Tire Swap, Now Brake Grabs?

[huck]

I note that the new brake pads have the steel sound deadening plates attached. Some times that make the brake pad too thick and and will jam the system. Snap them, off with the point of a screw drive and try them again. 

I know this seems a bit simplistic but I had exactly that happen. 

But... years ago, I had a similar situation where I eventually had to replace the caliper. Basically the rear caliper had been replaced by a shop when doing a tire swap (Why I mostly do that myself), and it was not properly centered on the slide causing misalignment of the pads on the disk and causing internal damage to the caliper. we later found some very miner thread damage and other tell tale signs. Sadly, the caliper had to be replaced - and a fight with the shop which they finally agreed to settle. 

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by huck

[Toddtr]

Fixed or still wrenching?

[hammer]

On 6/4/2020 at 12:57 PM, trevinator said:

i think its how the caliper is mounted. either with a bent bolt or cross threaded bracket, or a bent bracket. either way, the pads should be sitting flush on the rotor, not just the top of the left side and bottom of the right side touching. that means the caliper is not parallel to the rotor somehow.

 So, a quick search shows Trevinator is the winner. It took Peter about 20mins to find the problem. After some tapping and reinstalling the caliper, the bike is going on maiden voyage this am.

 During my initial install I cross threaded the right caliper bolt. People had asked and I always said "no" as I was only looking at the male end. Peter shows up, quick assessment, and the female end was chewed up. Got out the tap set, he redid the threads, put it back on, bled again and everything is flush and square. Tire spins, whole brake pad grabs. 

 Supervisor isn't impressed with me...

The pic shows how much the bolt was off that it wouldn't mate flush with the caliper.

I would like to thank Peter for riding out and getting hands on, and everyone else who has helped and offered advice and guidance.

 Hopefully I won't need to post after my sun am ride to say anything bad happened!

 If anyone is ever in the Hamilton area of Ontario, feel free to stop in for your free beer.

[FJ29ER]

Thank ya baby Jesus!!!! 

[trevinator]

56 minutes ago, hammer said:

 So, a quick search shows Trevinator is the winner. It took Peter about 20mins to find the problem. After some tapping and reinstalling the caliper, the bike is going on maiden voyage this am.

 During my initial install I cross threaded the right caliper bolt. People had asked and I always said "no" as I was only looking at the male end. Peter shows up, quick assessment, and the female end was chewed up. Got out the tap set, he redid the threads, put it back on, bled again and everything is flush and square. Tire spins, whole brake pad grabs. 

 Supervisor isn't impressed with me...

The pic shows how much the bolt was off that it wouldn't mate flush with the caliper.

I would like to thank Peter for riding out and getting hands on, and everyone else who has helped and offered advice and guidance.

 Hopefully I won't need to post after my sun am ride to say anything bad happened!

 If anyone is ever in the Hamilton area of Ontario, feel free to stop in for your free beer.

i knew it was something with how the caliper was mounted! glad you guys got it figured out!

[koth442]

Woo! The forum comes through. Glad it's sorted. Enjoy your ride!

[hammer]

Just got back from a spirited ride, and besides my speedo and GPS fighting about the proper speed (bike shows +7km faster than GPS at highway / +5km at city speeds), the bike ran top notch and stopped without issue. Back brake is doing what it should, and nothing it shouldn't.

Thanks to all and especially Peter once again for all the help. Beers are on me!

[tktplz]

3 hours ago, hammer said:

 During my initial install I cross threaded the right caliper bolt. People had asked and I always said "no" as I was only looking at the male end. Peter shows up, quick assessment, and the female end was chewed up. Got out the tap set, he redid the threads, put it back on, bled again and everything is flush and square. Tire spins, whole brake pad grabs. 

That's wild. I've never taken the caliper off the mount when changing a rear tire. The fronts yes, the rear I just pull the axle and set the caliper and mount off to the side till I put it back on. I put duct tape, don't cha love the pink? On the rear swing-arm to keep it from scratching. I'll never cross thread the caliper unless I do it while changing pads. I always tighten the screws with my fingers 1st to make sure no cross threading. Just an old habit, yes I'm old.....and of course, YMMV.

