On Pelican I posted the following:


Suggestions so far were brake pads breaking, springs breaking, wheel bearings, and pebbles between the dust shield and rotor.

I finally finished cutting the grass, and got the wheel off to check some of the above.

I don't see any pebbles.
There doesn't seem to be any bearing play, assuming that tugging on the rotor/hub would reveal it.

The brakepad looks intact to me, as does the the retaining spring. Not that I necessarily know what I'm looking for by any means.

I'm tempted to put the wheel back on and take it for a short drive to see if it just went away based on the pebble theory.

Does it make any sound when you turn the rotor ( or wheel, if attached ) by hand, forward or reverse?


KT

Have you taken the pads out to inspect? If not do that and then take for a drive if nothing appears out of the ordinary.

Trekkor, yes, there is some metallic sound just rotating the rotor. Should it be completely silent?

Brett, wish me luck on removing my first brake pad...

You should hear and feel just the slightest bit of resistance.

I'd venture to say that most of our rotors are slightly warped, so the noise/resistance will increase/decrease as the wheel turns.

When mine had the pebble in there it was a horid screeching sound.
I tugged on the dust shields while rotating the wheel until it fell out.


KT

When you are braking does it pull to the right or to the left? It may just be the slightest difference.

You should have no problem, two bolts and it slides right off.

After pulling the caliper use some tie wire to keep the weight off the rubber hose.

I dunno. I'm giving up for now. I got no pebbles. I somehow managed to snap off my passenger side window crank. I failed to "drive out pad retaining pin using an appropriate punch" as Haynes described to remove the pad. Maybe I'm approaching it wrong. Am I supposed to remove the whole caliper to get to it?

At some point a tiny ring that at first I thought was a washer fell out of the stupid caliper. I thought it was metal, but I dropped it a couple times on the garage floor and it did not make a metallic sound. It is about 3/8" outer diameter. Looking at the Haynes diagram, my only guess is it's a "seal". I have a feeling this is not a good thing.

I do not recall any pulling to either side when applying brakes. Just the sound and vibration felt through the pedal.

I'm frustrated and pissed so I'm giving up for now. So it's already on jackstands and I don't even have Illinois plates on it yet.

That "thing" may have been your mystery noise maker.

Show it to us.


KT

Dunno why I didn't do that.

One side:

T'other:

it's a tiny flying saucer! kewl


KT

Does that look like a brake part or something that flew up from the road?

I don't recognize that part.
If it was a seal your foot would have gone to the floor and you would be asking why your foot went to the floor and you had total brake failure.

Here's a lightened/sharpened rendering of the "UFO".

KT

Thanks, Trekkor. If it weren't midnight I'd put my wheel back on, move the Jeeps around in the driveway, and go for a quick test ride. But it is midnight, so I won't.

It's what is left of the dust cap for the bleader valve, no big deal would not make your noise.

On your caliper, I believe you said that the noise is coming from the right side.

turn steering wheel to the right, look behind caliper and you will see two, I think

they are 15mm bolts. Not the allens that hold the two halves together. Pull those

all the way out. Slide the caliper torwards the front of the car, as sudjested earler

by my learned club mate, hang the caliper with a piece of wire to keep the stress

off the brake line. On the top of the cali you will see the two pins and a cross

shaped spring steel spreader spring. Drive out the two retaining pins with a punch

or grind off the head of a nail that will fit in the shaft that the pins will come out of,

drive the pins torwards the center of the car. Slide the pads out. Reverse what I

just said to put it back together. Easy. Have fun..

Why remove the caliper?

I just replaced the front pads with the calipers on the car.


KT

It's alot easier to inspect the caliper when it's off the car. I should have mentioned

this to him.

You have to pull the wire clips that keep the pins in place before you can drive teh pad retaining pins out.

Drove around the block before work. The problem is still there; that UFO was unrelated, as So.Cal. anticipated. There may have been some noise suggesting bearings when turning, but I was in the driveway and had to switch cars and head to work, so I couldn't confirm that.

Ordered OEM pads for front and back from Pelican yesterday, they should be here tomorrow. (I didn't think to get bearings, dammit.)

Chris, my wife corrected me that the baby shower is Sunday, rather than Saturday, so perhaps you'd still be willing to look over this with me if I don't get anywhere by then?

We can knock out brake pads and front wheel bearings pretty quick. I can try to make it there early Saturday (9:00). Get some brake fluid and lot's o-rags. I'll bring a grease gun and any of the other tools I can think of that we need, that you may not have (but will soon get!). Looks like the weather will be good, it's a good chance to put onother 60 miles on my motor.

I know for a certainty what that UFO was...100%

I was in the parking lot of America's Tire Co. this afternoon and I look down and lo and behold, another UFO ?!?

