So I forgot to put brake grease/lube on this part of my brake pads…

How important is it to have lube on the back side of the brake pads, where the pad and caliper meet? (as shown in the red on the picture) I completely forgot to do it when changing pads and rotors, but I did put the lube on the slide pins as well as the “ears” of the brake pads.

I know it’s technically “safe” to drive like this but I just don’t want to possible mess anything up like my calipers. Thanks for the help

 

Won't mess anything up, may make them noisier

 

It won’t hurt anything but the pads may rattle or squeak. Easy fix - takes maybe 5 min to pull the pins and slide out the pads to lube once you have the wheel off.

 

I've never put grease there. You'll be fine.

 

If they don’t squeak let it be. If they do, pull them off and apply some grease.

Grease the caliper pins as well. You don’t want those to seize in there.

 

You're fine. The only reason grease is applied there is to keep the pads from squealing from brake dust.

 

It just stops the pad from sticking/freezing to the piston, and helps eliminate the pad vibrating against any of the pistons which will result in squeaking/eeking noises sometimes, not always.

I can't tell you how many (decades?) I went without bothering to do it, living down here in the south, but I can count on one hand how few times I've ever had rattle, vibration, or other issues after doing several dozen pad swaps, and I've had more issues on rear discs than front for some reason.

 

I didn't even know this was a thing. I've never done it in 20 years of replace brakes on various vehicles.

 

More important now with the ceramic pads that like to sing, vs the semi-metallics of old

 

You never got pads with the orange stuff or high temp grease for the backs?
orange stuff may have been more then 20 years ago

 

You know, once I took OFF brakes that it looked like were glued to the calipers pistons with orange RTV....but no, I've never done that.

 

Yep that's the stuff
I haven't put anything on the back of pads for a long time
Most pads like the ones shown come with the plastic or whatever insulator on them

 

Actually, friction generally being a bad thing, wouldn't one put the grease on the part of the pad that contacts the rotor?



Just kidding! Don't do that!!!

I think your brakes will just squeak more like the guys replied above.

 

That would probably be this product, which I also use.

But IMHO the main purpose of this product is to glue the shims (when present, as they are for our OEM pads) to the back of the pad. It shouldn't be (again IMHO) used on any surface where it contacts a piston. If it were, failure to remove the excess at every pad change could cause improper seating, bedding problems, and any other number of things.

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