New EBC HH pads --> severe dragging --> need rebuild?

[tweety]

hey guys. been a little while, i hope everyone is doing well.

i recently took my bike to a local shop to get the brakes done. (Lee's cycles for the San Diegans here) I had full fluid change, and all 3 pads replaced with EBC HHs. After installation, the mechanic took it for a test drive and said the front brakes were dragging severely. We popped her on the center stand, pushed on the back and tried to spin the front wheel. It really didn't turn much at all, and of course it makes a horrible scraping sound. When I got home to my with the engine off I wheeled it around it was noticably tougher to roll back and forth on the floor.

now, obviously the new pads are a lot fatter than the old thin pads they replaced, and i've even heard people say some scraping is normal at first. However, the mechanic seemed quite concerned- said he could feel the bike slowing down. Basically he said the front brakes needed a rebuild, otherwise it could be dangerous. ("They might heat up so much and pop a seal, brakes lock up on freeway... etc etc.") They had two options for this:

1) take apart brakes and clean everything off, all the gunk off, etc. use the same parts when putting back together. problem with this is if the old parts were pitted or damaged, or seals too old, it could be bad.

2) buy brake rebuild kits and do replace the internals.

Now, my XX has roughly 20,000 miles on it. This strikes me as a bit early, but they said no- if it has spent a lot of time by the ocean (which it has) then the brakes could need a rebuild after a small amount of time. To add to the trouble, this wednesday I'm riding my XX from San Diego all the way up the west coast to Vancouver, Canada. (home). Which means 3 days X 8 hours a day of freeway riding. There is not enough time between now and Tuesday to order the rebuild kits to get this job done.

So, a few questions:

A) Is it reasonable that my brakes actually need to be rebuilt, or is this "normal" dragging that will shortly go away on its own?

If it actually does need a rebuild, but I leave it alone and drive the 1400 miles next week, will my front wheel explode in a ball of fire and will I be incinerated?

thanks a lot in advance!

Dave

[Pete in PA]

I've started taking brand new pads and before installing them, running them on sandpaper. Place the sandpaper on a flat surface, run each pad in a circullar motion on the friction material until smooth. Doesn't take much.

I also put EBC's on my XR and after one pad change had the same problem as you. I rebuilt the caliper and the master and STILL had dragging. :evil: Did the sanding thing and fine.

What I think is happening is they come from the factory with a very rough finish. You install and press the pistons home and go for a ride. The peaks are still riding on the rotor when you release the brakes. You can ride this way and wait till they wear (bed) but it takes a while and the brakes will be dragging untill then.

By doing this I also must remove just enough to avoid the too thick pad problem others have had.

[Northman]

Your mechanic is a moron.

Like Joe said, remove the shims from the back of the pads (easy job, 5 minutes to do yourself), and go for a ride. How he didn't catch that the pads were hard to install on the rotors is beyond me, but anyway...

They will bed in, but will probably ruin your rotors before they bed in enough for the dragging to go away.

As for sanding pads, it's not really recommended. That rough surface is there to help the pads bed into the rotors. If you remove it, they may never bed properly, and full braking potential may never be realized.

For years now people have complained that some of the EBC's are too thick to install out of the box, so the remedy has been to remove the shims, then re-install them in a few thousand miles when the pads have worn sufficiently to allow the extra thickness.

Never go to that bike shop again. :roll:

[Lynx60]

Running EBC HH pads on the rear. I watched the mechanic install them. He removed the EBC anti-rattle/squeal guards and installed the stock Honda plastic anti-rattle/squeal guards. Apparently the EBC HH pads & anti-rattle/squeal guards together are just "too thick" to fit into the calipers. As others have suggested, I would simply pull out the EBC anti-rattle/squeal guards. Just for curiosity, you may want to compare the thickness of the EBC & Honda anti-rattle/squeal guards. In any case, go ahead and yank out the anti-rattle/squeal guards. If you want, and if there's enough clearance, you can coat the rear of the pads with anti-rattle/squeal paste that you can get at any auto parts store.

Lynx60

[birdie_xx]

I just replaced all my pads. The front wheel was dragging for few miles, the rear was fine. About 50 miles after it was much better.....

I always leave the metal shims and never had a problem.

Your mechanic wipped off the pistons before he pushed them in, right ?

Cheers,

[Mykl]

I only had to remove one anti-squeel shim up front to physically get the pads to fit in the calipers when I installed my EBC's. No dragging.

[tweety]

Thanks all for the tips. I was at the shop again to get my new Avon 46ST installed, and asked them to remove the anti-squeal shims up front while they were at it. We compared how freely the front wheel spun before removing the shims and afterwards, and it made a noticable difference, although it still made a slight dragging sound.

The mechanic (a different guy) made an interesting point when the shims were still on. pushing back the rotors he was able to easily move around the brake assembly, meaning that it was the pistons that were locking the pads down on the disk, it wasn't the sheer thickness of the pads. (Although as proved above that wasn't helping) Also after riding on them for a day, we looked at the wear of the pads, and it was definitely uneven across the pad.

Anyway, I've got the shims now and I'll reinstall them a few thousand miles down the road.

thanks again!

[tomek]

Without those shims much more heat from pads will end up in your brake fluid.Something to consider.