Just wondering if anyone has run without the brake pad anti-rattle clips, and whether they experienced any change in brake pad wear. They can be annoying to work with if you do frequent pad changes, and some pads are very reluctant to fit in the caliper bracket with those clips in place.


purely a track / autcross car, so i'm not worried about the noise of pads clanking around in the caliper bracket.

 

There's been a time or 2 when I've done the first brake job on a vehicle and some of those clips were missing. I would never have known otherwise because the brakes behaved normal. I bet it would be fine, though I'd try it at low speeds first.

 

Sooooo... i don't THINK this should be the case, but the pad set from Hawk has two pads with wear indicators and two without. When i tried to install the pad with the indicator on the outboard position and the one without on the inboard position, i couldn't for the life of me get things to fit. BUT, when i moved the pad with the wear indicator to the inboard position, They popped in with much less effort. I really don't know if the pads are SUPPOSED to be asymetrical, but this worked for me. I intend to keep the rattle clips because even with the rear calipers flipped down and bolted in place, the pads can still "migrate" a little and potentially overlap the edge of the rotor.

DISC PAD (REAR) REPLACEMENT
The mazda service manual doesn't say anything about asymmetrical pads...

 

I've never seen a set of pads with more than one wear indicator per side, and many do not have them at all. I always put the pad with the wear indicator on the back side of the rotor. When you say asymmetrical, do you mean the pad material or the backing?

 

The only reason I could think of why they fit one way and not another was backing plate asymmetry between those with and without the wear indicator.

 

It's a floating caliper, so the total thickness of both pads together should locate everything into place regardless of the order of pads if they are assymetric.. right?

Maybe they weren't quite falling into the piston reliefs?

 

The asymmetry, if it exists, is in the shape of the backing plate, not necessarily thickness. The little pad "button" was falling in to the notch.


Had an autocross yesterday, everything feels good now. and no dragging.

 

when i get pads that dont fit or so tight that they dont move freely, i just grind or file the tab a little. if the pad fit too tight, they will drag and wear quickly. also i like to keep the anti noise clip because it provide a nice smooth surface for the pad to move on. and the wear indicator clip usually go on the inside.

 

yeah, the hawk pads have some imperfections to the backing plates. once I've started to grind out the imperfections like you, much better fit and easier pad swaps.