…to help wayward spannerer

I bled my back brake (Juicy 7) today and it all seemed to go well. No brake fluid in eyes, no lost tools and a minimum of swearing. Completed the job, removed the brake pad spacer and went to put the pads in and they just won't go in properly. They fit most of the way into the caliper but just aren't sitting in properly. Any ideas what I might have done wrong or what I should do to fix it??

Thanks

Why exactly did you take the pads out?

Use a flat headed screwdriver to push the pistons back as far as they will go and then try again.

The nice man in the Avid tutorial on YouTube said it was a good idea…

Thanks geoffj – have tried that and the pistons won't go any further back

I put one pad in, then the spacer, push the spacer over from the back and then put the second pad in. I know you're supposed to just be able to push the lot in as one assembly, but my pads must be thicker as they never want to do that!

HTH

Are the pistons sitting flush against the caliper housing… i.e. you cant see any piston sticking out?

How exactly aren't they sitting properly?

I bet its the clip bit that holds the pads in the caliper. Whenever I put the pads back in, unless you get them straight they can be a pain to push in. Make sure you got them the right way around and just keep trying slightly different positions till they clip in. I found it easier to do with the whole assembly together.

Yep… they can be a pain. The pads have a L and an R on the back of them, make sure they are the right way round.. make sure you have the pad seperator between them the right way round…. also check your clip at the back of the caliper is in straight…

put them in together with a pair of needlenose pliers, and push them in. stick your wheel back on, and give your levers a good squeeze a fair few times

I have allways found with my Juicy 7s that it works best to force the pistons back fully during the whole bleeding process. I do this by (carefully) jamming them back with some suitable tool, flat spanner usually. This then means that after bleeding (when you are riding) the pistons (and the pads) are as open as possible untill you start to use the brake lever. This also cuts down on Juicy's habit of brake pad rubbing on the rotor when you ride.

Could try letting a little bit of fluid out? Had to do that when I (well, my mate Ian the AA man!) bled mine as the rear pads wouldn't go in either – was fine after that.

Problem solved!

As Bullet sugested let a little bit of fluid out which ment the pistons went in ever so slightly but just enough to get them in. Also needed to straighten the clip on top of the caliper housing.

Ta very much!

Glad it worked – it was my AA man/supermechanic/riding buddy who actually worked it out!