Hi Raski,

The car, I am pretty sure, stopped in a shorter distance with the old pads. It feels like it is now taking about 20%, or so, longer distance to stop. Kind of hard to estimate exactly, but it 'feels' longer. But, the car still brakes in a straight line.

If I take the tires off, would I be able to see if the caliper is not releasing properly? Either by watching it while someone else is depressing, and releasing, the brake pedal, or by trying to spin the axle by hand after I deprress/release the brake pedal - to hear if it is scraping (indicating it was not releasing fully)?

I did not see any indication that their were right side, versus left side pads. All 4 looked the same, and there were no markings, or instructions, indicating different sides of the vehicle. These were the pads I installed - https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...chTerm=gmkd659

I was not aware that pushing the brake pedal too far could result in the master Cylinder leaking. If the M/C were leaking, and bypassing fluid internally, would I notice that the level of fluid in the reservoir was lowering? What would be a visual verification?

BTW, I was driving a little last night, when things were much more quiet, and I think I heard a light scraping sound, perhaps coming from the driver side front wheel. It was very minor, but it also stopped when I applied the brakes. It got me wondering if the pad(s) on the driver side were perhaps not releasing totally? Is it normal for new pads to ever scrape against the rotor, until some of the pad material has worn away and they get 'thinner'?

 

Generally if fluid restriction to either side, bound caliper the car would pull. If dragging a caliper would generate heat and most certainly reduce braking on that side= pull..

Some pads will have a wear tab and they need to be installed side correct..

On re inspection, are the pads make full contact with the rotor surfaces? Ive seen some that were rough cast/cut and contact % suffers. That said, braking feel is normally not affected, but they do seat/bed in. Brake shoes that the linings are bonded or riveted on crooked as well. Some aftermarket pads that have less contact patch surface area, although braking performance should be matched to OE.. Anti squeal shims that slip or wad up can tip the pad resulting in braking reduction..

If it was braking fine prior to the replacements, I’d suspect the pads. Caliper/s hang, or hose issues would most likely result in the car diving to either side...

 

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to try and examine them sometime in the next few days. I did have anti-rattle clip , where one of the four corners was broken, and now I wonder of that is affecting the way the pad is contacting the rotor. I noticed it when putting the new pads in, but figured the old pads were working fine, so it probably had no impact on anything. I may order a new one from ebay, and have it ready when i take the wheels off and inspect the brakes some time later this week.