Brake pads too close to disk?

cammyb96

My brake pads are far too close to the disk, there's barely room for the disk to sit without touching. My first assumption would be to reset the pistons but I'm not sure if this could be the reason? or how to do it properly?

cooldad

Sounds about right. Just ride and they'll work out the right place themselves. They self adjust.

cammyb96

Fixed them, now they are properly set. The issue was that the inner pad was scraping the disk whilst the outer pad had lots of room to play with. I just took the wheel off, reset the pistons, put the wheel on again, undone the brake bracket, applied the brake and tightened. Safe to say I'm never going back to halfords to get a service again, I had it in 3 times and they didn't fix it properly...

The Rookie

I suspect you are kidding yourself, the pads should be just lightly brushing the disc. Its how they work well as the minimal clearance allows a high leverage ratio to be run.

kinioo

I thought they should be close to the disc or am I missing something ?!

cammyb96

They were like this but worse, inner pad was scraping.



I've had trouble with this for a long time and multiple visits to halfords didnt help it, but they're fixed now so no need to reply.

The Rookie

Rubbing is normal, it will probably come back....

cooldad

Also assumed hydraulic discs, probably helps to be clear.

mattyfez

If it's any help for future, I tend to:

Screw the static pad right back so its out of the way
Loosen the bracket on the outside caliper/pad
Insert a train ticket or similar between outer pad and disk
Hold the caliper/pad on but quite lightly against the disk
Tighten back up
Wind static pad back inboard until it prevents wheel from spinning freely
Back it off a tiny bit until wheel spins acceptably

This works well for me, I get a tiny tiny bit of rub, but great bite.

kajjal

Best to set the gap by eye, and be careful when tightening the caliper bolts as drags the pad onto the disc if you don't keep hold.