new brake pads too thick?

[Jcomnislash]

i got my front brakes done (new pads, new rotors, coulda done it myself but i didnt have time), and the wheels are a lot tighter now. I was at the shop while the guy was doing it, and i asked em to loosen up the wheels cuz i thought they were too tight, so he did. He loosened it as much as possible without it being dangerously loose. So i have been noticing that the car has decreased in acceleration, and it looks like the pads a rubbing on the rotors without pushing the brakes, and also since the brake job, the wheels have gotten louder. Now i got rims and bigger tires so i know there would be a little increase in noise, but this is ridiculous....the faster i go the louder it gets, i'm thinking the brakes are rubbing and causing a lot of noise.... My theory is the pads are too thick...but i dont wanna sand down the pads without knowing if this is the actual problem....Any thoughts???

[Gforcefd]

I have never heard about pads being to thick on any car. When you first get new pads and rotors though there is a proper break in procedure for them. And they will look like they are almost touching. There isn't suppose to be alot of space between them. Your larger tires are what is causing the noise. When is the last time you replaced the wheel bearings, is this a festiva suspension or the aspire upgrade? Chances are those wider tires are putting more strain on your wheel bearings, and if they where alittle loud before, they will be really loud now.

[miami man]

maybe the caliper sliders that the caliper bolts go through have to be pushed back more.

[Jcomnislash]

I have never heard about pads being to thick on any car. When you first get new pads and rotors though there is a proper break in procedure for them. And they will look like they are almost touching. There isn't suppose to be alot of space between them. Your larger tires are what is causing the noise. When is the last time you replaced the wheel bearings, is this a festiva suspension or the aspire upgrade? Chances are those wider tires are putting more strain on your wheel bearings, and if they where alittle loud before, they will be really loud now.

bearings in the front are about six months old....and i checked for bearing noise last night, i jacked up the front end and rotated the tires and stuff...no noise there. It's just a regular festy suspension. And its not a bearing noise...its a low bassy sound...i just checked the pads and the passengers side is definitly too close to the rotor. I cant even fit a piece of paper between the pad and the rotor, it right against the rotor...and i'm noticing pad residue all over my rim, i thought it was oil but its actually the pad melting. any other opinions???

[ElkRiverFestiva]

What do you mean he "loosened up the wheels"? How was this done? Did you check the bearings while you had it apart to replace the rotors (or is this an aspire swap as Gforced mentioned?)

[Gforcefd]

Did you get new calipers too? they are possibly sticking causing the pads to hang up on the rotors. Are they rusty at all, since you are up in Ontario you do see alot of winter weather :-) Also jacking up a car and seeing if it spins is not a good indication of damaged bearings, because they are no longer under load, I mean you can generally tell lif their is a problem, but their might be something you can't hear. If the noise is bassy humming I would blame it on bearings and the larger tires. My car is really quite as far as the tires go, but my whole suspension and bearings is pretty new.

[Jcomnislash]

What do you mean he "loosened up the wheels"? How was this done? Did you check the bearings while you had it apart to replace the rotors (or is this an aspire swap as Gforced mentioned?)

he loosened up on the spindle nut. and since i didnt do it, i couldnt check the bearings, and its just a regular festiva. I had broken bearings before and it was this sound, it was more of a vibration and a clicking at slow speeds....when a bearing is broken u can hear clicks when u spin the wheels slowly....but, i can check the bearings again i guess, they are only 6 months old though, and i dont drive on gravel roads or anything.

The thing thats getting me is that i got new brakes and new rims/tires on the same day. Before that everything was normal (aside from a wierd clicking i have had forever, even after i changed all the bearings). When i rotated my passenger side tire the rubbing of the pad on rotor made quite a bit of noise, so i'm thinking at hire speeds it would only get louder...hmmm

o and nope, i didnt get new calipers....they are 'rusty' but not damaged. actually i brushed them off with a rag and the rust cam off

[Gforcefd]

did you try just putting the old wheels back on and checking the difference?

[Jcomnislash]

did you try just putting the old wheels back on and checking the difference?

nope, i havent had time, but i am going to tomorrow. One thing though, are new brake pads supposed to melt and splatter all over your rims???...cuz i dont think they are....thanks for all the input btw.

[GenevaDirt]

You need to tighten the spindle nuts back up, SOON! The noise could be due to that. The one that you can not fit a piece of paper between is definately in need of attention, it is hanging up for some reason. If you just put the tires and rims on when you got the brakes done I would say the added strees from the size is a possible cause of some of the noise. You should not have brake dust all over your rims from new brakes right away. It is something that developes over time from lack of cleaning.

[Jcomnislash]

its not brake dust really...its like the pad melting and splatting all over the place. The spindle nuts where tightened at minimal factory recommandations at the shop. The mechanic even told me he wouldn't loosen it anymore after i asked em again, because it was already at maximum factory recommandation.

The noise gets a lot louder the faster as i go. in fact, when i close the windows and drive at 65mph(100kph) on the highway my ears feel like they are going to start bleeding. when i had broken bearing on the front it wasnt even this loud.

i'm taking it back to the shop tomorrow to see what they say...maybe Gforce is right about the calipers...they look good, but maybe they arent retracting or something...all i know is that that pad is melting and there's a lotta noise coming from that side.

btw...what size is the front spindle lock nut? i know the back is 21mm, but i havent been able to find a thread that mentions anything about the front

[GenevaDirt]

Brake dust or whatever you want to call...especially if you feel it is melted brakes....stop driving it....the caliper is hanging up. The noise is probably your bearings....just the added stress of the rims and tires make it sound even worse. Or it is the sound of the brakes constantly grabbing your rotor. Is the car pulling to the side that it collecting brake material? Does it pull to that side when you hit the brakes? How did you fix the front bearings the first time around?

[Jcomnislash]

i fixed the bearings at a shop...they put new ones in, they're pretty good mechanics there, but this time it was an emergency and i couldnt drive all the way there so i got it done at a place closer to me. and i havent noticed any drastic turning to any side when i hit the brakes...either way it was fine before i got the new wheels and brakes, and so i'm thinking it was a crappy brake job.

[packrat427]

If your brakes are hanging up or dragging that bad , it would almost be impossible to drive , and the wheels should be smoking like a brush fire .


The last time my piston stuck , I removed the caliper , re-compressed the piston , and started over , the problem never came back .

The pads will be slightly dragging all the time , just not applying themselves , all the time when you are driving .

[Jcomnislash]

well...i'm not sure what happend exactly, but my 6 month old bearing had to get replaced again...maybe the spindle nut was too loose and there was too much play for the bearing, and then it broke...bad brake job and a broekn bearing....stupid crap....i'm getting really pissed off, i've had to change the bearings on this car almost every 3 months since i bought it....what gives???