Installed new brake pads and screwed something up!

rcat8872 · January 7, 2022

Ok guys,

I really screwed up! My first mistake was thinking my 2017 Sierra 2500 may need new brake pads up front at 50,000 miles. I pulled the old pads off and saw that they were fine but figured I should go ahead and throw the new NAPA pads on while I had the calipers off. That was a big mistake!
The new pads dragged horribly which made the truck pull to one side. The wheels also got hot quickly and had massive amounts of brake dust on them. I drove the truck a couple of weeks like that because I was so busy at work.
I put the old pads on and the truck drove much better but I noticed a very slight pulsation when braking, so I did another stupid thing…

I got another new set of brake pads from Oreilly and installed them. The new pads seem to have caused my steering to pull slightly to one side.
I’ve been driving like that for a few weeks. Otherwise, braking seems adequate.
I’ve been told that most brakes drag slightly so I jacked up the front end and spun both wheel. I hear just a faint bit of dragging but both wheels spin freely and equally.
I measured my original pads with a caliper. These are the pads that I reinstalled in between the 2 new sets of pads then pulled off again. One of the pads is about 1/16 inch thinner than the other 3 pads.
I know, I’m an idiot for changing the pads at 50,000 miles!!

I wiped down rotors with brake cleaner and lubricated slide pins each time I replaced pads.
Could excessive heat have warped my rotors?

Could I have excessive pad buildup on one of the rotors which is causing front end to pull to one side?

Again, both wheels spin freely and evenly with front end jacked up.
I can’t figure it out!

Any help would be appreciated.
Rod

BO TIE 1 · January 7, 2022

A sign of warped rotors is pulsating in the pedal so it's a good chance that's what happened. Take them to a shop that cuts rotors and hopefully there is enough meat on them to cut. Good luck.

WeGone · January 7, 2022

For the record at 50k I would also have checked them.

Warped or hot spots, have them turned or replaced.

swathdiver · January 7, 2022

2 hours ago, rcat8872 said:

Ok guys,

I really screwed up! My first mistake was thinking my 2017 Sierra 2500 may need new brake pads up front at 50,000 miles. I pulled the old pads off and saw that they were fine but figured I should go ahead and throw the new NAPA pads on while I had the calipers off. That was a big mistake!

Welcome Rod, stick with GM OE pads, they were going the distance before you interfered. Change the slides or metal things out too. Definitely warped them.

Supreme Pizza · January 7, 2022

Don't feel bad about messing up the brakes. It happens. Everyone that has turned a wrench has screwed something up at some point or another.

It sounds like warped rotors, but there are a few ways to check.

Here are some options.

1) Pull the rotors and have them tested on a machine at the auto parts store.

2) Jack the front up, turn the wheel all the way, and have someone spin the wheel by hand. Position something rigid to slightly scrap against the inner side of the rotor, and see if its constant, or if it goes scrape, scrape, scrape.

3) Go to a large parking lot, and drive strait - check for wobble. Turn 45 degrees, and check for wobble, turn 45 degrees, and check for wobble, etc. Basically you draw a huge box with your truck in the parking lot. If the pulsation increases or decreased at different points in this test, then you have 2 bent rotors. The test changes the orientation of the wobbles to each other. In some orientations, the wobbles fight each other, and in the other orientations, the wobble work together so that you feel them less.

Of the 3 options, I recommend #3.

However, I'm sure there are other options available that someone can suggest.

rlcole321 · January 9, 2022

Well my 2 cents;

How did you collapse the Calibers?, you shouldn't "push" the old fluid back into the system.

Did you bleed the system good, usually you can gravity bleed the system (with the top off the Master Cyl.).

Also if you decide to pump the master cyl. to bleed then you shouldn't push the pedal all the way to the floor, what "sludge" that could build up in the back have of the master cyl. will now be pushed into the brake system or even can damage the seals on the MC piston (remember the back half of the master cyl. very rarely, if never, gets used).

Did you lube all the "slide" points for the Cal.?, this will help a lot.

As for the "Pulsation", was it there before you did the brakes?, if not, could be a mounting issue, or the excessive pad pressure prematurely wore the rotor, which would account for the excessive heat, which will have to be resurfaced or replaced.

lowrider · January 9, 2022

Sounds like the pistons were not retracted. As far as cutting the rotors, in my experience rotors do not warp. They may build up high spots from pad material that can be machined or sanded down down.

Lou

Grumpy Tooch · January 10, 2022

Im having a similar problem and I was going to suggest the slide pins need to be better lubed as the calipers were clamping while you drove. But you said you jacked up the truck and spun each front wheel freely? In my case i changed rotors and pads with Powerstop kit ive used on every truck ive owned without issues. I have not even 30k on old pads but they were wearing little uneven and i was getting wheel wobble bad. I thought it was the pins to so i removed all 4 used high quality ceramic brake parts lube and only snug them down not too tight. I was able to spin wheel better and seemed to work but after testing and jack front up I can barely spin the wheel. Seems the calipers are always clamping too much.

Not trying to hijack your thread just giving little info