Front brake drag?

[mattn03]

I've noticed an intermittent front brake noise lately. It's coming from the right wheel and when you rotate it while having the bike up in the air you can hear the pads scraping the brake disc in a few spots. Any ideas on how to fix this?

[joshyz125]

could possibly be a bad bearing or brake rotor,

[Honda#4]

I think your brake pads are shot, i'm guessing that the point where the metal from the pad is hitting your rotor causing the noise. Mine did this and finally they locked up on me.

[Kaleigh]

Originally posted by Honda#4
I think your brake pads are shot, i'm guessing that the point where the metal from the pad is hitting your rotor causing the noise. Mine did this and finally they locked up on me.

yea that and you might have a stuck caliper.. or maybe a bent rotor.. get the front end up and see the the rotor wobles.. but most likely you need pads.. let us know what you find..

[mattn03]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'll keep everyone posted.

[Lukeidiot]

after putting new rear barrings in my quad, i must of tightened my back brake pads a little too much. now my back brake pads are grinding on the disc, the disc is rough and i now need new brake pads lol

[trxridr]

i know that some times when i get mud in the brake it makes a scraping noise so i alwasy hose it down

[gbcap]

pull the caliper and pads. clean it all out. pull the brakes in so the pistons move out. then push the piston in manually and back out using the lever. make suer the pistons move well. if not pull the caliper apart clean it all up and put it back together. should fix your problem. if not check the rotor to see if it is bent. make sure the caliper is sliding properly side to side so it doesn't get 'pushed' against your rotor by something.

[mattn03]

I had a chance to tear down one side tonight and here are some pics.

The pads & slides:
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/741/p3130447ir4.th.jpg (http://img218.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p3130447ir4.jpg)

Pad thickness is a heavy 3/32"
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9057/p3130448ix6.th.jpg (http://img85.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p3130448ix6.jpg)

These appear to be factory pads since they have the Nissin brand marking. At what thickness should the pads be replaced? The rotor doesn't appear to be warped. Do the pins look okay?

When reassembling the pads and caliper, should I use lithium grease or something on the slide pins? The service manual doesn't make any recommendations on this.

This is the first time I have tore into ATV brakes, so any advice is appreciated.

[mattn03]

I attempted to put to the new pads in, but they drug on the rotor very pad-to the point you couldn't spin the hub. As I said before, this is the first time I've worked on ATV brakes, but looking at the diagrams in the Clymer manual it looks like the caliper is a floating type. Should the caliper mount "float" back and forth to some degree-if it doesn't I don't understand how the pad wear indicators would actually work. I think if the mount actually moved (floated) some the new pads would work fine-the pad gap was fine and fit over the rotor okay.

In the end I put the original pads back in and called it a night. When I reinstalled the original pads the piston had to extend about 1/8" past the caliper housing to reach the brake pad backing and then actually clamp down on the rotor. Is this normal? I'm hoping to look at the other side tomorrow and compare the two.

[j450rking]

it sounds to me like you have to open up your caliper and clean and lube it i suggest lithium grease and then see what hapens and go from there

[svahle]

I agree with some of the above posts. I think you need to pull that caliper apart and clean/grease everything. I would make sure to pull out the caliper piston and make sure it is good and clean. Also check the piston seals or rings to make sure they are not torn up at all. Pull out the slider pins. I like to take steel wool or fine sand paper and smooth out the slider pins. Grease them up real good before reinstalling. The brake pad pins you posted pictures of look fine but I would also hit them with some sand paper or steel wool and then grease before reinstalling. Also, when you put new pads on, make sure you have pushed the piston all the way back into the caliper. I use a C-clamp to do this. If the system is bled and full of fluid when you are compressing the piston, it may help to take the cap off the fluid reservoir. Finally, it looks like from the pic you posted that the old pads still have some life in them. But, if you already bought new pads, I'd go ahead and put the new ones on so you don't have to do it later.

If you have any more troubles, let us know. I've been into several calipers and have had pretty good luck getting them to function properly.

[mattn03]

If I pull the pistons out to check them and the seals and piston look okay, can I reuse them?

[svahle]

Yes you can reuse both the piston and the o-rings. When you pull the piston, be careful not to scar the sides. You may be able to take the pads off and just pump the brake lever until the piston pushes out. I use channel lock pliers with a rag between the pliers and the piston and work it out slowly.

[04TRX400EX]

I realize this is an old thread but it is exactly the problem I'm having. As I was installing new a-arms, I realized my brake rotors were bent so I replaced them with Galfer discs. At the same time, I replaced the entire front hub assemblies since I needed to get new bearings and all that. After putting it back together, one side spins freely while the other seriously drags on the brake disc making a loud scrapping sound you can hear even while riding at speed. Oddly enough, the scrapping side also seems to have better stopping power as it will lock-up and slide in a panic stop situation where the "free" side will not lock-up. Any suggestions? They worked perfectly fine before, besides the bent rotor that is. BTW, I am using the old pads if that makes any difference ... maybe I need to change them but that won't stop it from dragging.

[04TRX400EX]

No one has any more suggestions?

[zcar74260]

you need to check your slider pins. i bought a 400ex and 2 out the 3 calipers didnt float. that is the piston only pushs from one side so the caliper has to slide to pull the oposing brake into the caliper. this must be some what of a problem because i order a supposedly good used set off ebay to find the same problem. the one pin is where the indicator arm attaches and the other pin the problem pin is behind a 1/2 inch rubber plug. if there rusted good luck getting them out