brake issues!

[yzrider]

well, after assembleing my a arms and stuff, one of my brakes was kinda tight, but it loosened up, and now the one that was fine is weak, the tight one is normal, i can lock it up and stuff, but the other kinda moves when u pull the lever, and just doesn't work right, any ideas?

 

[brandoz28]

make sure none of the lines are twisted or kinked

 

[yzrider]

did, that, they'r fine, the brakes are bled right and all, i'm friggin clueless, u can see that its compressing. but when it does the entire caliper kinda moves a lil, it is all tight, the other one kinda moves too, but not as much, i know the pads did get a lil brake fluid on them, but i think it should be worn off by now

 

[yzrider]

are the calipers supposed to ahev a lil play in them? i am soo clueless

 

[Kgibson]

Yes they will move a bit. I'd say the pads are binding or it's got air on that side. Bleed it where the line hooks onto the caliper as well as the nipple.

 

[xJust_Causex]

if you got oil on the pad hit it with some brake cleaner, you would be surprised how long it can take to acutally wear that stuff off, Also I would try and bleed then again, just to be sure all the air is out.

 

[yzrider]

ok, i will do that tomoro, bleed and clean, hopefully it will work

 

[yzrider]

they'r getting better, i cleaned them and got the one to lock up finally, now i'm gonna go run it and try and get them perfect again

 

[xJust_Causex]

did you spary the disks as well? any oil that was on the pads could be transfered to the disk. Also one thing you can try if you have a bench grinder with a wire wheel is hit the pad a little and scuff them up, I did this on my shoes and it really made then grab hard, I could lock them up on pavement, and about took a ride over the bars, haha.

 

[royalt67]

are the calipers supposed to ahev a lil play in them? i am soo clueless

Sounds like the caliper is sticking. The calipers slide on pins, this is called a floating caliper. It floats back and forth because there is only one piston on one side, so it moves to adjust for wear, etc.

On the front you will see a large retaining bolt that holds the caliper to the bracket and a large pin on the bracket. These are what the caliper slide on, I believe they have little rubber boots on them. (can't look right now) With the whole caliper removed, take out the big retaining bolt and slide the caliper off the pin. Both of these need to be cleaned and then lubed with high temp grease so that they slide easily. Be careful not to tear the boots and reassemble. This is basic maintenance that most people never think about until the caliper freezes up. In your case, you disturbed them and now they don't want to slide.