I took my caliper off to take a look at my brakes/rotors that Just Brakes put on for me (This was before I decided I should be doing as much fixing possible myself). The front left rotor started to squeel and make a metallic grinding noise (you can even see the grooves it's making). After some inspection, there are a several things I need cleared up. First of all, the caliper pin bolts (the 14mm hex ones) broke right off thanks to them not putting anti-seize on the threads. I was luckily able to remove the broken threads. But can I just buy new bolts or do I need to buy the caliper pin and bolts as a set? Secondly, the caliper pins are different. The top pin has a rubber thing around the part that goes inside the pin. It's not the pin boot but it actually goes inside the torque member. The bottom one doesnt have any kind of rubber around it. The top pin will "push back" with a little resistance but the bottom will just slide back and forth with no resistance at all. Next, I found what looks like shims on the brake pads but they were glued onto the pads. They dont fit into the torque member, they are only clinging to the back of the brake pads by what looks like rubber cement. Is this ok? I am thinking I should get some oem nissan shims. The wear indicator was also on the outer pad bottom side. Isn't the indicator supposed to be on the inner side upper position? Lastly, the pads are not worn down but they do look like they have crystalized? there are some grooves in the pad itself and it looks like is what is cauzing the rotors have grooves and the metal grinding noise. I suspect the caliper pins arent working properly and the brakes are "dragging"? and making the pads/rotors hotter than normal thus causing all the problems. Please advise me on what to do. Thanks.

 

Update. I went ahead and got new caliper pins and bolts ~20$(I only needed the bolts but they come in a package) and some new shims ~4$ from Advance Auto Parts. I went ahead and used the new pins. Greased 'em up lightly, and I took the boots from the old ones and put them on. I confirmed the top pins are the only ones that have rubber around the pin that goes inside the torque member. Applied some anti-seize on the bolt threads. Slapped on new shims, and put some grease on the backs. I switched the brake pads around so the wear indicator is on the inner upper side (I'm still not sure if this is correct or if it even matters, can anyone let me know?). Took it for a test drive and everything is working great. Silent and brakes well. cheers!

 

Glad it all worked out.