Camaro front brake calipers - "tick... tick... tick..." - Page 2

Dangerous Doug · #21 (**permalink**) 05-05-2009, 09:44 PM

And now, back to the original thread...

I pinched the tabs down while holding the brake pads tight to the outside, then went out for a drive this evening to test it out.

Perfectly quiet.

Thanks, guys, for the guidance.

I couldn't imagine how long it would have taken me to noodle that out by myself. I doubt it would have ever occurred to me to pinch those tabs in.

Appreciate the tips, and really glad to have ClubCobra---and everyone here---as an information source.

Cheers,
Doug

RICK LAKE · #22 (**permalink**) 05-06-2009, 05:48 AM

Dangerous Doug Hey Doug if you asked Cam, he would have showed you in 2 minutes how to fix the car.

If you read the instuctions it said an 5 and up age little person can assembly.

You have too much engineering back ground for this problem.

Gald the noise is gone.

Rick L.

Dangerous Doug · #23 (**permalink**) 05-06-2009, 02:57 PM

Instructions? I don't need no stink'n instructions...

ERA manual is actually pretty good. There is probably even a line in there about pinching down the tabs...

DD

RICK LAKE · #24 (**permalink**) 05-06-2009, 03:28 PM

Dangerous Doug You may need glasses, it's in small micro print. If you had asked Cam he would have told you about this.

This is the problem of fathers not listening to their sons.

Rick L.

Dangerous Doug · #25 (**permalink**) 05-06-2009, 05:29 PM

Contacts are in, but I think I need those new-fangled bifocal contact lenses. If find that for close up work on the Cobra (like, when I'm underneath it...) I have to resort to working by braille...

DD

Dangerous Doug · #26 (**permalink**) 06-24-2009, 10:35 PM

Okay, well, the clicking started up again. This time, though, it is the inner pads. The clip on the pad doesn't seem to do much, and the play between the pad mounts and the bolts that they ride against is about 1/16".

I'm thinking I have el cheapo pads? I'll take my calipers down to the parts store tomorrow and see if I can upgrade to pads that fit tighter or have a better clipping mechanism.

Outside of that, SSB upgrade...

...unless one of you has some sage advice?

DD

RICK LAKE · #27 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 03:53 AM

Dangerous Doug Go to the store and get either a tube or can of spray brake quieter. Tube comes out like RTV. The spray can comes out in blue or red color. Spray can, use a couple of thin coats and let get tacky. Tube works about the same way. Keep either off the brake pad locations and front of the pad. Cost about 10-15.00 bucks. Rick

era556 · #28 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 05:48 AM

I have a set of s.s.b.c red calipers off of my era 427 car that have 500 miles on them i dont know if they will fit a 289 car or not but if they do i would be glad to sell them to you.

Bob.

patrickt · #29 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by era556

I have a set of s.s.b.c red calipers off of my era 427 car that have 500 miles on them i dont know if they will fit a 289 car or not but if they do i would be glad to sell them to you.

DD -- Two points to keep in the back of your mind if you upgrade your front brakes: 1) My Sierras required modification to the steering knuckle -- you might want to inquire of Bob P. whether your upgrade could run in to the same issue; 2) There needs to be a balanced degree of symmetry between your front and back brakes. Upgrading the fronts will often times require an upgrade to the rear as well. Just something to think about....

Dangerous Doug · #30 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 12:21 PM

I had applied the silicon grease last time, but the issue seems to be the excessive space between the bolts and the brake pad backing. I see a good 1/16" slop on the inside brake pad. This slop is what is causing the clicking noise---and it's really annoying.

Choices:

Just get a louder engine so I don't hear the noise. Too expensive right now.

Replace the calipers & pads to SSBC's. May be the way to go...

Check to see if there is a brake pad with a tighter pin to pin and pad frame tolerance. Check this one out first---the path of least (financial) resistance. I'll check this out tonight.

era556: Your offer to sell your SSBC's begs the question: Why did you take them off in the first place? PM me what you want for them. I was going to go with the aluminum finish to match my rear calipers, but hey, it all depends...

DD

Chaplin · #31 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 12:30 PM

Doug-
Here's another choice-

ear plugs so you can't hear it!

era556 · #32 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 01:42 PM

$200 I took them off so I could put on the siera brakes.They are red. Had no problems with them, they offer slightly better braking than stock era.

Dangerous Doug · #33 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 02:05 PM

My "Aha!" moment came today while at Kragen's returning a part for my commuter car. I asked to see some brake pads, and he mentioned that the pads don't usually come with the clips, and that this is a clip kit.

