A question about front brake pads, anti-rattle springs, and freedom of movement of pads on pins

I have a question for you guys regarding the Brembo style pads on the Off Road trucks.

I had a set of pads I just replaced because after a few months of driving I found that they weren't moving freely on the retaining pins and were slightly dragging, causing a lot of brake dust.

When installing the new pads, I'm finding that once I install the anti-rattle spring the pads don't move nearly as freely as without.

The questions:

1) Are the springs supposed to have any contact with the pins, or is the "U" at the bottom of the spring supposed to be fully clear of the pin as it loops under it?
Mine are touching the pins and I feel like they're restricting the freedom of movement of the pads and pins within the caliper.

2) My understanding is that the purpose of the springs is to keep the pads pushed upward in their channel in the caliper, so that there isn't a lot of slack letting them shift up and down and make noise.
The question is: are the edges of the pads intended to contact that cutout in the caliper, or are they intended to be kept fully clear of the top and bottom of the channel in the caliper by the pins?

3) on a completely pristine install, everything virgin, immaculately clean, with the rotor, caliper, pads pins and springs installed, but the pistons still retracted so that there is not any force bringing pad and rotor into contact yet.
How freely should those pads slide back and forth on the pins/springs? My gut says that they should move with the pressure of a fingertip but I want confirmation.
Same for the pins, how felt should they side left to right in their bores?

The service manual is basically silent on the correct fitment of these parts, it just shows where they go and just says "install the anti-rattle clip" . It also doesn't mention greasing the anti-squeal shims, but I know for sure there was a thick black grease applied under, and between the two layers of shims on my truck from the factory.

The service manual page in question:
https://web.archive.org/web/2019082...06toyrm/06toypdf/06rmsrc/rm2006ta/0420011.pdf

Thanks for any help.

 

Heck now you have me curious. I’ve never paid attention. Although I run a spring top and bottom on my front pads.

 

I have not really paid that much attention to it. I always just did one side at a time and made sure the other side matched.

I do know that I have always used a relatively liberal (not global mind you) of the purple brake caliper lube on the slide pins, the back and side of the pads, and in the channels that the pads ride in.

I've always done the above and never had any problems

 

Have you ever experienced those springs pushing the pads so strongly that they bind, either against the bottom of the caliper opening, or where the arch of the "W" shape wraps around the pin?

Share a photo of your setup?

Thanks, bro.

 

That I have not.

 

Sorry if I didn't specify, I'm talking specifically about the fixed caliper brakes on the 4.0 prerunners.

The "Brembo" style with the square pads.

 

I’m detailing my truck tomorrow and will be pulling the wheels to clean. I’ll see if my front pads are “loose” as in not binding in any way.

 

OP. Here a couple quick pics. Next I could get with the wheels on. Also put my hands on the pads and there is no play in them.

 

That is the perfect angle.

It shows me that the spring should at least be clear of the pin.

Do you have the part number for those springs?

It's weird, because my factory springs definitely didn't look the same. And the crappy O'Reilly ones I'm limping on aren't right either.

 

I should let me look

 

Thanks, I got em.

Man, you really ~~can't thru~~ came through with that photo!

Thanks a million, man.

 

Great!!! Glad I could help. Good luck!!

 

1) Makes no difference.
2) The purpose of the spring clip is to spread the pads away from rotor, minimizing noise. It does a half-assed job since the spring clip spreads only one end of the pad, and can cock the pads leading to uneven wear. One trick some people do is to run spring clips on both the top and bottom pins. There is no mechanism preventing the pads from rattling in the caliper cutout. You put grease on the pad edges where they ride in the caliper.
3) The pins should slide freely within their small range of motion (since there's a locking clip). Put caliper grease on the pins where they go through the caliper. If there's corrosion or roughness on the pins, just replace them with new ones. They're $2 a pair: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=3059253&cc=0&pt=10281&jsn=10527