allanbegg Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Installed new brake pads last night, and the Brat pulls hard to one side, when hitting the brake pedal. I had screwed both plungers all the way in, to get the new pads on and made sure I got the new pad button in line with the slot on the plunger. Do I need to do some sort of adjustment, to get both sides to have even pressure? Thanks, Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 Normally, no. It should be ready to go. Perhaps the hose has collapses inside while moving the caliper around? Are they the original hoses? Only other thing I could think of, is one plunger/piston is stuck from rust or... Hope this helps, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostbrat Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 a piston could be stuck in and not working,too. this happened to me once becuase the piston was all rusty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allanbegg Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 The thing that I don't understand is that they were pulling equally, before I changed the pads. Also, if the button on the back of the pad is in the slot of the plunger, how does the plunger self adjust, as the pads wear down? Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Caliper piston doesn't actually adjust to wear of the pads. It's "free-floating" in the caliper, nothing there to move it other than brake fluid. When you release the brake pedal, piston stays where it was, it just doesn't have pressure on it now. Caliper slides on it's mounting points to compensate for the outer pads wear. Need to have proper lube on those slides. I would do an adjustment on the rear brakes, then bleed the brakes, RR-LF, LR-RF. See if that helps any. But it wouldn't hurt to change the soft lines either, especially if there the original ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skishop69 Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Actually, the piston does compensate for pad wear. The seal on a caliper piston is square cut, not round and it's also not completely square. It's slightly beveled. When you step on the pedal, fluid flows into the piston bore moving the piston. When you release, the piston does pull back, but only slightly as the beveled seal will 'roll' slightly to 'catch' the piston in the bore. This keeps the pressure off when not on the pedal and allows the piston to adjust for inner pad wear. The slides adjust for outter wear and allow equal pressure to be applied to both pads. The reason it's not moving after compressing it is there is either rust or debris in the bore. This happens because brake fluid is hydroscopic meaning it absorbs moisture. Even in a sealed system, this will happen over a period of years. Just another reason to flush your system every few years or so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 I've had similar issues and had to clean and relube the caliper slides... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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