In the "clip kit" are a set of 1/16" spacers to put on the bolts, and some o-rings to hold them in place. This is exactly what I was thinking I needed last night as I looked at the spacing between the brake pad frame and the bolts they ride on.

I'm hopeful this is the solution.

Kragen has them as Carlson part number H5539, for anyone else that runs into this issue. I'll report back on if this is the final solution.

A note to ERA: I see "Mounting Pin Kit" in the parts list. I missed this in my assembly. There is no stated part number in the manual. Consider adding "Carlson H5539"

DD

strictlypersonl · #34 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dangerous Doug

A note to ERA: I see "Mounting Pin Kit" in the parts list. I missed this in my assembly. There is no stated part number in the manual. Consider adding "Carlson H5539"
DD

I'll make a note of that. I never had to deal with replacement pads since we get calipers that are complete with pads and pin kit.

Dangerous Doug · #35 (**permalink**) 06-25-2009, 11:20 PM

Well, shoot! The 1/16" spacer turned out to be the slip spacer that shrinks the hole of the caliper, not expand the pin for the pad frame like I had thought. As soon as I got home and looked at my caliper, I realized my mistake. Though this kit is required for the calipers, I did already use one (it's been a while since I put the front suspension together...). Rats!

Okay, back to square one and the clicking noise from the inside pad.

I measured the frame space on the brake pads---two sets. The edge to edge spacing is 6-1/2" exactly. However, on the bracket for mounting my calipers, and the calipers themselves, I measured the inside edge of the lower mounting hole to the inside of the edge of the upper mounting hole (effectively, the pin to pin spacing,

like this: O<--------->O, the O's representing the pins or the holes) and the bracket spacing is 6-5/8".

So, the caliper matches the brackets, so those are correct. But, the pads leave 1/8" slop for the pads to move around in and make this annoying "click" sound.

I've tried gooping it up with silicon grease, but the click continues, though muted for a while.

If I can find a 1/8" hardened spacer that fits on the pin perfectly, I can fix this. Other than that, it looks like an upgrade to SSBC's.

Am I the only one with this issue? Anyone else run into this? What about anyone at ERA? Have you heard this clicking on any of your FIA's?

I'll be the first to admit that I'm easily annoyed, but the clicking is hard to miss.

Grumble, grumble-growl...
Doug

Dangerous Doug · #36 (**permalink**) 06-26-2009, 10:53 PM

After putzing around with the calipers, pads, pins, bushings, o-rings this evening, I see no way of controlling the movement on the inner pad. The bushings are good. The o-rings are solid. In terms of fabricating my own solution, a bushing on the pin to take up the slack would quiet it, but the inner pad is a moving part and could push the bushing out toward and potentially hitting the rotor.

I count on my brakes too much to try to fabricate something. And yes, I find the clicking "that" annoying (meaning, $447 annoying, with shipping and handling...).

There is always the chance that I'm not setting them up correctly, but oh well....

Soooooooooo, I just ordered my SSBC A185S's in anodized aluminum finish from Summit Racing. From what I've read here on CC, the SSBC A185S's are only a slight improvement over the stock Camaro brakes so no rebalancing should be necessary. They'll look a hell of a lot nicer than my stock Camaro brakes did. I probably should have just done this in the first place.

And the Camaro calipers? Look for my ad on craigslist...

DD

strictlypersonl · #37 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 08:40 AM

I found some reasonable instructions in a box of Bendix pads that show some parts that might have some effect.

Service Instructions.

Note that the Bendix brake hardware kit (H5539) has all the pieces shown.

Dangerous Doug · #38 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 04:03 PM

Bob,
Thanks for digging up those instructions. It confirms that I'd installed them correctly, bushings, o-rings and all. I had pinched the ears down on the outer pads, but the inside pad movement is what is causing the clicking. I had heard that the Camaro brakes have been known to click, and it wasn't too big an ordeal to upgrade. SSBC's arrive mid next week.
Maybe I need to get a louder engine...
Thanks again for your help.
DD

Dangerous Doug · #39 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 12:07 PM

I got to discussing this problem with a guy at the local auto parts store (Winchester Auto in Scotts Valley). He'd been a mechanic at a GM dealership, and he told me the way they fixed this clicking problem was to take a punch or a chisel and give the inside brake pad a good whack to deform the pad frame edge so that it would close the gap to the pin. He noted that this seemed like a funky fix, but it was part of their installation procedure---a work-around for a pad frame design that was never quite right.

Oh, well. My new calipers come this week. I kind of wanted to put on the SSBC's anyway.

I still want a louder engine, though...

DD

tboneheller · #40 (**permalink**) 06-30-2009, 06:16 AM

I have fixed several brake noise concerns by swapping the pads from one side of the vehicle to the other. Cheap & effective.