Rear pads only in contact with top half of brake disc.

[ELB]

Hi all, I recently changed my rear brake discs and pads on my 1.6 petrol (2009). Everything went well when changing the brakes, however after driving around 50 miles since, I've noticed that the bottom half of the brake discs (near the hub) still haven't been touched by the pads yet.

I'm assuming this due to me installing the pads wrong, or a caliper issue. I've attached before and after photos below. The brakes looked to be in pretty bad condition before, so I can imagine there is some sort of caliper issue.

Some more info:
- Slide pins were checked and greased
- Both rear left and right brake discs look pretty much identical.
- Hub and carriers were wirebrushed to make sure everything sat normally.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[RUM4MO]

Have you owned this car from new?
I'm asking that question just in case some one, before you, fitted bigger or wrong discs and carrier brackets.

 

[ELB]

Have you owned this car from new?
I'm asking that question just in case some one, before you, fitted bigger or wrong discs and carrier brackets.

No, I've had the car for around 6 months (85k miles when I bought it), so that's a possibility!
Also, if i remember right, the outer pads were a bit of a squeeze into the carriers, so it could be that they need to be filed to fit the carriers properly?

 

[BigJase88]

If you have a manual handbrake just stick that on a few clicks and drive for a 100 metres or so. Then off for a mile. Then back on for 100 metres.

And repeat until fully bedded in

 

[ELB]

If you have a manual handbrake just stick that on a few clicks and drive for a 100 metres or so. Then off for a mile. Then back on for 100 metres.

And repeat until fully bedded in

I gave this a try yesterday and it helped a fair bit, this was after I filed down the carriers though, so I'm pretty sure the improvement was a mixture of both. The rear left pads are in full contact now and the right side is about 3/4 there, just needs a bit more time to fully bed in I guess. Cheers for the advice though, I'll try to do a bit more driving with the handbrake on to speed up the process

 

[everson38]

I gave this a try yesterday and it helped a fair bit, this was after I filed down the carriers though, so I'm pretty sure the improvement was a mixture of both. The rear left pads are in full contact now and the right side is about 3/4 there, just needs a bit more time to fully bed in I guess. Cheers for the advice though, I'll try to do a bit more driving with the handbrake on to speed up the process

Glad it's worked out, I had this issue and I simply had to just drive it abit more, although it was on BMW X1. When you say u filed down the carrier, do you mean the the notches that the brake pad ears sit in?

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[ELB]

Glad it's worked out, I had this issue and I simply had to just drive it abit more, although it was on BMW X1. When you say u filed down the carrier, do you mean the the notches that the brake pad ears sit in?

Sent from my moto g(8) plus using Tapatalk

Yeah exactly that, those parts of the carriers weren't fully smooth so the pads were catching slightly. Also the pads are in full contact now, went around a carpark with the handbrake on and hammered the brakes a few times! Can finally move onto the rear shocks as they don't sound too great over bumps lol.

 

[BigJase88]

On those parts of the caliper you filed down usually you get a metal insert that goes between the caliper and the pad.


In example

 

[everson38]

On those parts of the caliper you filed down usually you get a metal insert that goes between the caliper and the pad.


In example
View attachment 31391

Still doesn't hurt to file down I always wire wheel in here, as the new hardware as in you picture can sit alittle higher / tighter if not. I can remember if the rear brakes needed shims or not on the Ibiza as I've.always had drum brakes to work on, but I know the front brakes do not have a need for brake hardware shims

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[RUM4MO]

At some point VW Group stopped fitting these stainless steel inserts, for instance, my wife's 2015 6C VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS does not have them and as I clean up the brakes every year now that it is over 5 years old, the brake parts keep moving as intended, even although I added an external handbrake lever return spring, I've bought a set of these stainless steel inserts from ECP and will try to see if they fit when I clean up the brakes this year.

Edit:- by the way, that 2015 VW Polo was built at a time when VW Group were still using TRW to supply brake kits and not the later Asian/Chinese new comer!