Front brake pads scrapng

[amusicman]

Just changed both sides front brake pads. Went for a ride and there is constant scraping coming from the front wheel. Got down hard a couple times on the front brakes to try to seat the new pads, but it didn't help. Could the calipers be bad? Not sure how to check that. Any help would be appreciated! 98 Tourer

[Bighead]

Floating calipers....

[SCain]

There is a procedure for setting the correct spacing when you remove the front wheel, I assume you removed the front wheel.
Torque the ride side axle bolt and tighten the axle pinch bolts, I don't torque the pinch bolts.
While the left side pinch bolts are loose, hold the front brake and bounce the front end a few times.
Tighten the left side pinch bolts, this should set the correct spacing.
I think the axle is suppose to be flush with the outside of the left fork.
Good Luck

[matt]

And a few more questions,  did you use honda pads? Did you clean up pad area? (Area were ears on pads slide) and if you apply a little pressure does noise go away?

[amusicman]

Thanks guys for responding. I did not remove the front wheel, just took the calipers off and replaced the pads. I did not use honda pads but they seemed to fit real well. I will try doing the pinch bolt thing and see if that works. Thanks again!

[Chrisj CMA]

Just changed both sides front brake pads. Went for a ride and there is constant scraping coming from the front wheel. Got down hard a couple times on the front brakes to try to seat the new pads, but it didn't help. Could the calipers be bad? Not sure how to check that. Any help would be appreciated! 98 Tourer

If you removed the wheel, you probably re-installed it incorrectly.  Even if you didnt remove the wheel, did you clean the pistons before compressing them?

[amusicman]

I did clean the pistons, but I did notice that one of the pistons did not come out as far as the one beside it. When I depressed the brake handle, one piston came out all the way and the other one only came out half way then stopped. I just assumed this was normal because it did it on both calipers. Is this something I should be concerned with?

[Tfrank59]

So you pulled the brake handle when there was no pad in the caliper? That might have been a mistake if so. Sounds like it's a dirty Pistons thing to me. Or else something was improperly installed.

[Leathel]

those pistons should pump out the same..... might be time to replace the piston seals and clean out the grooves they sit in.

 I would loosen the wheel and go through the correct sequence of tightening as well just to be sure, I did with mine after slight brake issues after the caliper rebuild and it sorted it

[gordonv]

FYI

Front axle alignment.

http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,93097.msg925665.html#msg925665

[matt]

Okay if you did not remove front wheel and noise was not there I would guess your good on that but you can still check jt out. All pistons should come out evenly.  If not sounds like new seals and cleaning of caliper pistons and ring were seal sit. They definitely get corrosion build up under seal. Even though one piston comes out it may also be dragging. When you use brakes it increases hydrologic pressure to move pistons.  There is now hydrologic pressure pulling piston back. Its not going to pull piston all the way but just a very small amount. It is the job of the square seal to bring piston back. So sounds like a overhaul/rebuild of calipers is first step. Then take bike for a spin. If noise still there once again pull lever while moving does noise go away?  I would say noise if still there is probably from non oem pads

[nogrey]

OK, so this might help. I purchased a ‘97 valk tourer with 2500 miles on it from a guy in FL about 5 years ago. It was left outside for 14 years. The front brakes locked up on it and I fixed them in a parking garage with the honda toolkit and a can of PB Blaster and a rag. I had to clean up the pistons on both sides and keep working them in and out until they freed up. This was intended to be a temporary fix, but they’ve worked perfectly ever since. As others have said, the pistons should extend equally. BTW, if you haven’t done so, now would be a good time to replace the fluids in your brakes. Make sure you get any sludge out of the system. Hope this helps. Please post your final fix.

[Ricky-D]

Look at the old pads you removed. Did they wear evenly? If so, I would think most everything is okay and just replacing them with new pad ought to work absolutely fine.

When you replace the pads there is a flat kinda spring that is supposed to hold the pads parallel and help keep them from rubbing against the rotor when the brakes are not being applied. The spring is held in place by the pin that you have to remove to change the pads.

Most likely the spring is deformed to a point that it fails to perform the job it is intended to do, which is resulting in the pads rubbing against the rotor in an abnormal way.

If you changed to a metallic type pad, that also could be contributing to more noisy pads.

Squeezing the brake lever resulting in the pistons being pushed out further than they were originally sitting in the calipers may have inadvertently caused a change in conditions and could also be the reason for your present problem.

***

[Rio Wil]

The bottom of the pads have a hole where a pin goes to lcate the pad. The top of the pad has a small tab that goes into a slot to locate the top end of the pad.....did one of the pads not get located into its slot properly.....