Cal Club Autocross Forums

Changing out the rotors and pads on our NA Miata. On the left front side the upper caliper pin bolt doesn't tighten. The right side does tighten. The pin bolt isn't stripped. What's up with it? Changed many Miata brake pads without any issues?

Also the CarboTech XP8 pads on the left front were almost worn down the back backing plate. Right side had a fair amount of pad left?

Pads on left worn to the backer ... pads on right OK.

Mako Koiwai wrote:Changing out the rotors and pads on our NA Miata. On the left front side the upper caliper pin bolt doesn't tighten. The right side does tighten. The pin bolt isn't stripped. What's up with it? Changed many Miata brake pads without any issues?

Push harder till the threads engage. That's worked for me in similar situations....

Ah, Philip got back to me. Internal threads are stripped ... Happened years ago and he's just locktited it. It was tight when I broke it loose. He says that part isn't stressed.

He also said brakes always wore evenly, so we don't know why all of a sudden on this last set of pads, we got very uneven wear. Car brakes straight ...

Time for a new caliper.
Increased wear indicates a sticky piston or guide bolt.

Thanks Eric ... new brake assemblies ordered through Jeff Wong & ProParts.

btw. do you remove the fenders when working on your brakes ... must be nice to have a Formula car.

Doing body work sucks!

Figured I'd give it a try. Harbor Freight Hammer and Dolly repair kit for only something like $49. Supposedly saved a $1,000. I wonder how much they would charge now to fix my fix.

I've got a NB shop manual. Interesting to see how they've simplified and greatly reduced the number of fender fasteners as compared to the NA.