That one Tuesday last spring that made me question everything about brake jobs

I had a 2015 F150 come in with a pulsating pedal, normal right? So I throw on some fresh rotors and pads, bed them in proper, send it out the door. Customer comes back three days later screaming the same problem is worse than before. Turns out the rear calipers were dragging from a seized slide pin I half-heartedly cleaned. Cost me a set of free pads and two hours of my Saturday to make it right. Has anyone else ever had a seemingly simple job turn into a nightmare because you skipped one tiny step?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_shane4d ago

...so my buddy had almost the exact same thing happen with a Chevy Malibu last fall. He did a full brake job, rotors and pads, the whole deal, and the car came back with a weird grind after a week. Turns out he forgot to clean the mounting surface where the rotor sits against the hub, just a little bit of rust and old crud threw everything off. Cost him a whole afternoon and a lot of cussing to get it sorted, and the customer was not happy about driving around with a noise that sounded like the wheel was about to fall off. It's wild how one tiny step you skip can totally screw you, your mileage may vary but I always double check those surfaces now.

the_spencer4d ago

Yeah, 'one tiny step you skip' is exactly right. I've seen that same thing with rotors on a few different cars. That little bit of rust buildup can make the rotor sit crooked and then you get that horrible pulsing or grinding noise. It's SO easy to think you're done once the caliper is off, but you ABSOLUTELY gotta hit that hub face with a wire brush or a scotch brite pad. Saves a headache and a pissed off customer every time.