Applying Grease to the Ears of Disc Brake Pads?

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I've watched a few YouTubes on replacing brakes. My son just got a '06 Highlander and found out they had non-OEM brakes. Ok, we're a bit anal so we are replacing all the brakes and hardware with OEM stuff. Our compulsion with OIL extends to the brake pads, ok?

Anyways, last night I was up around 11:30 and watched a YouTube by South Main Auto Repair. I think most of you would say this mechanic is on top of things. He says he's done 1,000's of brake jobs with no returns for shoddy work. He really focuses on adding brake grease UNDER the hardware and not putting ANY on the areas of the brake hardware where the ears of the pads actually slide. He has other points as well but this is the one point I want your opinion on.

Do you apply grease on the "ears" of your disc brake pads? I can see the value of applying special brake grease under the hardware between the hardware the the caliper to prevent rust.
 
I grease the ears of the pads, it helps them to slide I think. Ive seen many dry pads that are cocked in the carrier, and causing them to wear unevenly, or burn out one pads out of the 4 since the pads wont move freely. I just did a $500 rear pad and rotor job on a 535xi becuase one of the pads was cocked and wore down to metal on metal, it was the passenger outer pad.
 
NO! it will capture sand and migrate. No Silicone grease either unless its kept by a boot.

If you REALLY want to lube it correctly, put some animal fat on there and bake it in to the iron/steel so it forms a monolayer with the metal. Petro grease wont do this. Only FAE,, Its Like seasoning an iron skillet.

The factory engineered material selection should allow free movement of the parts. I usually just wire brush them.
 
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I used anti size but only because I saw it on YouTube. I never greased anything when I changed brakes years ago. Heck, I even wiped the grease off the slide pins and put them back dry.
 
I use synthetic brake grease on the ears of the pads, and a very small layer of synthetic grease on the back of the pads also.

Less is more with this stuff.

I always take apart the sliders, and re-grease them with SilGlyde only.

I have not done hundreds of break jobs, but maybe 20 in my life and never had an issue.

What is the concern with using NON-OEM brakes on a vehicle? Someone makes something similar or better to OE.

When I did the brakes on my wife's xB, the OEM stuff was all Advics, including the Calipers.

I replaced it all with Bosch jobber grade stuff and it works fine.
 
I've seen some shop jobs where they greased the ear areas, some not. I've tried a tiny bit of sil-glyde, anti-seize and various other brake lube products in that area over the years. Grease or not, that area is going to collect dirt, grit, rust,etc. Not sure if it makes a difference or not.
 
Originally Posted By: Gebo
Do you apply grease on the "ears" of your disc brake pads?

You can either apply grease to the Ears or the area on the Bracket where Ears of the pad ride or both.
 
Originally Posted By: Gebo


Anyways, last night I was up around 11:30 and watched a YouTube by South Main Auto Repair. I think most of you would say this mechanic is on top of things. He says he's done 1,000's of brake jobs with no returns for shoddy work. He really focuses on adding brake grease UNDER the hardware and not putting ANY on the areas of the brake hardware where the ears of the pads actually slide. He has other points as well but this is the one point I want your opinion on.

Do you apply grease on the "ears" of your disc brake pads? I can see the value of applying special brake grease under the hardware between the hardware the the caliper to prevent rust.


If Eric O. does it, I would do it.
 
I use pastelub. 40% solids no need to go hunt down a whale and use animal fat ARCO.
It helps prevent rust and stays in place pretty good.

on the caliper pins I only use sil-glyde too many issues with permatex swelling the rubber on the guide pin.
 
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Originally Posted By: E150GT
Originally Posted By: Gebo


Anyways, last night I was up around 11:30 and watched a YouTube by South Main Auto Repair. I think most of you would say this mechanic is on top of things. He says he's done 1,000's of brake jobs with no returns for shoddy work. He really focuses on adding brake grease UNDER the hardware and not putting ANY on the areas of the brake hardware where the ears of the pads actually slide. He has other points as well but this is the one point I want your opinion on.

Do you apply grease on the "ears" of your disc brake pads? I can see the value of applying special brake grease under the hardware between the hardware the the caliper to prevent rust.


