Please help, Going crazy, Brake pads too thick - SOLVED

[mmbow702]

Redoing brakes and rotors on my 02' Tahoe LS. My caliper WONT fit over the new rotor and brake pads. Dual piston caliper, and got the supposed right parts for the job. What am I missing here?

 

[PPV_2018]

Did you compress the piston enough? The new pads are probably noticeably thicker than the worn out pads and the piston is probably sticking out too far from the old pads

 

[mmbow702]

Yes, pistons were compressed fully.

 

[Fless]

What parts (brand, part #) are you using for this brake job?

 

[mmbow702]

First I tried some cheap Amazon bs, but once that failed I went with Autozone 55067DL for the rotor and MKD792 pads.

 

[mmbow702]

First I tried some cheap Amazon bs, but once that failed I went with Autozone 55067DL for the rotor and MKD792 pads

First I tried some cheap Amazon bs, but once that failed I went with Autozone 55067DL for the rotor and MKD792 pads.

I lied, brake pads were MKD834

 

[mmbow702]

What parts (brand, part #) are you using for this brake job?

Stumbled across an old post where you helped someone out. Something about Akebono caliper stamped E4527 A50A50? This is the bs on my tahoe. I'm going to assume it's not stock, and possibly why nothing is fitting

 

[ReaperHWK]

I’d take the new ones and compare them to the size of the old ones to rule out a wrong part first.

 

[nonickatall]

It's very simple. If the pistons of your brake calliper are pushed all the way back and don't fit the new brake pads and rotors, then the brake pads and rotors are too thick.

I don't know how it is with our cars, but I know from many German cars that, depending on the engine installed or the year of manufacture, some have rotors that have a different diameter or thickness. So try to find out the standard thickness of the brake pad and disc on our vehicles and then measure how thick yours are.

Surely someone here in the forum knows how thick our standard brake pads and discs are?

 

[Fless]

When I look on Rock Auto, there are different rotor and pad packages for "smooth" and "ribbed" calipers. I'm not sure if this is 4x4 or RWD, and there are 330mm and 325mm rotors, calipers with and without center clips, etc. Lots of variations but I don't know how much actual differences there are. Maybe compare the old rotor size with the new, and go from there.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/chevrolet,2002,tahoe,5.3l+v8,1380372,brake+&+wheel+hub,rotor+&+brake+pad+kit,13824

 

[mmbow702]

Thank you everyone. Wanted to conclude i figured it out. The calipers were indeed from another year or model. After reading the other post, I found my solution by using pads from a newer model tahoe, a 2003 to be exact. The pads were considerably thinner , allowing for the clearance I was previously missing.

 

[OR VietVet]

Yea, info from you about old and new parts comparison would help. Plus pics

 

[OR VietVet]

Thank you everyone. Wanted to conclude i figured it out. The calipers were indeed from another year or model. After reading the other post, I found my solution by using pads from a newer model tahoe, a 2003 to be exact. The pads were considerably thinner , allowing for the clearance I was previously missing.

Cursing crisis averted.

 

[petethepug]

Edit title to add: Fixed! Brake pad thickness….

Nice work on the follow through. VW did that on their early water cooler cars. Same pad, same caliper but different pad thickness depending on whether the same size rotor was solid or vented.

 

[Joeltz]

Redoing brakes and rotors on my 02' Tahoe LS. My caliper WONT fit over the new rotor and brake pads. Dual piston caliper, and got the supposed right parts for the job. What am I missing here?

Squeeze the pistons in with C clamps

 

[Fless]

Squeeze the pistons in with C clamps

See post #3.

 

[OR VietVet]

The ol' late to the game trick. Live and learn.