Rear brake pad change caution

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

When I took my rear tire off last week to change it I of course ended up with the brake caliper hanging loose. For some reason before I could the new tire on the pads closed up. In trying to push them apart I saw the pads were badly worn out. One was almost paper thin. Rather than just wait and do nothing while I waited to get new pads I decided to just pull them out and put the caliper back in place. That way I could get the belt aligned and the axle nut torqued.

I got the new pads today so I took the caliper off the bracket to install the new pads. I tried using needle nose pliers to turn the piston back in. Yes, you do turn it clockwise. A couple of posts from years past say to turn CCW. That is wrong. I could hardly get the piston to turn so to try to free it up I pulled on the parking brake lever. The service manual says to turn the parking brake lever to retract the piston. Oops! The piston all of a sudden got pushed almost all the way out of the cylinder. I could not for the life of me get the piston to start retracting by turning.

What I believe happened is that with the pads worn down to almost nothing the automatic adjustment had turned the adjusting shaft so much the piston was about to come off of it. The little extra turn when I moved the parking brake lever was enough to turn it off. I cobbled up a tool to turn the piston and still I couldn't get it to catch and start retracting. As a last resort I disconnected the brake line and put the caliper in the vise. With no hydraulic pressure on the piston, and working the parking lever I finally got it to catch and retract. It only takes about 3 or 4 turns to seat it all the way.

So, be warned. If your pads are totally worn down be careful when trying to turn the piston in. It will be close to coming off the adjuster shaft. If it does, the air in your garage will turn blue very quickly!

Now, any suggestions about how to most easily bleed the rear brake line will be appreciated! :thumbup:

 

[Hypurone]

Now, any suggestions about how to most easily bleed the rear brake line will be appreciated! :thumbup:

Turn the caliper over so the bleeder is pointing upward. Insert something in between the pads to prevent the piston from moving and bleed as you normally would.... :thumbup:

 

[Chupaca]

Let's see...

Seeing as your removed the hose and caliper altogether... reassemble add fluid pump the pedal and bleed at the hose connections first then repump and bleed at the bleeder nut. If you have a vacuum pump goes a lot faster...:thumbup:

 

[Little Blue]

Rear Brake pads

Wow, thanks for the TIP. Might go ahead and change/bleed the total brake system. :thumbup: I would look at the Front pads too.

 

[11rtLTD]

Rear brake pads

I have a 2011 RT SE5, I too replaced my rear brake pads yesterday.
I discovered that my caliper does NOT have a screw in type piston. I don't know if, somewhere, someone replaced the caliper with a non BRP until but was most definitely a push in or squeeze type piston.
Brakes working great now. Old pads were VERY thin.
Right at 25k on the bike.
Front pads are still at 50% or more.

 

[Papahoosh]

What is the average miles before pads need changing?

 

[Mad Mac]

What is the average miles before pads need changing?

It's all dependent on how and where you ride. Stop and go, city type riding= more wear, highway= less wear. Just like with a 4 wheeled vehicle. I have 18K on ours and they are getting close, but I do tow a 250Lb. trailer also. YMMV Mac:doorag:

 

[IGETAROUND]

rear brakes 2011

I have a 2011 RT SE5, I too replaced my rear brake pads yesterday.
I discovered that my caliper does NOT have a screw in type piston. I don't know if, somewhere, someone replaced the caliper with a non BRP until but was most definitely a push in or squeeze type piston.
Brakes working great now. Old pads were VERY thin.
Right at 25k on the bike.
Front pads are still at 50% or more.

The pre Bremo brakes just push in like a regular caliper does. I believe it was 2012 that they started using the bremo brakes alll around.

Al

 

[wallburl]

rear brake piston caliber

Turn the parking brake counter clockwise to return piston!! R Wallace Kansas,

When I took my rear tire off last week to change it I of course ended up with the brake caliper hanging loose. For some reason before I could the new tire on the pads closed up. In trying to push them apart I saw the pads were badly worn out. One was almost paper thin. Rather than just wait and do nothing while I waited to get new pads I decided to just pull them out and put the caliper back in place. That way I could get the belt aligned and the axle nut torqued.

I got the new pads today so I took the caliper off the bracket to install the new pads. I tried using needle nose pliers to turn the piston back in. Yes, you do turn it clockwise. A couple of posts from years past say to turn CCW. That is wrong. I could hardly get the piston to turn so to try to free it up I pulled on the parking brake lever. The service manual says to turn the parking brake lever to retract the piston. Oops! The piston all of a sudden got pushed almost all the way out of the cylinder. I could not for the life of me get the piston to start retracting by turning.

