Hey gang,
A few months ago I decided it was time to completely rebuild the front braking system on my 83' LS (w/ Brembos). The master cylinder did not completely return to resting position, the rubber hoses were old and cracked. In addition I felt the calipers needed to be refreshed as well. I pulled the whole thing apart, cleaned everything well, lightly honed the master cylinder, replaced the brake hoses with stainless steel parts, rebuilt the calipers with new seals and new brake pads. Inside the system was the funkiest gelatinous goo I've ever seen in a hydraulic brake system, so I was glad to get it out! Everything went back together without leaks and was perfect for a few hundred miles.
Now, I'm hearing some noises from the front calipers. Further inspection shows that the brake shoes are sorta "floating" around in the calipers; i.e., if I move the wheel back and fourth, the brake pads kinda wiggle back and fourth as well. This is the source of the sound. The wheel spins freely and the brakes feel good under load. I compared the pad shape to the old parts and they appeared to be identical.
This behavior doesn't seem normal to me. When I rebuilt the calipers, I did not replace the pins that hold the pad in place, nor did I replace the tension spring that goes between them. If this spring/clip is out of tolerance, could this be causing my problem? Maybe I didn't bleed them right?
I've always done the brakes on all my bikes and cars, and never had a problem like this. Attached are some photos of the rebuild.
