brake pads aren't fitting into slots

[viper1314]

Had a problem with my old brake pads that I had a buddy installed. he had to grind the ends down a bit to get them to fit in the slots. Long story , short the pads got all messed up and made some crazy sounds. Check my old posts for pictures.

anyhow I went to advance to get a set of weaver gold series like I had installed and I bring them home to install my self. THe driver side went in , but it was a tight fit. The passenger side is the one that had to be grinded the most the last time , and I see why now. The brake pad nearest the engine will not go in! It is acting like its too long. The side nearest the tire goes in fine. But no matter what this inside is not letting it take the caliper. I even took the metal slots out to see if it would fit in there without them and its still to long.

People on here told me not to grind them to fit....so what do I do now ?


THanks for help ....shes jacked up out side still as I am typing.

 

[xFatcatx]

I remember reading your old post. Im sorry i cant remember if the brake pads go into the caliber or a a caliber bracket on the rotor (i just did the brakes on about 4 different cars), im thinkin they rest in the caliber and then you slide the caliber on the rotor. Sorry. Either way, with all the trouble you are having I would take the pads back and get a new set of pads, and new calibers or caliber brackets. I just called Autozone and new calibers are $48 per side plus a core (for my 99). Im never one to throw parts at something but brakes on these Fords are about the easiest thing to do, so im thinkin you got problems somewhere in there.

 

[410Fortune]

sounds like you may have used two pads on the other side, two outers...look at all 4 pads, there is 2 inner and 2 outers, its easy to mix them up and use both inners or both outers on one side, causiing issues when you try to fit the other side.

If thats not it then my guess is you have a defective caliper?

 

[manaen]

can you post some pictures of what you mean, and were you had to grind?

btw you should never have to grind anything when doing brakes. The only thing is maybe some light sanding to remove surface rust. but that's it.

 

[viper1314]

I used one with a retaining clip on both sides.... I was wondering at first if I did put them on the wrong side . ALl of them were marked the same way with L and R

But I did get them in just now, thank the Lord

I got the flash light and shined it on both the slots and the bottom one lookd like it was fatter. So I got some Pb blaster and then took a screwdriver and a 1/8" inch thick piece of rust came out , that filled the entire slot. Put the clips back on , and the the inside pad went in, with a little bit of coaxing.

Took for a small spin about one mile with less then 10 braking spots and I have no sound so far ....funny thing happend though I was backing out of my driveway and I went to stop and I had no brakes so I slammed it in 1st and got up back in my driveway (right behind it, is a river) pumped them up and brake pressure came back up. I was in such a hurry to see if the brakes were still making noise that I forget I pumped the fluid out of both front brakes when I put the calipers down all the way.


so like I said no sound so far, I will keep it updated to see if that tiny piece of rust that had turned into a solid piece of metal was the culprit all this time.

Thanks for the quick help though, good to know there is a place to find the problems and solutions for the explorer ....mine is getting to 160,000 miles so I am sure I have more things to fix in the future.

 

[viper1314]

can you post some pictures of what you mean, and were you had to grind?

btw you should never have to grind anything when doing brakes. The only thing is maybe some light sanding to remove surface rust. but that's it.

The person who installed them before had to grind the pieces on the end that go in the slots. I think that rust that had formed into a solid is what made it not fit and thus have to be grinded. I made sure not to grind them this time....tight fit still though.


guys at advance auto said that he had never seen one wear like mine was doing. I am guessing the grinding made it have too much slop ? and then caused it to jump around under force.....just brainstorming trying to think what might of caused those bad grooves.

 

[manaen]

Glad you got it fixed up

yeah if there is any play at all it will cause very strange wear on the pads. Did you clean and grease the slider pins? you need to make sure they move freely otherwise the pads will rub and prematurely wear.