350x front brake questions

[camoweasel]

1) I recently changed my front pads. Upon installation, the pads rub very tightly against the rotor making the front wheel very hard to turn. I took the slide pins apart and greased them up really good, so now they slide easily. I also took the pads out and pumped the pistons to make sure they weren't stuck. I did notice that one pumps out faster then the other. I don't know if that makes a difference but they are still hanging up. What else do I need to check?

2) The plastic tube on my front brake line is starting to break in a few different places. I'm ready to rip off that tubing but I don't want to look at a black brake line. Has anyone did anything to "spruce up" the look of the front brake line? I was thinking about painting either blue or red?

[Dirtcrasher]

If your slide pins are good, it should be fine. Could it be the wrong caliper or pads? Certain year 350X's use the same caliper as the 250R. If it's the right one, I can't think of what may be wrong with the slide pins free. The caliper pistons rarely come out even so unless one doesn't move at all, thats not it either. Are they the plastic type pistons? The only other thing I could think of is that the axle spacers are wrong and the rotor spacing is off just a touch, but enough to screw you up. Everything sounds good, you may be able to shim the caliper mount (or rotor) over with a washer or if it has to go the other way, either way something seems mixed up.

At least you know about slide pins, most guys don't .................

[camoweasel]

If your slide pins are good, it should be fine. Could it be the wrong caliper or pads? Certain year 350X's use the same caliper as the 250R. If it's the right one, I can't think of what may be wrong with the slide pins free. The caliper pistons rarely come out even so unless one doesn't move at all, thats not it either. Are they the plastic type pistons? The only other thing I could think of is that the axle spacers are wrong and the rotor spacing is off just a touch, but enough to screw you up. Everything sounds good, you may be able to shim the caliper mount (or rotor) over with a washer or if it has to go the other way, either way something seems mixed up.

At least you know about slide pins, most guys don't .................


Honestly, They are the same style pads that came off, and I didn't remove any of the axle spacers during installation. I just removed the front wheel from the hub.

[Slingblade]

Auto parts stores sell the plastic, flexible wire harness cover stuff, makes a good cover. They made black, red and blue at one time. I don't think I'd paint it, but that's just me.
And as far as the brakes, I'm assuming since you actually got the caliper back on, that you pushed the pistons in to compensate for the new pads, and took the lid off the reservoir to release overfilled fluid. Then bled it if neccesary. Every one I've seen hang was because they were froze on the pins and wouldn't float, But sounds like you took care of that.

[Dirtcrasher]

Same style meaning OEM, or some Vesrah or other crapo pads :D

Well, Happy Thanksgiving guys :beer Take a picture, a description usually does it but somethings up here, a pic helps!............

Or, your just being dumb :) J/K

[camoweasel]

Auto parts stores sell the plastic, flexible wire harness cover stuff, makes a good cover. They made black, red and blue at one time. I don't think I'd paint it, but that's just me.
And as far as the brakes, I'm assuming since you actually got the caliper back on, that you pushed the pistons in to compensate for the new pads, and took the lid off the reservoir to release overfilled fluid. Then bled it if neccesary. Every one I've seen hang was because they were froze on the pins and wouldn't float, But sounds like you took care of that.

I did bleed the brakes, but when I pushed the pistons back in, I did not take off the reservoir cap.

[cattle-dog]

take off your cap when you push the pistons back in, with the cap on you are creating pressure that could push the breaks on slightly.

[Vealmonkey]

You may want to go to a braided stainless steel front brake line.

[camoweasel]

take off your cap when you push the pistons back in, with the cap on you are creating pressure that could push the breaks on slightly.

So is there anything I could do to remedy the problem? Should I bleed some more or push the pistons back in without the lid on?

[Slingblade]

Just cracking the lid or bleeding it should relieve any pressure. When it's frozen up can you bump it with a rubber mallet and free it or is it frozen tight. I had a truck one time with this problem and it turned out to be a partially clogged line, you might want to check that. You may have had this problem all along -Hence the changing of the pads, Just a thought.

[Dirtcrasher]

^ what do you think? It's a sealed system...... But opening the bleeder does the same thing - relieve pressure. Leave it open, place caliper on, bleed, add fluid,done.

You never said if you had the plastic or metal pistons. I've never seen a plastic piston stop from retracting.........

[camoweasel]

I'm still having the same problem. I believe it's a black plastic piston. The one thing I should mention is before I discovered the frozen slide pins, I actually sanded down the pads a bit to make them fit. Do you think that if the pads weren't sanded evenly, this could be causing my problem?? I'm just trying to get all the kinks out before I leave for Florida this weekend.

[Dirtcrasher]

Sanded down your pads? DOH!!

I guess you didn't know what the slide pins function is. Many cars have them also.

I don't know what to tell you now............

[200XMichigan]

It sounds to me like one of your pistons is sticking. If you have removed the cap and bled everything properly that pretty much all that's left. When you re-install the caliper does everything turn smoothly at first? If it turns good at first and only drags after you apply the brakes then your pistons are not retracting and the caliper should be rebuilt.

[camoweasel]

Well here is the update now. I took the pads out, compressed the pistons without the reservoir cap, and everything compressed nicely. Then I started pumping the brakes to see if the pistons had any knicks. They both looked clean. I also noticed that when I release the brake lever, they did retract a bit which is what I was hoping for. So I compressed the pistons, bolted everything back up, filled the reservoir and everything was good. Started to pump the brakes, everything tightened up nicely and I could still rotate the front wheel easily. But once I kept pumping and pumping, it still does get harder and the front wheel begins to drag again. I bled the brakes a few times with no air coming out. Now I'm really confused??

[NSTATUIONALIZED]

Calliper bad or line is clogged when u bled it.loosen the axle hub bolt a little and see.