StopTech Pad Swap Difficulty

[Saandiaago]

Reviving an old topic as I'm new to StopTech and this appears to be an old issue. Hopefully those with experience can chime in. I swapped out the pads on the ST60 fronts and ST40 rears with Hawk DTC60. The fronts were easy and the old pads slid right out while the new ones slid right in. On the rear I encountered the dreaded slightly oversized (too tall) backing plate issue. The old pads would only come out with significant force (I looped zip ties on the holes in the backing plates and used these for leverage to slowly pull out the pads). The new pads likewise were difficult to put in and I used a rubber mallet to tap them in slowly. I did not do the initial install of the kit when the old pads (StopTech street performance pads) were put in, but my guess is they were hard to put in given my difficulty in their removal. I did one track day with the old pads and the brakes worked very well. The car seems to brake fine on the street with the new pads I just placed. Should I be concerned that the rear brakes will not function properly given the need to rubber mallet the pads into position or does anybody have experience with similar difficulty in pad placement but a functional system when used at track? Is it true that the pads may not move in toward the rotor properly if they were placed so tightly? I do see a transfer layer on the rear rotors from the new pads - not uniform but ringlike and similar to the front rotors which had NO pad swap issues. Thanks for any words of wisdom as I'm off to Thermal this weekend and would like some piece of mind.

[///M3Fresh]

First -- it would be nice to hit the "enter" buttons once or twice, it does help us readers!

Second -- Did you notice a lot of gunk/dirt/brake pad dust in the cavities of the ST-40? Might be worth an hour of your time, tops, to pull off the calipers and inspect/clean and retry installing them.

From personal experience, on my ST-60/40 kit I didn't have any issues like you are reporting, front or back. But do recall once when I threw on a new set of pads, they were about 85-95% of the way seated in the caliper but that last 5-15% took some force to push. I took them back out, pull the guides/metal retainers and cleaned all around. Re-installed and boom! no issues after that. They do take a little wiggling back and forth sometimes however its always by hand.

How thick is the coating on your backing plates? If cleaning out the caliper doesn't work, consider taking a file and lightly filing once end of the pads backing plate enough to get them to go in by hand. I only say that because you'll scrape off the finish on the caliper.

[Saandiaago]

Ha yes. More returns.
Thanks for the reply. I did not remove the caliper but did a quick brush to remove debris. I do think it was more of a fitment issue.
Actually dropped the car off at a shop to let the experts handle it.
Last night was brutal trying to get the pad swap done and I've now called "uncle".

[///M3Fresh]

Originally Posted by Saandiaago

Ha yes. More returns.
Thanks for the reply. I did not remove the caliper but did a quick brush to remove debris. I do think it was more of a fitment issue.
Actually dropped the car off at a shop to let the experts handle it.
Last night was brutal trying to get the pad swap done and I've now called "uncle".

Any update?

[Cbozz]

Originally Posted by Saandiaago

Ha yes. More returns.
Thanks for the reply. I did not remove the caliper but did a quick brush to remove debris. I do think it was more of a fitment issue.
Actually dropped the car off at a shop to let the experts handle it.
Last night was brutal trying to get the pad swap done and I've now called "uncle".

I had the same problem in my front ST60, my pads' backing plates seems a bit too tight and when I was taking them out had to put a gush pin through the pad holes and tap it out.. rear ST40 came out no issues....
did it with the caliper on and just the caliper bridge removed

[Saandiaago]

Originally Posted by ///M3Fresh

Any update?

Took it to ACG Automotive in San Diego and they removed the calipers and worked the pads out. Ground the backing plates down on the edges a small amount to improve the fit. Ran the car at the track this past weekend with about 8 hours of track time with flawless performance. I'll take out the pads this weekend and will be prepared with a dremel to do the same to the rear street pads that will be going back in. Seems to be par for the course when it comes to the StopTech BBK for pad swaps. Fantastic brakes functionally but perhaps minor quality control issues on pad fitment or it could be on the brake pad manufacturer side too. Bottom line - be prepared with a dremel or die grinder.

[///M3Fresh]

Originally Posted by Saandiaago

Took it to ACG Automotive in San Diego and they removed the calipers and worked the pads out. Ground the backing plates down on the edges a small amount to improve the fit. Ran the car at the track this past weekend with about 8 hours of track time with flawless performance. I'll take out the pads this weekend and will be prepared with a dremel to do the same to the rear street pads that will be going back in. Seems to be par for the course when it comes to the StopTech BBK for pad swaps. Fantastic brakes functionally but perhaps minor quality control issues on pad fitment or it could be on the brake pad manufacturer side too. Bottom line - be prepared with a dremel or die grinder.

Question-- Are your calipers their original finish?

[Saandiaago]

Originally Posted by ///M3Fresh

Question-- Are your calipers their original finish?

Yes. Original finish.