Yep, it is the inside of a valve stem cut off flush at the rim.

They do it on every tire change...They were everywhere...Total invasion


KT

The UFO you saw is the mother ship of the one he found, the one he found was 3/8" across. Valve stems are larger in dia. It's hard to tell them apart when they are trying to shrink your head. I know, mine is still not back to it's original size.

This is probably a problem:

And this can't be helping:

No luck finding bearing seals at FLAPS. Gonna have to track down the spring too. No driving anytime soon

Can the spreader spring be riveted back together? I don't see the part at Pelican or on ebay.

Does anyone have experience with this ebay seller for an SKF front wheel bearing kit?

He's got a 99.9% rating... hard to go wrong. You can rivet the spring back together.

Not sure what the picture of the hub cover is showing??

I have done business with the guy before. I think he actually bought from me. His feedback looks decent. Its a good price too.

I will see if I have the spreader spring you need. We need to get you mobile again.

So. Cal is right about the UFO. It's what is left of the ATE bleeder cover. Most are long gone now.

Brett's right about the clips. Pull them striagh up out of the pins with a pair of needle nose and the pins should push back toward the center of the car.

I have springs if you need them but... that would mean shipping them to you and waiting a few days to get them. You can drill that out and slap a pop rivet in there in 5-minutes.

Sounds like bearings as we described on the PP board.

Isn't that bits of the grease seal sticking out?

It looks to me like the bleeder dust covers are intact.

Give me a crash course in pop riveting. What do I need from Home Depot?

Ordered the ebay bearing kit.

Channeled my frustration into replacing my crumpled bumper tit and now replacing my cracked rear bumper top with a nice one from hwgunner.

Also started looking at installing the $41 as-new Performance Products LE Airdam replica I got from ebay but the mounting tabs have no holes drilled and I have a feeling there will be fit issues.

I think the UFO was the head of the rivet from my retaining spring...

That was my first thought but it does look like a bleeder donut. The bleeder donut would be almost a 1/2" though... now looking at the tape rule it seems to be the rivet.



Just a POP Rivet gun. They come with a few sample rivets. Get an 1/8" bit if you don't have one. That's about the smallest rivet they come with and you may need the bit to open up the top hole and clean up the tab with the remaining rivet in it.



That's not an issue by itself... most people pack those things with too much grease and overgrease everything. James can weigh in with his love for that technique

I'd say at this point things are simple. Remove the two 19mm bolts holding the caliper on. Lift the caliper off the rotor and give'r a spin. If you still hear the noise it's bearing time. If not, have a peak at your pads. It could have been that spring.

The rivit for the spring would not be 3/8" across or made of rubber.

But Eric knows what he talking about, you could not be in better hands.

Looks like 3/16th's across and just didn't make a metallic noise when it hit the floor. Even at 3/16th's I think it's something that was POP rivetted before. Not a factory rivet for that spring plate.

Your absolutly right, imagine my embarrisment. Read the tape wrong.

The caliper bolts don't wanna budge and my 19mm socket is slipping just enough. Can I safely spray a bit of WD40 in there or will that harm the brakesh shtuff?

Fun isn't it?

Is it a 6-sided socket with a bar (not a ratchet)? If so... rubber mallet. If it's a 12-sided socket get a nice set of 6's.

I don't think WD-40 will help much in this situation. While you're at the depot getting the POP rivet gun get a MAPP torch

I wish I were having fun, but I can't say that I am at the moment.

Is this what the spring should look like after riveting? Also, the spring on the driver's side looks like the rivet is missing there as well...

Here's the back. or front. or whatever.


Back to Sears for 6 point sockets, a smaller breaker, and a rubber mallet apparently. Good thing my wife put me on a spending freeze.

Looks good. you can mushroom the back side of the rivet if you are worried

about it coming out again.

Got the 2 bolts out holding the caliper on. The caliper isn't just sliding off. It seems to be sticking on the pads?

I made a hook out of a clothes hanger to pull the brakepads. Pulled hard enough to worry I was gonna pull the car right off the jackstands, and they still won't budge. Are they supposed to be that hard to get out?

That's cr4zy...

Can you use a tool and gently pry on the pads so the pistons recess, then slide 'em out?

They should almost fall out.


KT

Ended up pushing the pad from behind with a screwdriver while pulling the coat hanger which was wired in and out of both holes in the pad. Same on each side. Scraped the rotor in one small spot with the screwdriver. Is that a problem?

How does the rotor look?

No, shouldn't be a problem.

Both pads
Click to view attachment



Inside
Click to view attachment


Outside
Click to view attachment



The caliper is still attached but the pads are out. The rotor rotates with far less rubbing noise than it did. Does that rule out bearings?

Pads appear intact and measure at a bit over 4mm remaining...