[betoney]

@hammer - So glad you got this figured out.  Sometimes it takes a 2nd or 3rd set of eyes on something to see the not-so-obvious.  A big thumbs up to @piotrek for taking the time to offer assistance.😎👍

[piotrek]

3 hours ago, tktplz said:

I'll never cross thread the caliper unless I do it while changing pads. I always tighten the screws with my fingers 1st...

Wish your pads a long and happy life then... 😃

In fairness, the M12 x 1.25 thread on the guide pin (caliper side) is easily crossed when aligning things, but I agree... if it don't go in by hand... 🤔

Edited June 7, 2020 by piotrek

[piotrek]

11 hours ago, hammer said:

Back brake is doing what it should, and nothing it shouldn't.

Super glad to hear. 👍

Edited June 8, 2020 by piotrek

[tktplz]

49 minutes ago, piotrek said:

Wish your pads a long and happy life then... 😃

The rears will last 50 to 60,000 easy. I hardly even touch them unless I'm turning onto a gravel drive. Luckily I don't do that often either. At 15,000 the fronts are still close to new looking. I'm usually at 40 to 50,000 on the fronts but they have a big ole 10 mm. Probably when I do the rears if I don't have to take it off the mount I won't. I'll do it during a tire change. It doesn't matter if the bolt is on the brakes or anywhere else on the bike I always screw it in with my fingers first. Just an old habit. Glad to hear he's back on the road. It's not fun when your toy isn't working correctly. 

[jthayer09]

I just did a sprocket and chain swap and ran into this exact problem. @betoney pointed me to this thread and the cross threading of the caliper mount bolt was also my problem, tapped the thread and was good to go. Thank you @hammer for posting your issue and thanks for everyone who contributed in this thread.

Couple of things:

Is there any worry about the threads being weaker? Should I worry about the bolt coming loose? At $166 for the caliper assembly on PartZilla is it worth just replacing the whole thing for peace of mind?

Also, I was unable to properly thread the bolt while the bracket and caliper were on the bike. I could not for the life of me line up the bracket that receives the bolt properly with the caliper, every time I would start to thread it would cross. I had to take the axle out to get the bracket out of the bike, then I was able to line everything up. I then reinstalled the bracket with the caliper on it back on the axle. Does anyone else have difficulty threading the caliper bolt while it is mounted?

Thanks!

Edited July 13, 2020 by jthayer09

[hammer]

18 minutes ago, jthayer09 said:

I just did a sprocket and chain swap and ran into this exact problem. @betoney pointed me to this thread and the cross threading of the caliper mount bolt was also my problem, tapped the thread and was good to go. Thank you @hammer for posting your issue and thanks for everyone who contributed in this thread.

Couple of things:

Is there any worry about the threads being weaker? Should I worry about the bolt coming loose? At $166 for the caliper assembly on PartZilla is it worth just replacing the whole thing for peace of mind?

Also, I was unable to properly thread the bolt while the bracket and caliper were on the bike. I could not for the life of me line up the bracket that receives the bolt properly with the caliper, every time I would start to thread it would cross. I had to take the axle out to get the bracket out of the bike, then I was able to line everything up. I then reinstalled the bracket with the caliper on it back on the axle. Does anyone else have difficulty threading the caliper bolt while it is mounted?

Thanks!

You do not need to remove the axel to get the caliper off...I should know (eyeroll). Remove the two mounting bolts and brake line. I am assuming that you may not have a proper table to work on, but that's what you want/need, ideally with a vise. Take over the kitchen if you have too! You want to line the bolt with the bracket. The bolt needs to sit flush on the caliper. Any deviation will produce undesireable results. The rear guide will do it's own thing if you tap properly. I used some locktite when reinstalling. Are you using a proper tap and die set, or just using the bolt with some English on it to straighten it out.

 If you're lacking the proper tools, it might just be easier to buy a replacement caliper.

[jthayer09]

To get the bracket that the caliper is on you have to remove the axle, or at least slide the axle so it can get free. I couldn't line up the caliper with the bracket without taking the bracket off the axle so I could line them up on a table, as you suggested. Below is the piece (bracket) I'm talking about that the caliper attaches to that I could not line up with the caliper and bolt while it was on the axle.

Apologies if my first post wasn't clear, I cannot mount the caliper on the bracket while it is on the bike as the bolt cross threads. The result is I had to take the caliper bracket off the axle so I could line it up with the caliper on a workbench or table.

Thanks.

Edited July 13, 2020 by jthayer09