madhatter

Went and bought a new caliper at a junkyard, hoping to fix the problem I have been having with brake pads at track weekends. The inner left front pad would wear much, much faster then any of the others, and it would also wear from top to bottom at an angle. It would only do this on the race pads, and the street pads that I have are in great shape, and are showing normal wear. After some advice about greasing the slide pins, I decided to go with an entirely new one. I pull the old one off, and it is in better shape than the one I purchased at the junkyard. Not to mention that the slide pins are great, and spring back out very easily. Does anyone have an idea what would be causing this uneven wear? It is only when I am really on the brakes, such as at the track. Street driving is not wearing them unevenly..

Drew M

Here are the "General" rules in regards to pad wear:

Outside Pad Wearing More:
The caliper slide pins need to be cleaned/greased or replaced. What is happening is the caliper is pulling but when it releases it does not slide outward again thus causing the outside pad to continue dragging

Inside Pad Wearing More:
The caliper has issues. When you release the pressure the piston does not slide back into the bore thus causing the inside pad to wear more than the outside

Your "angled" wear sounds like a pad issue to me. The backing plate may be warped or it has a "nipple" on it that is not allowing the pad to seat properly. I know that Hawks have these nubs on them. I introduced them to my bench grinder to rectify the problem.

It is probably still a good idea to replace the caliper. If the pad is warped it will be putting angled pressure on the piston bore which isn't good. If the pad is fine and the caliper is screwed then you are back to square a again.

Your best bet is to nut up and spend the $80 for a reman unit at NAPA or wherever. DO NOT buy junkyard brake parts. Why? Because when they are taken off the car they are subject to moisture which gets into the components and:

A) Rusts the inside
B) Contaminates the fluid when it goes in

When I was a mechanic we couldn't buy used hydraulic brake parts from the junkyards. It is against the law for the parts to be sold. You could buy mounting brackets and slide pins but no calipers/MCs/prop valves.

madhatter

Ah! I see now. Thank you. This has been plaguing me for about a year now. So simple, sorry I didn't see it before. Part was pulled off the car about 4 minutes before I bought it, but generally not buying junkyard pieces is good advice. The bracket is bad, but the caliper is good. So I am keeping my old bracket, and once I find someone to help me bleed the brakes, I will swap the caliper.The angled wear might have had something to do with having the heat sheilds still on the brakes, but that is not an issue anymore. Next event or two will have to tell on that one. Thanks!

Neo

Chris, wish I knew enough to help you, but give a hollar if you need a hand in bleeding or whatever.

Cosworth

Chris - Jeff (pyromaster), Ken (Black R) and I bleed brakes all the time in Decatur. If you're in the area just IM us.