Hayes HFX-9

HenryF

Ive been having some problems with my HFX-9 brakes. The pistons seem to come out so that the pads are either touching or almost touching the rotor (it depends how much they are used) but when i try to push the piston back in it is very hard to do. After a couple of rides, it seems that the pistons are back to how they were. Im about to replace the pads on the rear brake due to this problem, the pad on the right of the rear calliper is pushed so much that it rubs most of the time.
Any help appreciated

Henry

nicklouse

have you tried realigning the caliper?

HenryF

yes, i tried that today, but maybe i did it wrong. At this point the pistons were in the wrong position...
I undid the two bolts which hold the caliper on to the mounting bracket (not the frame), then i squeezed the lever and whilst squeezing the lever tightened the bolts. then i let go of the lever, as you do...

Is there something generally wrong with hayes brakes, ive got saints on my full suss and theyve been fine, ive been hearing loads of stories about hayes brakes re-aligning themselves and generally going wrong. Also, can anyone recommend good pads to replace the originals with?
thanks

Henry

nicklouse

hayes do need the pistons keeping clean or they do stick.

EBC pads.

HenryF

where can i get hold of the EBC brake pads? also, how would you suggest cleaning the pistons? could the fact that theyre dirty mean that is why they are hard to push in?

Henry

nicklouse

brake cleaner and a tooth brush or something smaller.

any shop look on CRC.

nferrar

I've had some hassle with my Hayes 9's since the bike was new to. The inside rear pad I just can't get set right combined with the large caliper housing. If I get it set so the rotor doesn't rub at the back of the housing (I wish the slot was a bit wider...) it will be very close or rubbing to the inner pad the result is the inner pad is about twice as worn now as the outer. If I just follow the instructions and try and centre the calipers the rotor ends up rubbing slightly against the housing at the back. It just seems all the tolerances are too tight, you've got like 1mm to play with (and it doesn't help my rear wheel seems to have about 2mm tolerance when I refit it).

TonyS

Expensive option, but does work, is to get some 'muck-off' disk brake cleaner spray and after each ride spray into the caliber. It's also supposed to 'rehydrate' the pads whatever that means.

Otherwise it's wheels off, pads out after each ride to make sure all the sh1t is cleaned out.

daxion

I'm glad to see other people with problems with hayes - thought it was just mine - just changed wheelset to Pro2s and the rotor is binding on the brake cliper slot no matter how much I alter the position of the caliper. I'm hoping offsettign the caliper with a couple of thin washers will do the trick. I think the pro2 hubs are very slightly narrower than my old Alex rims. hence the problem.

nicklouse

daxion wrote:

I'm glad to see other people with problems with hayes - thought it was just mine - just changed wheelset to Pro2s and the rotor is binding on the brake cliper slot no matter how much I alter the position of the caliper. I'm hoping offsettign the caliper with a couple of thin washers will do the trick. I think the pro2 hubs are very slightly narrower than my old Alex rims. hence the problem.

hubs rims!!'

what were the old hubs?

daxion

apologies, Alex hubs, Alex rim and hub, oem wheel on Nitrous

nicklouse

measure the distance from the outside spacer face to the disc mouning face.

20mm axel should have 15mm

and a Qr hub 10mm

look at the hud drawing links in the disc brake sticky.