80 Special front brake pad wear.

[Bonz]

Just an observation I made on the brake pads I put on my 80 SG two years and about 3000 miles ago. the outer pad that the piston directly pushes on is worn down way more than the inner pad on both sides. Almost to the point I should think about replacing them. The inner pads look almost new.

FWIW, I just bled the brakes a couple weeks ago, and picked up considerably more power and feel. Could the fact that the brakes were so weak mean that only the outer pad was really doing any work until just recently? The only thing that made me even check was a brake squeak that I just noticed after bleeding the brakes that I hadn't had before.

Any thoughts, or is that somewhat typical of the XS/XS Special in general to wear the pads unevenly?

[WMarshy]

Trying to recall the last time I took off my calipers... I thought there are slider pins the calipers can move back an forth on, they might need some lube... Too bad you couldnt swap the inner pads to the outside to even the wear out...

[Bonz]

Could very well be that the pins aren't sliding well. I'll look at it when I get in there to put new pads on.

[WMarshy]

Could very well be that the pins aren't sliding well. I'll look at it when I get in there to put new pads on.

I just recently did my breaks on my car and had to clean the pins up and relube them. I was at Advanced Auto and bought some Anti-Seeze (AS) but also found they have some lube specifically for break hardwear. Its expensive (about 2x AS) so I went with the AS but, I bet its way better than AS and probably isnt as much of a PITA to get off everything... They probably have it in the $1.99 packets at the counter if you dont want to drop the $12 on a full can...

[crazy steve]

Could very well be that the pins aren't sliding well. I'll look at it when I get in there to put new pads on.

If you still have the Special forks/brakes, you don't have the pins; those only apply to the standard models. The Special has those weird 'rotating' calipers with the angle-cut pads. Make sure the rotors are centered in the caliper, and also make sure they can turn on the mounting bolt. Some special owners have reported that these bolts can become bent, limiting caliper movement, and causing weird/uneven pad wear...

[ManagerMike]

I just recently did my breaks on my car and had to clean the pins up and relube them. I was at Advanced Auto and bought some Anti-Seeze (AS) but also found they have some lube specifically for break hardwear. Its expensive (about 2x AS) so I went with the AS but, I bet its way better than AS and probably isnt as much of a PITA to get off everything... They probably have it in the $1.99 packets at the counter if you dont want to drop the $12 on a full can...

Anti sieze is an alluminum based product designed to prevent siezure of metal parts in contact with other metal parts that won't move in relation to each other for prolonged periods of time, it actually makes a very poor lubricant. The stuff made for brakes is a silicone based product made to lubricate and protect metal to non metal contacing parts (the caliper slides) that are intended to move in relation to each other.
Given enough time, the petroleum compounds in the anti sieze will degrade the rubber sleeves of the caliper slide pins with very undesireable results.
I would strongly urge you to pony up the cash for the right suff, clean away all of the anti sieze (with brake cleaner) and apply the silicone grease, this is your brakes we are talking about.
Oh, and it is the caliper slides not moving that is causeing the uneven pad wear HB

[WMarshy]

…it actually makes a very poor lubricant.… Given enough time, the petroleum compounds in the anti sieze will degrade the rubber sleeves...

Thanks for the advice, next time the pads need replacing I will be sure to use the good stuff. I will get new rubbers too! I wouldn't of used it but it said break hardwear. On the back of thr can and the idiots behind the counter don't know any different either...

[ManagerMike]

Thanks for the advice, next time the pads need replacing I will be sure to use the good stuff. I will get new rubbers too! I wouldn't of used it but it said break hardwear. On the back of thr can and the idiots behind the counter don't know any different either...

Just to clarify... it can be used on brake hardware, but only where there is metel to metal contact points, such as in drum style brakes where the shoes contact the backing plate and on the threads of the self adjusting screw. But wherever there is a moving part that involves some sort of rubber sleeve or bushing, the silicone grease is the ticket.

[Ken Talbot]

Remember that the pads on the front of Special are tapered, like in this photo:



When you look in at them, you see the fat end of one pad and the skinny end of the other. In the photo you see the skinny end of a pad, with the wear limit groove running down the middle. They're not worn out till the wear indicator groove it gone.

[DGXSER]

Also, on the special the brake pads do ride on a pin on one side, the other side goes into the slots in the fork. So you do need to lube both the slots and the pin.