ye old caliper rattle

[Ty18769]

Hey guys. I have noticed that my front calipers' rattle is getting a bit excessive. At low speeds it is audible above the engine! It even chatters a bit at rough idle. When i apply the brake it stops, of course. I have read a few places that they make an anti rattle clip. Can anyone attest to this? Posting pics of the caliper so you can see my setup. My local shop guru thought the added vibration at low speeds was coming from a mismatched set of tires (dunlop rear, and avon 21" front) Once you get up to speed it seems to dampen (maybe because I can't hear it over the wind). Any ideas?

[cat5752]

It ain't from having mismatched tires, cuz my 85 FXRS does the same thing and I have Avons on it. Same as yours, when you touch the front brake it quits. Mine will also do it at idle waiting for a light. I know that on my 75 Sportster, they do make a spring that snaps over the caliper and goes to the caliper mounting bracket, and it tightened it up a lot. It had the same symptoms until I put the spring on there. I don't have my Parts Catalog with me, but it might be listed in there as it was on my Sportster. The spring was $1.98.

[cat5752]

Bump. Surely someone knows how to fix this? Mine is getting so bad it is distracting.

[LowRiderCustom]

My front brake does the same thing. I took it apart and the outer pad floats in a steel plate, so the noise we hear is the the pad jiggling around when the rotor passes thru it. I'm gonna make a narrow spring steel shim and put a bend in it, then slip it between the outer edge of the pad and the inner edge of the opening in the steel plate. If it works I'll let you giuys know and I'll post some pics of the shim when it's in place.

[Ty18769]

Originally Posted by LowRiderCustom

My front brake does the same thing. I took it apart and the outer pad floats in a steel plate, so the noise we hear is the the pad jiggling around when the rotor passes thru it. I'm gonna make a narrow spring steel shim and put a bend in it, then slip it between the outer edge of the pad and the inner edge of the opening in the steel plate. If it works I'll let you giuys know and I'll post some pics of the shim when it's in place.

Cool. I disassembles the caliper and took it off the bike for an inspection. I see what you're saying. If you can fabricate something that would work, that'd be great. I am wondering if the clip on the outer pad of mine is worn. I ordered some new pads. Does anyone know if the clip comes with the pads? Probably not. Where can I get a replacement clip without buying a whole new caliper? The inside does seem to just float in there. Kinda lame design. Can't believe there isn't something aftermarket to fix that inner pad just floating in there.

Ty

[LowRiderCustom]

I make billet aluminum parts for the GM W-Body cars in my spare time, and sell them on my website. If this spring steel shim solves the problem I will make them available thru my website.