brake pad clearance question

[matthufham]

on the front of my 72, there's always a drag when the wheels are off the ground. my pads are always touching the rotors. i have new calipers, pads, rotors, booster, mc, brake lines, and fully bled system. it's been this way since i got my truck and did all those changes. i don't know if all these trucks are like that. after driving awhile my brakes become very hot and ineffective so i was thinking it wasn't normal. shouldn't the pad have a little clearance from the rotor when you're not on the brake.

[hvychve]

are you running a drum brake master. meaning was it originaly for four wheel drum, if so you may have the residual check valve in master port that may need removed for disc brakes, where the line goes into the mastercylinder, you run a metal screw into the tapered part and pry it out with a pair of dykes, (wire cutters) if your screw keeps coming out , try a fatter screw and keep at it, this may not be your problem or not, but hard to tell... some masters have a bigger reservoir for disc brakes than for the rear drum brakes, but not always.... good luck and keep us posted...

[matthufham]

it's a original 72 prop valve, and a booster/mc from a 70's or something suburban with disc/drum

[cdowns]

its normal for disc brake pads to have slight contact with the rotors

[hootz]

There will always be a very slight drag and there is not typically a gap noticeable between pad and rotor. that being said, there can also be such a thing as excessive drag. You should be able to turn the front wheels easily by hand when off the ground. Causes for excessive drag can be a sticking piston in the caliper, brake pedal not returning to the full off position (sometimes as simple as the stop light switch too far out) or I have seen rubber brake lines deteriorate inside to the point where they will hold some residual pressure.

[Longhorn Man]

if they heat up to the point of poor braking performance... something is wrong.
However, a little heat and drag is built into all disk brake systems... including the newfagled stuff.