Okay, so just as I had all four of my wheels properly secured to the hubs, and all the front brakes held in place correctly (the spring clips on the LH side broke and caused the retaining bar to drop out) I was driving back from college and hit a pot hole or something on the main road (not 100% sure what it was, I only noticed something dark moving toward my wheel a second before it hit). bang. rattle.
Now whenever I brake there's a thumping noise from the left front wheel, sounds as if the brake pads have come loose again. I'll be taking the wheel off tomorrow to have a look Hoping no damage has occurred but I suspect I have lost both clips and the £%&^ retaining bar, which means another trip to halfords.
Boxwolf, your description sounds strange. The springs are anti-rattle springs for the pads and don't hold the retaining bar in anyway. The retaining bar should only come out sideways and usually needs persuasion from a drift to do so. The retaining bar is normally prevented from moving sideways by retaining pins through the holes at the ends of this bar.
Further, the anti rattle springs are attached to the pads so if you have not inserted the bar from the side and retained it correctly then nothing is holding your pads in place and your braking system is highly dangerous!
Boxwolf
maybe you can post a picy here so we can identify what is going wrong,
sounds like the pad's are beeing fitted incorect as Way2go said,
the wedge/bar should slide in across between the ledge of the calliper and the top lugs/tails of the pads, after you have got the anti rattle springs hooked over the bottom lugs/tails, in such a way that the long crancked part of the spring is laying upwards and at the inner face of the pad back plate (up the forward faceing edge of the pad matterial)
as you locate the pad/s into the calliper hold the spring right down into the U shaped slot at the top of the lower lug/tail, then the lower curve/loop of the spring should rest/sit on the forward face of the calliper lower ledge, you should at this point be able to press the bottom of the pad in against the spring, which when releast should spring back out a bit,
now hold the bottom of the pad hard in against the spring whilst brinnging the top of the pad out just a touch enough to get the wedge/bar in betwen the top calliper ledge abd the top lug/tail of the pad's
the fit the one clip in the hole at the inner end of the wedge/ber
regards malcolm
curent ride
K reg BX 17TD TZD est
also own
K reg D special
no longer have
H reg CX saffari 2.5 TRI (now gone to Malaysia)
R reg xantia 1.9TD est (gone to meet its maker)
My Cars: Historically, lots of BX hatches/estates in the 90s/00s - 16/19i/17td/19d Recent scruffy diesel n/a estate - "The Red Shed" - is no longer mine.
Moral - save old clips/bars etc so long as not completely fubared, even if only for emergency use - e.g. that pesky moment when something springs away or drops onto the floor mid-fitting.
Also, first time you fit pair parts on a BX, go strictly one at a time and and don't move on until you've refitted exactly as per the 2nd. Alternatively, use a digital camera to capture a reference image of the original configuration before dismantling anything.
Back on two wheels and pedal power for the moment.
Okay, all sorted now. turns out i had the retaining bars in back to front, allowing the big pothole to partially eject my brake pads. Luckily, i had 2 brand new retaining bars on hand so all is now secure with my brakes. lesson learned: never assume because something fits, its in the right way round
Boxwolf wrote:Okay, all sorted now. turns out i had the retaining bars in back to front, allowing the big pothole to partially eject my brake pads. Luckily, i had 2 brand new retaining bars on hand so all is now secure with my brakes. lesson learned: never assume because something fits, its in the right way round
I hate to say it, but maybe the lesson learned should be "don't fiddle with a safety critical aspect of your car unless you actually know what you're doing."
I'm all for people learning how to work on their own cars, but that was a serious mistake to make, and the consequenses could have been a lot more serious than they were....
At least you live to drive another day, imagine if that had happened on a long steep hill or other tricky situation that you cannot extricate yourself from without efficient brakes!
Make the quote above your maxim because as the old saying goes, "to assume, is make an ASS out of U & ME" !
Hoping no damage has occurred but I suspect I have lost both clips and the £%&^ retaining bar, which means another trip to halfords.
