Rear brake issue

I recently did my rear brakes (pads and rotors) myself. Everything went well and I triple checked the caliper was rotated to the proper X pattern. Cleaned hardware and cleaned and re grease slide pins.

Today I wanted to double check that my brakes were done properly so I felt the rotors and one was definitely warmer than the other. I jacked up the rear and both sides spun freely but one side was only able to do 1 full rotation while the other side did 2.

After my commute home I grabbed my temperature gauge and one side was 90F and the other was 82F. Are these temps normal?

I have no noticeable change and the car seems to drive good with no dragging noise and I can coast in neutral on flat ground for a good distance.

Didn’t know if I’m just being way too cautious and over looking into things or if I should pop the calipers back off to double check everything is seated in properly.

 

Good point, that’s the only thing I’m not sure if I did. I did rotate multiple times and when it looked flush and the X was correct, I stopped. Are you supposed to wind it until you can’t anymore? Just curious how that would affect the placement of the caliper.

 

I used ADVICS pads and rotors which are OEM for Toyota. Based on your idea I think I will pull off the caliper, retract fully and then pump the brakes to re seat again.

 

I followed your instructions, even had your list while I did my install! Not sure where I went wrong, will have to go back over everything this weekend.

 

Took everything apart and it’s really hard to tell if the first time was done correctly, but I think I lined it up better the second time.

1st attempt

2nd attempt

 

Yeah that’s the frustrating part of the rear brakes. The first time I disconnected the battery, then after reassembly I pumped the brakes till firm, then bed in the brakes.

This time, I did what you suggested and used the parking brake multiple times after pumping the brakes and turning the car back on. Took for a test drive and spun the wheel, it’s not a full 2 rotations, but better than what it was before.

 

From what I could tell, all the spaces are equally sized. Also the brake pads looked good and even thankfully.

I guess the other possibility is a wheel bearing, but there was no play. I’m not sure how long wheel bearings usually last. 215k miles.

 

I think what I have figured out is does the wheel have significant resistance or not. This actually took me 3 attempts on the passenger side caliper. My 1st attempt the wheel spun about 1 full rotation. The 2nd attempt was even worse as it took some serious effort just to get it to spin 3/4 of a turn. Took it back apart, wound down the caliper all the way, make the X perfect, pumped brakes, 12v connected, backed out of my garage, applied parking brake 4 times, test drove and placed in neutral to make sure the brakes were actually being used. FINALLY, @Mendel Leisk method worked as spinning the tire I got closer to 2 full rotations (even though I applied the parking brake before not after test drive).

I do a lot of research before doing any car repair and these brakes for the most part are just about as easy as any other brake job but it’s the re seating of the caliper so difficult. I only found a few YouTubers even mention the X pattern let alone all these extra steps of disconnecting 12v, parking brake, test drive and spin test.