1981 242:

I'm replacing front brake pads on my 81 242. After I took them out of the calipers, I noticed that they all show the same type of uneven wear. It's not drastic, but definitely is uneven. None of the pistons were stuck. All pushed back easily to make way for the new pads. All four pads look about the same, with the same wear pattern. The one from the inside passenger caliper looks a bit thinner than the other three. Does anyone know what would cause this uneven wear on all four pads?

Second question: I have new PBR/Axxis organic pads. They did not come with shims. Do most of you use shims with these pads or go without the shims??

Here's where I posted two pictures of the uneven pad wear.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52912258@N08/


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Thanks for all the help. DougC ::::: 1981 242, IPD bars and Turbo wheels, M46:::::::1984 760, B23FT, M46, waiting to donate engine to 242:::::::1997 S90

Hmmmm. That's odd. The wear difference isn't immense though, so that's good, but that's odd.

It reminds me of brake shoe wear, where the shoes wear down to bare metal on one side and still have 1/4" of shoe on the other. Maybe you should rotate your brake pads ;)

But seriously. I think under-lubed slide pins, or a tiny bit of air in the calipers, or just normal wear could cause that. I'd clean and re-lube (maybe replace) the slide-pins and their receivers, and would also thoroughly bleed my whole brake system.
It might be due to the pads not being 100% consistent in hardness. I always replace organic pads with semi-metal for the stopping power and responsiveness with my vehicles.

Good Luck