Brake Stupidity - How?

Doing my 7th condition inspection on my -8A. Replace the brake pads every year. Right brake showed normal wear and assembly - however, I discovered I had riveted the left brake pads backwards with the shop end facing the brake disc. No harm since the pads still extended above the rivet and no metal-to-metal contact was yet made.

However, I am still in a quandary as to how I could have been so stupid as to make such an obvious mistake - on both pad assemblies! Guess I can chalk it up to unobserved cranial rectumitis.

I pride myself in the attention to detail I utilize in the condition inspection - if it can happen to me, it may happen to you.

Don't knock yourself too hard.

It is one of the reasons that I follow an IRAN policy. I don't automatically replace things during inspections as that just introduces another point at which I could make a mistake. Just inspect and replace as necessary. For me, brakes are definitely one of those things as it takes me 3 or 4 years of 75-hours-per-year-of-flying to go through a set of brake pads.

Good luck with the rest of your inspection.

moosepileit said:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjABegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw2RvgtXdXALxJ_2U3e0OSj4

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Great article. Thanks!

pvalovich said:

...how I could have been so stupid as to make such an obvious mistake...

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Don't beat yourself up. I did that once, too. It's easy to do.

The rivets are brass so not to harm the disc. Though if one was to wear the rivets down too much then shoes go flying, not good.