What I believe happened is that with the pads worn down to almost nothing the automatic adjustment had turned the adjusting shaft so much the piston was about to come off of it. The little extra turn when I moved the parking brake lever was enough to turn it off. I cobbled up a tool to turn the piston and still I couldn't get it to catch and start retracting. As a last resort I disconnected the brake line and put the caliper in the vise. With no hydraulic pressure on the piston, and working the parking lever I finally got it to catch and retract. It only takes about 3 or 4 turns to seat it all the way.

So, be warned. If your pads are totally worn down be careful when trying to turn the piston in. It will be close to coming off the adjuster shaft. If it does, the air in your garage will turn blue very quickly!

Now, any suggestions about how to most easily bleed the rear brake line will be appreciated! :thumbup:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Turn the parking brake counter clockwise to return piston!! R Wallace Kansas,

That's what I thought would do, but it didn't work! The parking brake lever would not turn CCW. It is stopped solidly by some sort of latch or ratchet inside the cylinder. I looked for a diagram that shows how the brake innards are assembled but came up empty.

What is confusing is the service manual says to turn the parking brake lever to retract the piston. But it doesn't say which direction.

I decided to do another Google search and found this page about how to rebuild a Brembo caliper. It looks to be basically the same as the Spyder brake. https://wiki.seloc.org/a/How_to_Rebuild_a_Brembo_Caliper

This pic is part of the instructions. It shows the internal assembly minus the piston.



As you can see it's a right hand thread on the adjuster shaft. That means you would need to turn the parking brake lever CW to retract the piston. I still can't get my head around how turning the parking brake lever CW pushes the piston to lock the pads onto the rotor. That is somehow done by a plate with three balls pushing against the piece in the pic, but what exactly causes the disk to rotate and snug up the piston as the pads wear I can't figure out.

 

[safecracker]

2008 to 2012 do not need to turn. I have change rear pads every summer. I will be putting on my 6th rear brake pads in a few days. Front brakes are original and they are half worn out. I have 54,000 miles on my Spyder. Bruce

 

[cptjam]

Odd

I did a set of rear brake pads today. I admit, Ann had to hold the caliper while I pushed and turned clockwise, but the piston went in all the way. Took 20 minutes, tops!

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I did a set of rear brake pads today. I admit, Ann had to hold the caliper while I pushed and turned clockwise, but the piston went in all the way. Took 20 minutes, tops!

I suspect the dealers do that a lot. I just could not figure out a way to hold the caliper solid enough to push the piston back in against the spring and turn it at the same time. Times like that is when I need a strong 25 yo buddy close by to help. All my available neighbors are old farts, like me! :roflblack:

 

[larryd]

I did a set of rear brake pads today. I admit, Ann had to hold the caliper while I pushed and turned clockwise, but the piston went in all the way. Took 20 minutes, tops!

cptjam, if I understand YOU correctly, YOU TURN the PISTON, NOT the parking brake lever like IdahoMtmSpyder referred to in his post #10???????

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Auto Zone has a loan a tool program. This turns and presses at the same time.

https://www.autozone.com/loan-a-too...l/recommended-tool-brake-pads-rear/298604_0_0


Harbor Freight also sells the same kit a little cheaper.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Auto Zone has a loan a tool program. This turns and presses at the same time.

https://www.autozone.com/loan-a-too...l/recommended-tool-brake-pads-rear/298604_0_0


Harbor Freight also sells the same kit a little cheaper.

I borrowed one from NAPA. None of the adapters fit!:banghead:

 

[Roadster Renovations]

I borrowed one from NAPA. None of the adapters fit!:banghead:

Wonder if it was the same kit?

 

[M109Dreamer]

Here is HF's for $50, I would wait till the 50% coupon comes out and get a set for $25. I need it for my new car anyways.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Wonder if it was the same kit?

I wondered that too. There was one adapter that looked like the pins were the correct distance apart, but the pin diameter was too large for the piston holes.

 

[cptjam]

Yes

cptjam, if I understand YOU correctly, YOU TURN the PISTON, NOT the parking brake lever like IdahoMtmSpyder referred to in his post #10???????

Correct. Use the tips of a 6” set of needle nose, push hard and twist!