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Matco Brake Relining Kit Problem...

Piper J3

Well Known Member
It won?t be too much longer and I?ll need to install the first set of brake pads that I relined myself using Matco Brake Relining Kit and a Brake Shoe Lining Riveting Tool. The two backing plates are different thickness and require either a short or long Matco brake rivet.

My concern is that with the thicker plate and longer rivet I can?t get a good ?shop head?. The thinner plate and shorter rivet make a good ?shop head?. It seems like the thicker plate should have a counterbore for the ?shop head? like on the thinner plate.

Anybody else got this problem?

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Flip the thick plate over

I think I see the problem. The thick plate seems to be flipped upside down. The pads should be on the other face. In left frame of the first photo, you can see the round wear mark where the puck pushes on the plate. Those should be on the back side right? Nice photos, BTW.
 
I think I see the problem. The thick plate seems to be flipped upside down. The pads should be on the other face. In left frame of the first photo, you can see the round wear mark where the puck pushes on the plate. Those should be on the back side right? Nice photos, BTW.

No, the thick plate is the stationary plate that bolts solid to the caliper. Piston only pushes on the thin plate that slides on pins. The thick plate doesn't have counterbore on either side, so I'm totally at a loss here.

I emailed Matco and await a response which I will share soonest...
 
If I understand you correctly, the think plate doesn't back up against anything. If that is the case, why are the protruding rivets a problem?
 
Swiftline service

Save the hassle. Buy the Swiftline kit. It is basically another set of shoes and linings.

After your SwiftLine purchase, any time you send your brake shoes in with spent linings, they will be relined for 20% off the cost of the reline kit. There is no labor charge removing the old linings and installing the new ones ! Call for a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number when sending in shoes with spent linings to minimize the turn around time.

Send the spent brakes in as soon as you change them and you then always have a spare set of brakes ready to go on the shelf. Once you have the Swiftline service this is cheaper than installing linings yourself and it's done right.

Of course, you may actually enjoy riveting on brake linings?
 
Not sure what is happening here, but I believe that the shop head should be made by the material making a nice 180* turn, with the end of the rivet, after the 180, touching the backing plate. In your picture of the "Good" rivet," your material just makes a little tulip, with no contact. I would be concerned with these loosening over time.

Not an expert here, but I believe this type of rivet requires the full turn with the end of the rivet material pressed against the backing material. Take a look at a picture of a manufactured brake pad. It achieves it's objective very differently than a solid rivet. It is a lot more like a formed grommet.

Larry
 
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Save the hassle. Buy the Swiftline kit. It is basically another set of shoes and linings.

After your SwiftLine purchase, any time you send your brake shoes in with spent linings, they will be relined for 20% off the cost of the reline kit. There is no labor charge removing the old linings and installing the new ones ! Call for a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number when sending in shoes with spent linings to minimize the turn around time.

Send the spent brakes in as soon as you change them and you then always have a spare set of brakes ready to go on the shelf. Once you have the Swiftline service this is cheaper than installing linings yourself and it's done right.

Of course, you may actually enjoy riveting on brake linings?

+1 I do this as well, works great.
 
This is what my MATCO brake looks like, You can see where the puck pushes on the thick aluminum piece. Apparently, yours are different.

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Not sure what is happening here, but I believe that the shop head should be made by the material making a nice 180* turn, with the end of the rivet, after the 180, touching the backing plate. In your picture of the "Good" rivet," your material just makes a little tulip, with no contact. I would be concerned with these loosening over time.

Not an expert here, but I believe this type of rivet requires the full turn with the end of the rivet material pressed against the backing material. Take a look at a picture of a manufactured brake pad. It achieves it's objective very differently than a solid rivet. It is a lot more like a formed grommet.

Larry

I agree

The rivets labeled good, are not good.
Either the tool that is being used, or the technique being used is suspect.
 
Update...

I emailed Matco and showed them pics of my rivets, and like Scott says, none are any good. Turns out the riveting tool I was using is not up to scratch. Matco suggested a screw-type rivet press and so I bought a Rapco Brake Rivet Tool RA825 from Aircraft Spruce and it does a beautiful job. Rivets are now rolled over tight against the backing plates. Easy-peasy like my triplet granddaughters say. Continuous learning process I guess...

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