[Justin07]

This problem is on my girlfriends 99 mustang , the front brakes were staying stuck on, when i tore everything down, i had to hammer the pads out of those small clips that go into the caliper bracket.
I bought new pads and rotors, the new pads didnt come with those clips. I left the old ones in and cleaned them up and put some anti seize. I had to hit the new pads back into those clips and with just the inner and outter pads in the bracket i cant even turn the rotor, which seems to be the same problem i had in the first place.
Do i need those clips in there? the pads are a little loose without them. but i havent driven the car to see if it would be alright.
Anyone have any ideas of whats going on here.. I've done tons of brake jobs but i've never had this problem before altho this is the first one i do on a 99 stang.

any help would be great

Justin

[HMUSN]

those clips are called shims and yes you need them. any decent brake distributer includes them.

and you shouldn't have had to hammer to brakes back in.. you need to push the pistons back in before you put the pads in.

[itschristorres8]

i just re-did my brakes saturday costed me $350 cuz my front calipers were shit, and my rear had the pistons locked and i got my rotors turned

idk exactly but your gfs brakes my be locked or frozen...

as for anyone whose e-brake sucks,,,check your rear pistons, that was my problem

[232stang]

my e brake sucks ass lol. it works but just a tad.

[CyberPrey]

Any time you have to use a hammer to assemble new parts to old, something is wrong, and I highly advise not doing it.

When doing brakes, you might want to consider getting a miscellanious parts kit... I can't recall exactly what they are called, but for front brakes they contain the clips and shims, and if needed the caliber bolt dust covers. For rear disk brakes, they contain the same.. for rear drum brakes, its called a "spring kit" and comes wtih all new springs and hold downs.

On Front's/rear discs, I also recommend a wire brush to clean off the caliper and the caliper mount where they meet to assure there is no corrosion/rust buildup to interfer with the calipers abilty to 'float' and center itself.

[CyberPrey]

*CRAP* sorry for posting twice...

Reason I recommend wirebrushing hte caliper/mount is because if the caliper can not float and center itself, you will get wheel pull when braking, and uneven pad wear.

*EDIT* and no, i can't spell at this time of day

[Justin07]

I got the problem with the front shims figured out, whoever owned the car before must have put 100 coats of paint on the caliper brackets thats why the shims were so tight on the pads.. got it all assemble and everything turned nice and free.. well i pumped up the brake to check the i still have the same problem and of course it's still there.
After pumping up the brake the front brakes are locked on solid. It's got to be a problem with the hydraulic system, maybe the proportioning valve or the master cylinder. any ideas?
I'm going to be bleeding out all the old fluid in change for some new stuff but who knows if that'll change anything.

Justin

[itschristorres8]

dude i think your pistons are frozen....either way 90% chance the problem is in the caliper, your most likey gonna need a new one or discount auto parts or advanced auto sells rebuilt used ones if you give them the messed up ones it'll come out cheaper, i got my calipers from a buddy of my dads they were $48 each

[CyberPrey]

I think that chris might have hit the nail on the head....

I would recommend pulling the brakes apart again, and check the calipers over very well... and I would remove the caliper mounts and wirewheel the living piss out of them, so that they are nice and shiney metal again, then put 1.. thats ONE... coat of rustoleum paint or somethign on them.. but keep the area where it mates to the caliper bare....

Calipers are not to spendy... here is the napa online link to the caliper pricing for a '99.

http://www.napaonline.com/masterpage...=3&SubCatId=13

*edit* stupid ass napa page.. you might have to re-enter the vehicle information to get to the page stupid.. why can't they have that in the link to..........

[CyberPrey]

forgot to mention, if you get the old calipers off, and the piston is moving freely, AND the caliper moves back and forth on the mount freely (try this while you have no brakepads in... just set it on, and try to move it side to side...) then you want to move on to other parts in the braking system......

did you look at the brakes with the tires off the car?? do you see ANY movement on the calipers/brakes when the pedal is pressed down??

[Justin07]

With the wheels off, i'm not seeing any movement from the calipers when the brakes are pushed and released. if i crack the bleeder screw, fluid slowly drips out and if the brake is pumped a couple times with the bleeder still open, i can turn the wheel. I took the caliper off and popped out the pistons and they are clean with no ridges so i think my problems are something other than the calipers. It seems as if fluid isnt returning to the master cylinder to allow the calipers to float back after the pedal is depressed.

Justin