing for quite a while and I figured the rotors were a bit warped, so I would get them turned next time I needed to check my brakes. This last Friday I went to take my daughter to school and it wasn't just a pulsing, but I heard grinding and figured the indicators were dragging and needed to swap them out.

Saturday morning I tore into it and found the inside pad on the passenger side was completely gone  



Since there was damage to the rotor, I decided to swap both front rotors and put in new pads.



No more pulsing and stops on a dime (relatively speaking-this is still a full size SUV)

Serowbot wrote on 11/14/11 at 13:02:55:

Well dimes were bigger in the old days...  You could even buy a gallon of gas with one!

verslagen1 wrote on 11/14/11 at 14:39:32:


I agree, the 1 pad was worn down to nothing and all 3 other pads were semi-reasonable. The pads I took off were from the first time I have ever changed them myself and I think I must have messed it up some because they should've worn more evenly. I learned this time that the 2 bolts that hold the calipers on the rotor actually float when they are completely torqued down. I didn't realize that last time and think that 1 of them must have got bound up and was no longer floating like it should've. I made sure to lube everything up real well to avoid that happening again.

This is my daily driver when I am not able to ride the MC, so with winter arriving I will be driving it much more for the next few months.

Youll find the tires worn where they were hitting the pavement as the warp on the rotor passed thru the caliper. Put them on the back,

+1

Whenever you have a single piston caliper, be sure it slides easily on the mounting bolts or you will wear one pad more than the other & it creates extra drag on that wheel. A  sticking caliper will wear both pads the same & really drag badly. Doesn't matter what it's on.

Seen it a million times over 23 years working on cars. When doing my own, I always make sure to lube everything whether it needs it or not. And make sure things are sliding right before reassembling. I also replace the hardware kits. Amazing the crap those little rubber boots actually keep out. And that's directly related to what causes them to freeze up in the 1st place. Not to mention any springs, anti-rattle clips, etc.. Warped rotors sometimes take a lot of machining to true them up. Considering the wear that's already on them, you need to be careful and make sure they're not undersize after machining. They may still stop the vehicle, but they can overheat, causing loss of braking power. I usually just replace them, as most rotors are fairly cheap. (Ya, some of the trucks and such are a little more expensive, but I'm safety minded when it comes to stopping a couple tons of metal.)

And yes, Bill, backing up a lot is how rear drum brakes adjust. If the starwheel adjusters aren't froze up. (they need lube too) Rear disc brakes usually have a self adjusting mechanism built into the caliper piston. About 1/2 of them need replacing once they get rusted up. Chrysler had the best setup. The rears worked the same as the fronts. Just make sure everything is lubed and sliding and your good to go.