For about a year now, my rear right brake has been rubbing (i think). I was told to replace the brake pads and rotors, but never got around to it. Anywho, my question is this...

Should my brake pad be able to move? On the side that is making the rubbing noise, I am able to put a screwdrive in between the rotor and the pad and it moves back a few millimeters. On the other side, this does not happen. The pad does not move at all. Here is what I am talking about (don't mind the rust ), the arrow indicates which way the pad moves back:



Should this be happening?
If not, I guess I need to replace the rotors and pads, and if that isn't it, the wheel bearing. I am just trying to knock out the least expensive options first.

 

Does the caliper slide freely on the mounting pins? There shouldn't be a gap.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dogginator &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Does the caliper slide freely on the mounting pins? There shouldn't be a gap.</TD></TR></TABLE>

me no comprehend. i know nothing about cars lol. all i know is on the one side, i am able to slide the pad back several millimeters, while the other side, the pad is firm and does not move an inch.

 

Sounds like your missing the tensioner shim (don't really know what its called) that presses against your pads holding them firmly in place on the one caliper.

 

hmmm it could be.

well, i just jacked my car up and turned the wheel by hand, on the side where the rubbing is coming from, it rubs everytime the wheel gets to a certain spot

so i jacked up the other side of the car and tried to see if it makes the same noise, and i can't even turn the wheel by hand at all. is this not good? haha. something like a seized caliper?

 

Do you still have your parking brake pulled up? If not, yes your caliper is seized and you need to rebuild or buy a remanufactured caliper. And maybe thats why the pad isn't moving on that side, lol.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sam92Teg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you still have your parking brake pulled up? If not, yes your caliper is seized and you need to rebuild or buy a remanufactured caliper. And maybe thats why the pad isn't moving on that side, lol.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ebrake was disengaged.

hahaha that makes sense now, the brake pad on that side is not moving because the caliper is seized. wonderful. thanks for the input.