If Eric O. does it, I would do it.


Did you notice he applied the grease UNDER the brackets and left the ears and where the ears slide in the brackets dry? I'm not questioning your ability to read, I just want to make sure we both are on the same page. He is the first one I saw that didn't grease the areas on the brake pads that slide in the hardware. I'm like you, I trust him as well. Have we all been doing it wrong all these years????
 
Straight from the Toyota pdf I linked earlier.

Remove, inspect, and clean pad clips
to ensure a smooth open/close
operation when the brake is applied,
and replace if damaged

DO NOT apply any grease or
lubricants to pad clips when reinstalling
 
Originally Posted By: Gebo
Originally Posted By: E150GT
Originally Posted By: Gebo


Anyways, last night I was up around 11:30 and watched a YouTube by South Main Auto Repair. I think most of you would say this mechanic is on top of things. He says he's done 1,000's of brake jobs with no returns for shoddy work. He really focuses on adding brake grease UNDER the hardware and not putting ANY on the areas of the brake hardware where the ears of the pads actually slide. He has other points as well but this is the one point I want your opinion on.

Do you apply grease on the "ears" of your disc brake pads? I can see the value of applying special brake grease under the hardware between the hardware the the caliper to prevent rust.


If Eric O. does it, I would do it.


Did you notice he applied the grease UNDER the brackets and left the ears and where the ears slide in the brackets dry? I'm not questioning your ability to read, I just want to make sure we both are on the same page. He is the first one I saw that didn't grease the areas on the brake pads that slide in the hardware. I'm like you, I trust him as well. Have we all been doing it wrong all these years????

I know I have been doing a lot of things wrong for years since youtube came out to let me know. It could be that mechanics in the rust prone areas like him do things differently. I don't know. I will say it probably doesn't matter much. That stuff is going to move around in use and get other places during install. I personally on my last change put antisieze on the ears and this was before I discovered SMA.
 
Originally Posted By: E150GT
Originally Posted By: Gebo
Originally Posted By: E150GT
Originally Posted By: Gebo


Anyways, last night I was up around 11:30 and watched a YouTube by South Main Auto Repair. I think most of you would say this mechanic is on top of things. He says he's done 1,000's of brake jobs with no returns for shoddy work. He really focuses on adding brake grease UNDER the hardware and not putting ANY on the areas of the brake hardware where the ears of the pads actually slide. He has other points as well but this is the one point I want your opinion on.

Do you apply grease on the "ears" of your disc brake pads? I can see the value of applying special brake grease under the hardware between the hardware the the caliper to prevent rust.


If Eric O. does it, I would do it.


Did you notice he applied the grease UNDER the brackets and left the ears and where the ears slide in the brackets dry? I'm not questioning your ability to read, I just want to make sure we both are on the same page. He is the first one I saw that didn't grease the areas on the brake pads that slide in the hardware. I'm like you, I trust him as well. Have we all been doing it wrong all these years????

I know I have been doing a lot of things wrong for years since youtube came out to let me know. It could be that mechanics in the rust prone areas like him do things differently. I don't know. I will say it probably doesn't matter much. That stuff is going to move around in use and get other places during install. I personally on my last change put antisieze on the ears and this was before I discovered SMA.


What's "SMA"?
 
Originally Posted By: BigD1
Straight from the Toyota pdf I linked earlier.

Remove, inspect, and clean pad clips
to ensure a smooth open/close
operation when the brake is applied,
and replace if damaged

DO NOT apply any grease or
lubricants to pad clips when reinstalling



I apologize for not seeing your PDF. I was reading so many responses that I just had "glazed" over. All I have are Toyota's. I am printing the PDF now. Thank you, sir. Well, this explains why I got the little packs of black grease with my Toyota pads. It also explains why the rear pads (never changed) have black grease here and there as well.
 
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I had been putting anti seize after watching ETCG videos. I find that it just picks up dirt. Last time, I just put a very thin layer of caliper grease.

I'm of the opinion that it doesn't really matter, at least for those of us that routinely clean our brakes anyway.
 
I do not lube anything other than the slide pins unless requested to do so by the customer. I have seen enough examples of the grease collecting dirt or debris and doing more harm than good.
 
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