[eyderman]

Hi,

My gf's 575 has had a problem with the rear brake dragging since it was new, I've fiddled with it several times, basically centering the caliper with the rotor, but for some reason I haven't had enough luck with it, if I get it centered so that it doesn't rub when the bike is on the stand, the moment she starts riding it it rubs, so I tried to have her sit on the bike and then with her wieght on the bike I adjusted the caliper, well this solution worked for when she is riding the bike, no rubbing at all, but then when she gets off the bike and pushes it, etc it rubs like crazy, and of course anytime the rear wheel is removed for any reason, it just goes completely out of adjustment.

The bike is a 2005 575 size small with the originl enduro kit (hayes HFX 9 brakes).

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[flipnidaho]

On mine, 've had to...

true my rotors a few times, shim the calipers to get it perfectly in the center and find the "sweet spot" when closing the quick release.
I am now running an XT rotor (which seems to be more true out of the box than the HFX rotors) front and back. I err on the side of slight rub when on the stand, but no rub when on the bike. Everytime I have to remove that rear wheel however, I have to take about 3 minutes or so to get the QR on the "sweet spot" again....

 

[eatdrinkride]

I had to shim my hayes mags using provided shims or you can use thin washers of your own. Its funny, the front has a tendancy to make noise when riding on pavement but is absolutely quiet on the trails. Guess my bike just doesn't like road riding, haha.

Also a suggestion. Assuming your rotors are true...when setting your pads do try this...
Push the pads and piston all the way back into the caliper (maybe remove pads first to do this). Then before applying the brake insert a playing card on either side of rotor. Fully squeeze lever. This might help, might not....

 

[UpgradeItis]

Another trick you might want to try with Hayes brakes is to push the pistons back out and put a business card between the brakepads and rotor on each side when readjusting. When you push the pistons remember to crack the fluid reservoir a bit.

 

[Robbz]

Does it make a difference, playing card or business card?

 

[eatdrinkride]

Does it make a difference, playing card or business card?

Haha I was waiting for that.

 

[UpgradeItis]

No...just something with that kind of thickness. The whole idea behind it is to set the pads farther away from the pads.

 

[eyderman]

Thanks

Thank you all for your replies, I'll try the card thing between the rotor and pads.

 

[Redmon]

Im not much of a mechanic but heres what worked for me: I loosened the bolts that control the side to side movement of the caliper. Then, with the bolts loose I squeezed the brake a few times to make sure it was centered and carefully tightened the bolts back up without moving the caliper. No more drag

Shawn

 

[Innocent Bystander]

I agree with Upgradeitis, the HFX9's seem to come a bit tight out of the box. After a few weeks of riding and hard braking, the pads wear enough for it to not be a problem.

Due to the self adjusting mechanism on the Hayes brakes, by adding the business cards... playing cards... credit cards.. food stamps.. whatever.. to the mix, you are fooling the pads into thinking the rotor is a bit thicker than it is.

The procedure should be.....

Remove the caliper
Pry the pads apart a bit with the open end of a wrench, or large screwdriver
Put the caliper back on WITHOUT squeezing the lever
Place the cards in between the pads and the rotor
Squeeze the lever a few times
Remove the cards
Cross your fingers
Ride

 

[Quattro]

I had the same problem

I don't have a Yeti, but it turned out that my main pivot bearing on my Tracer was going bad. I tried everything. Then I heard a noise from the pivot while riding. It turned out the bearing was shot and the stay would move and the brake would rub. I had checked before, but hadn't noticed any play. I carefully checked and put some real pressure on the stay and found the problem. I haven't had any brake rub since I put a new set of bearings on the bike.

 

[Unknownrash]

you should also try some different quick releases. the same thing happens on my bike with certain quick releases. Sometimes I think it's the amount of clamping pressure that you apply to the rear and if it's not enough it allows the rear end to flex around.