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More wear on passenger side brakes. Caliper or MC?

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Old Mar 10, 2009 | 12:18 AM
  #1  
ColombianMax's Avatar
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Please. Call me John. I insist
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More wear on passenger side brakes. Caliper or MC?

Hey guys, this is my first official time creating a thread on the 4th gen side so I'll briefly introduce myself, Hi my name is John and I've got 3 Maximas a 93, 95, and 97. Love em all with a passion!

Alright so here's my problem on my 95 non ABS GXE.

Background
Purchased car on June 21st
Replaced brake pads on all 4 wheels back in June 2007 (on maxus day actually lol) wagners in the rear and reybestors professional ceramics in the front. All 4 rotors were new as well, all reybestos professional.

When I did the pads I replaced the driver side front caliper because it caused the pads to wear so unevenly that they chewed up one side of the rotor. I checked all other calipers for uneven wear, leaks, and stuck guide pins and they were all good.

NOW fastforward, I went ahead and did a suspension/steering/brake inspection and poly bushing regrease on Saturday and noticed that the passenger side calipers pads were more worn than the driver side ones but in no way were they worn unevenly. So that leads me to believe that either one caliper is not getting brake fluid or the guide pins are stuck.

I did not have time to check for those two things that day and probably wont have time until this coming week. In the meanwhile I'd like to get some input on what you guys that have had this issue determined what the cause was in your case?

I'd hate to replace a caliper knowing it could possible be a faulty master cylinder, I wish I could check the guidepins but I just wont be able to soon.
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 12:42 AM
  #2  
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Both front and rear passenger side brakes are more worn down?

I've seen that happen on one wheel before where the brake hose had collapsed, and wouldn't let the brake fluid return back into the system after application. Never on one complete side, though.

The system operates the LF/RR and RF/LR as two separate hydraulic circuits, to preserve decent braking in case of failure. So your single side issue is unlikely an overall hydraulic problem, excluding the master cylinder.

If you mean it's only the RF wheel, then it's likely the caliper is sticking slightly, due to age. Personally I'm a fan of replacing brake components in pairs because of issues like this cropping up.

If the guide pins were stuck, you'd see one side (on that specific wheel) being more worn than the other, not even wear.

Last edited by pmohr; Mar 10, 2009 at 12:49 AM.
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 06:22 AM
  #3  
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Make sure the e-brake cable moves freely, no damage at rear mounting bracket where it can be pinched by car lifts.
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 06:29 AM
  #4  
ColombianMax's Avatar
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Originally Posted by pmohr
Both front and rear passenger side brakes are more worn down?

I've seen that happen on one wheel before where the brake hose had collapsed, and wouldn't let the brake fluid return back into the system after application. Never on one complete side, though.

The system operates the LF/RR and RF/LR as two separate hydraulic circuits, to preserve decent braking in case of failure. So your single side issue is unlikely an overall hydraulic problem, excluding the master cylinder.

If you mean it's only the RF wheel, then it's likely the caliper is sticking slightly, due to age. Personally I'm a fan of replacing brake components in pairs because of issues like this cropping up.

If the guide pins were stuck, you'd see one side (on that specific wheel) being more worn than the other, not even wear.
That does seem to make sense... Like you, I also like replacing brake components in pair, hence the reason for having bought both front new rotors as a opposed to just chewed up one. What held me back on the other caliper were the funds and the fact that it was alright back then, having bought all 4 rotors and both sets of pads set me back enough to not have enough for the FR caliper lol.

So based on my description, thats what seems to make more sense, I just didnt wanna go throw money around as I'm kind of in a tight spot paying a couple of bills..
Old Mar 10, 2009 | 07:37 AM
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Another very very very easy tip that I overlooked when I was having uneven brake wear problems:

Check the Caliper Bracket Holding Pins to make sure that they move freely... I don't know how I completely overlooked this but after days of bleeding and checking each part of the hydraulic system it all came down to 2 seized pins on the Caliper Mount Bracket....
Old Mar 19, 2009 | 09:32 AM
  #6  
ColombianMax's Avatar
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Alright guys so I took some time on tuesday which was 75 degrees outside (warmest day of the year in chicago) and I took my front end apart starting with the control arms and I regreased the poly bushings

Also did my brakes. I started by replacing the brake pads and passenger side caliper which I doubt it was bad but screw it didnt wanna take chances anyway so it was replaced. The guide pins on the driver side caliper were indeed frozen/rusted in there which explains uneven wear so I just set the torch on the caliper bracket while I put together the passenger side and once done I just pulled out the guidepins, cleaned em and inside and just lubed everything back up and slapped it together. I wish I could've gotten my rotors cut but I didnt, oh well I'm getting smooth vibration free braking without any pull so thats good enough.

Glad it wasnt the MC cuz I'd hate to bench bleed it, I'm just about the laziest person you guys will know

Last edited by ColombianMax; Mar 19, 2009 at 09:37 AM.
Old Mar 19, 2009 | 10:28 AM
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Originally Posted by ColombianMax
The guide pins on the driver side caliper were indeed frozen/rusted in there which explains uneven wear so I just set the torch on the caliper bracket while I put together the passenger side and once done I just pulled out the guidepins, cleaned em and inside and just lubed everything back up and slapped it together.
Your welcome LOLZ! All my pain and suffering It was worth it to be able to give the simple advice so someone else didn't have to go through it...
Old Mar 19, 2009 | 11:11 AM
  #8  
ColombianMax's Avatar
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Originally Posted by 1chewabacha1
Your welcome LOLZ! All my pain and suffering It was worth it to be able to give the simple advice so someone else didn't have to go through it...
Lol not the first time it happens I just happened to not have time to actually pull the caliper and pull out each pin that day I inspected the car, regarless...I just reached 306,000 miles, God knows how old the passenger side caliper might've been lol

but yes, thanks
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