gabzor

did my first brake job ever assisted by my friend for my mom's car
used akebono proact ceramic pads, and brembo blank rotors

i cleaned the hub somewhat with brake cleaner but it was clean so my friend said just spray and wipre and i'm good

i did lubricate the back of the pads but i didn't lube the caliper bolts (i didn't take em off) the ones covered by the rubber dust boost, cause my friend said not to..

anyways i'm thinking of taking it off, and making sure i lube the bolts and the other little bits

but the overall brake feeling is good, a bit on the weak side, but better than no brakes.
i also bedded the brakes in somewhat, not a completely cause i didn't want to drive like a menace but they seem to work well, (i don't know if your supposed to for ceramics)

problem is this piece fell off


only 1 side had it, and it flew off somewhere and i didn't find it till later today.. is it important? should i replace it asap?

also should i bleed the brakes since i did pads/rotors? the brake pedal feel is a bit soft, not spongy, but its not really hard..

thanks for the advice and tips guys!

moonphase

The wire clip is what pushes the pads away from the rotor. Did the new pads have holes for the clip to insert? The caliper guide pins that your friend said not to grease, should have been greased.

pauloil

always grease caliper pins!! and yes, bleeding now is an excellent idea

hypervish

Do not use grease on caliper pins!

You need to use silicone paste! Also, you used brake cleaner on the entire rotor right? Because they come pre-coated to prevent rusting while they sit on store shelfs. You must clean that off before installing.

gabzor

not sure if they did.. they had shims built in, and both sides looked the same

yes i did, he said he doesn't but i did

so i need silicone paste, not ceramic lube for the caliper pins?

well when i take em off to bleed, i'll go ahead and get some silicone grease

StuckInVA

I feel important to point out that if you're having trouble finding where this goes back, its home consists of two small pinholes not really one either side, but more the edge (which I guess technically is the side; just clarifying) of the brake pad. It spans across the open distance between the two pads to help push them apart you should have two per rotor though. (pretty sure)

Also, the FSM for my '93 specifies a lithium soap base glycol grease for the slide pins.

You said that the brakes feel weak, not sure exactly what you meant by that, but IMO ceramics feel less "solid" and less grabby, but I love the silence and I think they perform better as well.

Power6

Not sure what hypervish is on about, but ceramic grease should be fine. The important part is you need to use a grease on brake parts that can take high heat that is usually a silicone or ceramic. I use the Permatex Extreme Ceramic Brake Grease, purple stuff, it is overkill for a street car but the only brake grease that survives on a race car.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I think he meant to avoid regular grease, because it can dry up and cause more problems. Silicone works well because it doesn't dry out, and I suppose the Ceramic Grease works in the same fashion.

hypervish

The rubber boots are made of a petroleum product, and grease is also a petroleum product. When the two are together the grease will eat away at the rubber. Thus it will cause the pin to bind in the bore.

Stick with silicone paste and you don't have to worry about that.

gabzor

i just used the purple ceramic permatex i have, i bought silicone too just in case.. but i didn't use it, i think the permatex is a much better quality..
i also need to change a rubber boot any tips how?

http://www.raybestos.com/wps/wcm/con...1df63649a75f53


btw this helped me big time with the wire clips

Power6

I gotcha, makes sense. I think a better way to put it is "non-petroleum" as ceramic brake lube certainly fits into that category whether it contains silicone or not. In this case he had the Permatex Extreme Ceramic purple stuff which is certainly the best brake lube the average shadetree mechanic will put his hands on.

pauloil

as stated by others, any high temp grease, brake grease, will work. not regular, of course

LeX2K

I have to say, I don't like this stuff. It tends to get really sticky when cold and doesn't allow the slide pins to move properly. 3M Silicone paste is the best IMO.

JonnysES

The clip is not the most important thing but you want to put it back on or run none on either side or your brakes will ware out really weird. Um you did right by silicon. Another thing ceramics don't grab as hard until they get hot then they'll out perform lesser pads all day long. That slightly weak feeling with always be there because at street driving temps they don't' grab quite as good but know that thing with stop from 90 to 0 with no fade a regular pad can't give you that.