Rear E Brake shoe question

[05Pathfinder]

Sorry for the long post. Skip to last para if you want to help without reading.

So my wife has been using the Pathy as a daily driver for about 3 months now and just the other day I drove it and realized that my rear brakes had issues. It looks like on of the caliper pins on my RR side wasnt sliding and it prematurly wore down the pad to where the backplate was grinding on my rotor.

So... I went out and bought pads and rotors. To my surprise there are shoes as well!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF is this was my initial reaction. So I went to buy new shoes too since at the bottom of both of them on each side are down to roughly 1mm but my local parts store didnt have any in. I then decided to put it all back togethor so my wife could get to work today but the Ebrake doesnt work at all.

I think it is because I turned the adjustment screw all the way in just to get the new rotors on.

Should I replace the shoes or just try adjusting them out a bit considering I will never use them to actually stop (I dont even think my wife knows where the E brake pedal is).

Thanks

[Tech]

Now that you have it all together, may as well leave it. It's only the park brake anyway. It would never stop the R51 once in motion anyway. If you want to tighten it up, pull the plug out the front of the rotor and turn it, so that hole lines up with the star wheel and tighten to light drag. Then go inside and check your pedal. Once you set the drag if the pedal has too much travel, adjust the cable with a deep 10mm.

[05Pathfinder]

Well don't I feel stupid. I couldnt figure out why there was a hole in the rotor. It obviously built by design i just never put two and two together. I was actually going to climb underneath and try and adjust it from behind or something.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try and get it so it stops the beast from rolling down a steep hill when parking and leave it at that.

But now I do have one final question. Considering the brakes on the other side were fine and that one of the two sliding caliper pins/bolts was clearly seized on the side that failed and caused my otherwise extremely good brakes to fail what should I look for to make sure there is nothing else wrong with this caliper?

The reason I ask is that with new brakes on now im not sure how a bad caliper might show itself other than taking the wheel off every few weeks two measure the rear rotors to make sure that they are wearing evenly.


Thanks again.

[Tech]

those trucks are notorius for uneven pad wear. Make sure the sliders (upper and lower) are free. Lube with syn. slider grease, nothing else. Make sure the corregated boots seal properly over the sliders, and have no damage. Finally, wire brush the harware and torque member the harware clips into (where the tabs of the pads slide in and out). The pads should "slide" in, and not require any persuasion.

If the piston boots were damaged at all, moisture may have gotten in, but it's not very likely. Just make sure when they got pushed back for the new pads, that they got "burped" so that they fold in on themselves properly and didn't get pinched between the piston and pad.

[05Pathfinder]

I tore apart the side that was seizing up again and noticed that once again one of the two sliding pins was not sliding. From what I can see it is caused by the rubber thing (think of a double open ended condom) that goes on one of the two sliding pins.

So I just put it all back togethor without this, anyone know if this will cause any issues?

[volvite]

With out the rubber boot, the grease for the brake slider pin will eventually wash away and will probably end up sticking and creating uneven wear.

[05Pathfinder]

I'm not talking about the rubber boot that is preventing dirt from getting in im talking about the rubber boot that goes over the slider like a condom with no closed end that slides over the last third of the slider pin.

[Tech]

agreed, if you're missing that corregated rubber tube over the slider, you're asking for seizing. The boot could not directly be the cause your prob. Pull the caliper, remove both sliders. Run a drill bit the same diameter into the bores that slider goes into. Clean out with brake clean until it runs clear. Wire wheel the sliders. Use synthetic slider lube (not wheel bearing grease) to lube and put back in with boots. Make sure the boots are seated on the lips, or water and much will get in. One slider may have a little ruubber doughnut on the end. If it's ever been lubed with the wrong stuff, it will swell as cause the caliper to drag. Might even be stuck in the bore of the caliper where the slider goes. check it out.

[05Pathfinder]

Thanks for the advice but just clarify this one last time for me to make sure we are talking about the same thing.

Can I go without the rubber piece on the bottom of the first picture that fits on the slider pin on the right side of the second picture.





That is what I had to remove for the pin to slide in and out properly. Otherwise it was coming out of its socket/groove within the sliding pin and stoping the movement.

[Tech]

you can go without it. It would technically be a bit less stable, but if it drags at all, it's better to go without. It should not bind at all when you have it on the slider and put it into the bore. should be a comfy fit without bunching. If it's swollen, toss it.