Klondike

This weekend I helped my Son with the(Cobra) front brakes on his Mustang GT. It has the same brake pads as my 96 with the J55 brakes. It had been squeaking the last couple of days and then made a grinding noise, so he parked it and used the truck till he could look at it. When we pulled off the front wheel, it was the only thing holding the caliper from falling completely off the rotor! The rivets in the little caliper retainer clips had all failed on the inside and outside pads. The pads were still retained by the caliper brackets and pin, but the caliper itself is only retained by those round fingered clips (two on each pad).
He still had the receipt/gaurantee for them so we took them to O'Reilly's for a warranty replacement set. When we went to put the new ones on, one of those retainer clips fell off before we could even install them on the car. We inspected the new pads and found the rivets to be defective on all the retainer clips; They looked like they were barely tapped with a tiny hammer and not properly riveted down solid at all! We took them back and O'Reilly's graciously upgraded us to the next better pads (not Wagner) for no charge.
I suspect a recall will be in the works for these Wagner pads that are identical to the J55's, so I thought I'd let the C4 people know about this before something BAD happens. The only thing retaining that loose caliper was a 17" wheel. It might come all the way off if on an 18 or 19 inch wheel and that would be a disaster!

kimmer

Thank's for your info. The calipers on the vettes have a pin that locks them in so they can't come off.

JackDidley

What fell apart, the caliper or the pad ??



Caliper




Pad

Railroadman

Can you post pics? I'm trying to understand this - every caliper that comes to mind is bolted on to....trying to remember....with two hefty bolts. I can't picture clips on the pads doing anything except keeping the pad centered in place within the caliper. I'm not doubting you, just having a mental block catching your problem.

Frizlefrak

Yeah....can you post pics of the carnage?

mazdaverx7

thanks for the info! i don't use that brand, but i know that's what the city uses on our CVPI's! mine recently failed on my patrol car on the left front, destroying the caliper piston boot and the rotor...

Jon Hekking

FYI, most brake pads out there are the same pads in different boxes. Wagner pads are marketed by their parent company Federal Mogul and sold under many different names. My guess is that the "better" pads you got were also Wagner just a different grade in a different box.

Klondike

I wish I could post pictures, but I'm kind of a computer clutz! The pads remained pinned into the caliper lower bracket that is bolted to the spindle. They were secure. The caliper, on the other hand is only held in by those clips on the back side of the pads that press into the pistons. That pin that you think secures the caliper goes through the lower retainer but only holds the pads in. Looking at the picture below, the retainers are riveted to the back side of the pads and fit down into the cavity in the pistons of the caliper. That's the only thing really holding the caliper itself to the rest of that bracket. [the pads shown here look like rear pads, they're different]

mcm95403

I think the OP has a typo in his post. I recently bought a set of those pads for my J55 conversion on closeout from Rock Auto. Opened the box and one of the circular springs that holds the pad in the caliper was loose in the box. The rivet for it wasn't done correctly. Called RA and they sent me another set for free - with another broken pad just like the first set. Not exactly confidence inspiring.

I guess I'm going to toss them out and get some EBC yellows.

kimmer

The pin holds the caliper onto the caliper mounting brackets. It does not hold the pads in.

Klondike

Beter take another look like I just did. The pads are secured by the lower spindle bracket on the top end and the pin on the lower end. The pin doesn't touch the caliper. [at least on the j55's on my car and the Cobra brakes on my Sons Mustang] They may be different if you did a C5brake conversion, I'm not firmilliar with those.
If you have some old pads laying around, dremmel off the rivets and knock off those retainer ring clips and then put the pads on your car and see what holds your caliper on. I bet you can put the caliper on and off with the pads staying right where they are.

Adam@Amp'dAutosport.com

Please take a look at Carbotech performance brakes.

http://ctbrakes.com/ I will be happy to help you.

Klondike

Just thought of a simpler way to show how they are retained. Remove your pads and then try to put your caliper on without them. What are you going to do with with that pin? There's nothing to put the pin into now.

Calderone

i have heard and seen unglued shims from hawk pads
seems that is not something major but it happens

kimmer

Oh crap you'r correct had to think about it for a while.

Klondike

Yeah, that surprised me too when my Son told me what happened. Didn't sound right, I had to see it for myself when I went to give him a hand with replacing them.
There is no thrust load on the caliper itself, only clamping pressure. All the braking thrust goes straight through the pad backing plates to the spindle bracket. Still, I would think there could be a little torsional twist or movement there unless things are perfectly straight and the disk has no wear grooves or taper, which is rare for a hard driven car owned by a cheap bastard like myself. I think I'll look more closely at the wear & square on the disk surfaces next time I decide to just "pop on" a fresh set of pads.