rear brake spring

[Parr8hed]

Changed the rear brake pads. weird sqeal coming from the back. souded like a car when it is time to change pads, but before the rotors are rubbing on metal.

Took caliper off and the "H" shaped spring that goes in between the brake pad and the piston did not look right. Took it out and put the caliped back on and brakes work much better now, no sqealing.

What is that thing and do I need it? Did not notice any on the front brakes when I did them. Did I just dramatically shorten my life expectancy?

I think that it was also causing the back brakes to bind a little. bike feels a little "peppier" now. Not like she is dragging.

[corey]

Hmmm... I had the H shape spring on all three of my calipers. I believe they help to hold the pads in place (as in push down on them to keep them from slipping up). Also, squeals aren't necessarily a bad thing, they are just annoying. So unless its irritating beyond belief, I'd put the spring back in to avoid any irregular break wear.

But that's just me; I'm most likely wrong!

[pathfinder]

That spring belongs in all 3 calipers in an E model. It is actually a shim to cut down on brake chatter. I also use the goopy stuff, comes in a tube called Disc Brake Quite. You put it on the back of the pad so it doesn't rattle or squeal.
I will say that most squeal comes from brake dust.

[Ken Talbot]

The chromed steel H shaped piece prevents the hard steel of the pad backing from grinding away at the soft aluminum of the caliper. Sure, you can run without it, for a while, if you really want to, I guess ,,,