Has anyone ever seen brake pads froze in the caliper mount?

[mrmordun]

This is on a 2004 4x4.

To make a short story long, I had the right front brake dragging, did some testing and was pretty sure it was the caliper and not the hose. So this morning I started on swapping in a new caliper and the brake pads were literally froze into the old caliper mount. Even with caliper removed the pads where dragging so hard on the rotor I almost could not turn it. Had to use a hammer and screwdriver to pop'em out. Never had to do that before, and I've been working on my own vehicles for 37 years.

For kicks and grins I recessed the piston back into the caliper, smooth and easy, no problems at all. Pins slide smooth as silk.

So has anyone else seen this. I'm gonna leave the old caliper on for now and see if that takes care of it.

On a side note, both the inner and outer pads looked like they were wore very evenly, the clips in the brackets looked good, but the pads were very rusted, on of the tabs on the end of the pad chipped of when I was removing it. Never seen that before.

Thanks, Mordun.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

So, they rusted in place?

 

[pjtoledo]

oh hell ya. the rust causes the mounting surfaces on the bracket to swell ever-so-slightly. that can lock the pads firmly in place.

if you take a real good look at the surfaces on the mounting bracket they will look like dark smooth/shiny steel. take a small chisel & hammer to those surfaces and large chunks of semi-rusted metal will fall off. that restores the clearance, dress it with a file and apply tiny amount of silicone grease.
or get new brackets.

rust on the ends of the pads does the same thing.

 

[Dangerrangers]

Clean everything up that the pads touch and use some silicone grease or anti seize and you should be good to go. And yes I've had them stuck so bad I had to pry them apart.

 

[mrmordun]

So, they rusted in place?

Yep, rusted right in place. Should have known something was up when the the caliper I thought was frozen came right off with no problem.

rust on the ends of the pads does the same thing.

I think that is where the actual problem was. The clips that set in the bracket that the pads sit in are just fine.

Clean everything up that the pads touch and use some silicone grease or anti seize and you should be good to go. And yes I've had them stuck so bad I had to pry them apart.

That is exactly what I did.
______

After cleaning everything up, putting a dab of grease where it was needed and putting it all back together, took it for a test drive and I think all is well.
I think it has been dragging a little since I got the truck. My driveway has a slight slope to it, in the past the truck would just sit there in neutral before, even with my foot off the brake, now it will start rolling.

The truck did sit for about three months on a dealer lot before I bought.

Like I said, I'VE never seen that before. Not to say I've seen it all, cause I sure ain't.

Thanks for the input guys, makes me feel a little better.
Mordun