Replaced the front pads yesterday with Raybestos Hybrid Element 3's. Rotors were still in great shape so I cleaned & left them alone. Put Permatex Ultra Hi-Temp grease on caliper slide bolts. Put new SS clips that came with pads in caliper. Pushed pistons back and went to put the new pads in. I had to really push them hard to get them loaded in the clips. Rotors turned freely once I got the caliper swung down and bolts in. The old pads (Power Stop) came out easily with just fingers, not loose, fit good, no rust or obstructions. When driving I hear the pads scraping on the rotors, they are too tight in the new spring clips and not "floating" off the disc when pedal is released. Bled fluid clean, good pedal, no pulsation. I believe the pad ears are very slightly (thousandths) too long and need to be ground gently to drop in. I saved the original clips, may re-use them. New ones may be a tiny bit thicker gauge causing this over-tight fit. Never had this happen before, a real PITA. Can't figure anything else I did wrong 🤔

 

Anymore I just use OEM pads and replacement parts just to be safe. My originals lasted 140k miles, so hopefully I won't have to change them again!

 

I got back into the front brakes this afternoon to find out what was scraping something. Turns out one of the new clips got bent getting the new pads in. For some reason they have an extra curl-over at one edge which does nothing for this application but seems to get in the way and make a simple job a PITA. Almost zero clearance on everything. One edge of one clip was scraping the rotor, got bent from having to literally force the pads in. Fortunately didn't hurt it. Threw them out and put the original Honda clips back in, very lightly lubed with hi-temp brake grease. Reloaded the pads (they clicked right in), quiet again, no problems. These are Raybestos Element 3 pads.

 

Glad you were able to figure it out!

 

Have you had any issues since?

I just replaced the front brakes with the Raybestos E3 like you and DID NOT use the hardware that came with them as it does not fit right. Way too tight so I used the OEM SS retainers. BUT, I am now waiting on replacement caliper pin rubber dampeners to arrive (rubber sleeve on the end of the slider bolt) as the slider pins did not slide smoothly and the rubber seems to be too big (swollen). I had tried CRC Synthetic Caliper Grease as always, but it was too thick to allow easy sliding even on the slider pin that does not have the rubber dampener so I picked up some silicone lube and will use that when the rubber dampener gets here.

From the factory, the OEM brakes wore way out of sync where the outside pad had more than twice as much meat left as the inside. I expect the inner to be more worn, but not this much more. The pins were not dry, but also were not smooth. I suspect the pins to be too tight by design. Hence why I asked how yours are doing. I MAY just eliminate the rubber dampener all together and go with the same non-dampener bolt that's used in the other hole. Calipers should slide / float easily. If not then your pads are dragging more than they should, imho.

 

Haven't had any problems since I installed the pads, they stop great, occasionally there is a squeak during a very hard stop, but not during 95% of normal use. Does not affect anything. I had a problem when reinstalling the caliper pins into their bores as well. I cleaned them up and lubed them (they were dry) and put some grease down inside the bore. The rubber sleeve on the end of the pin creates a VERY tight seal, so much so that with too much grease inside the bore, you can't force the pin all the way down into the bore. It creates a hydraulic lock, the grease will not squeeze out. I tried using a C-clamp, still would not go in!!! I had to clean out the excess lube and just wipe a thin film on the pin, it doesn't need too much, just has to slide smoothly. Finally went in all the way and I could get the caliper swung over it to insert the bolt and tighten it. There is zero free play in that assembly when it is closed!

 

You should re-clean your sliding pins and get rid of that Permatex grease. This is junk and will cause your dust boots and rubber bushings on the sleeve to swell!

This is why you're having trouble with the sleeves, the rubber has already swelled and now needs to be replaced

This happened to me too.

Get some Napa Syl-Glide or something similar.

 

Well it seems to have worked! Works like butter.

I got the new rubber bushings and they were no better so no more rubber bushings. I just cleaned out the bores and pins. Tossed the rubber bushings. Replaced the boots and lightly greased the pins and bores with silicone brake lube.

I decided that the bushingless bolt was too tight as well with the CRC Synthetic Caliper grease and used silicone on that as well. The pins are working like butter - no dragging, no airlock, no issues whatsoever. Better than OEM! The OEM with the rubber also caused both inner pads to wear in a wedge pattern. That means one slider was sticking. I know which one.

And no noise or chatter or any issues yet having left out the rubber bushing. I believe it causes more trouble (sticking) than it fixes (noises I have yet to have). I was pretty sure I was gonna do just what I did and when I heard Eric the Car Guy say he has discarded the rubber bushing before from sticking issues....

Thanks!