ervin881

I just replaced pads and rotors with Hawk ceramics and Sebro rotors. Done at my local Indy shop who is very reputable.

The pads appear to have some "looseness" in their mountings and each time I apply the brakes they click as they seat themselves and stop against the caliper bosses. I was told this is normal for the Hawks in the performance setup when you leave off the backing pads.

My question. I don't know how much the pads are moving as they seat, but would this place a load on the piston and force it to the forward rotating side of the piston face? Potentially, eventually, wearing one side of the piston and potentially creating more clearance on that side?

Has anyone else experienced this?

Uwon

Consider loose or missing pad retainers
http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...BRKPAD_pg2.htm
Or missing damper pads and/or shims ( on next page of above link).
People forget that the damper pads are there bacause they are usually not included with the brake pads and they have a tendency to rust into place and are then a PITA to remove and replace.
Johan

Petza914

You should have installed them with the proper pad dampeners. The pad dampeners are an adhesive circle with a metal prong attached. The adhesive pad sticks to the back of your brake pad and the metal prongs lock into the caliper piston. You need to get the proper size for the calipers you have and will need one for each caliper piston.

Lvt19672

I thought you said that your Indy was reputable.

ervin881

Thanks guys. I appreciate the damper and shim correction but they were left off on purpose, at the suggestion of Hawk, in order to remove compliance from the system and provide a firmer pedal feel. The negative is the noise.

The question was, can this cause additional wear in the piston skirt? I was hoping someone else had done the same and had enough miles or time with it to know if it compromised the piston.

By the way, it makes a noticeable difference. I'm not sure it's worth the
Noise, but it does improve pedal feel.

Petza914

These are the Porsche brake pad dampeners I'm talking about.


There's no extra play with them installed as the metal clip holds it firmly inside the caliper piston and the round black circle is actually adhered to the back of the brake pad. These aren't like the dampener shims that are sometimes used.

If you don't want to use these and you don't want the shims, get some Permatex Brake Anti Squeal paste, and apply it to the back of the pads just prior to installation, then work quickly to get the caliper installed back into position and press on the brake pedal to force the pistons into contact with the back of the pad. This will also stick the pads to the pistons and the caliper, which will have a similar effect as using the proper dampener pads.

If you go this route, you can only do one wheel at a time and the pads and rotors on the other wheels have to remain installed or when you push the brakes, you'll force the caliper pistons out of the calipers and then have a mess on your hands.

ervin881

Thanks Petra. Appreciate the advice and I'll give it a try.

Uwon

I've been driving without dampers and shims for probably 120,000 km. My pads always settle in nicely after a couple of weeks. No need for any goop.
Sure that the retainers were not left out as well? You should be able to see them thru the rim spokes.
Johan