brake pads, you'd think simple no?

Long story short: Can I dremel some material off of new brake pads or the actually pad holder (inner part of caliper) over the rotor to make room for a clearance issue?

Long story long: JC Whitney are refusing to let me return a set of pads that do not fit (without fees), and here's why... They only stock two sets of pads for about 6 or 7 models of 1990 Galant in the economy Raybestos brand (need cheap but don't want low quality). I know for dang sure I do not have a DOHC turbo obviously, so the only other part number were for LS, Base, ETC... SOHC engines, yay, that's what I have so that's what I ordered right? Wrong.

Their customer service is telling me it's my fault for ordering the incorrect pads because in fine print the base pads (SOHC) are only for 1990 Galants that came with OEM Ceramic pads from the factory, and it's up to me, the consumer to PROVE my car came with these Ceramic pads from the factory in order to return them due to improper fit. Well... if their database is showing every single trim of 1990 Galant can come with OEM Ceramic, and they ONLY HAVE this pad, it is a wise assumption that my car and well, ALL 1990 Galants came with said pads. Otherwise, for sure they would have pads that fit such a mainstream vehicle. A third option or third part number maybe.

Having said that: The pads fit perfect on the outside of the rotor, however inside there is a clearance issue between the bottom of the pad and the pad holder/second half of the caliper. A centimeter or two mind you, but enough to know that with a tiny dremel it may actually be a tedious and time consuming job.

Do I waste my time researching if my paticular car came with OEM Ceramics OR Do I waste my time modifying these pads and/or caliper? I only say waste my time because I work nights, and the past two mornings I have come home to work on the car before bedtime, which for me is 9am, only to find out just today that they don't fit. The other days were spent using pentrating oil, etc... to break the caliper bolt, who I now call rusty, free.

For saftey reasons, get correct pads. Take your old pads with you to the autopart store to compare.

Forget about ceramic this and metallic that, at this point it sounds like you just need a brake pad that fits.

Well, I can't go to JC Whitney for obvious reasons, and I can't just eat 10 bucks for the fun of it, and I need brake pads... I don't give a sh*t about ceramic pads, THEY give a sh*t about ceramic pads and I cannot return these without proving that my car came with ceramic pads from the factory, so I won't have money for pads that fit until that happens.

Still at a stalemate I guess. All I wanted was a cheap pad that fits, lol.

Eat the $10. I know my safety is worth more than $10

Sigh, send them back, eat the 10 bucks, wait a week for JC Whitney to get them back, another week for the money to be processed back to my card, compromise my principals, then I can go buy a set of inferior pads at Autozone yay...

So there's absolutely no way to know if my paticular 1990 Galant came with OEM Ceramics just so I don't HAVE to eat the 10 bucks? My Haynes says nothing on this subject, I kinda doubt if I called the local dealership with my VIN that they would be able to tell since I called them in the past with my '97's VIN and they weren't able to look up jack on the car.

Oh, does anyone know a link to a VIN database thing for Galants? You know where you enter your VIN and it breaks it down to the options and assembly plant and all those details? I've done that with Fords and Toyotas in the past and was able to get some good info.

I would have went to Autozone to begin with. You say they are inferior yet you only paid 10 bucks. Its not much, I wipe my ass with $10 everyday for lunch at work.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oakrdrs187

I would have went to Autozone to begin with.

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^^^ Cheap pads that fits...

personally this is why i deal with R1 concepts for all of my vehicles. the 1g, bmw, and the galant all have r1 brakes. everything fits right the first time and the 1 time i had an issue it was taken care of very quickly with even higher grade pads. ironically it was the opposite issue you are having, i got fwd single piston pads when i have dual pistons stock on the 1g

^^^Hear hear support our vendors.

Paid twenty, costs ten to ship back, still ten less than what I started with. You may wipe your ass with ten bucks however I'm not white collar so I can't. Just being honest. If money were no concern then this wouldn't be a thread, so do I really have to say "duh". Did not think I had to point out the obvious.

But... thanks for the advice everyone, autozone, advance, napa, etc... cannot match the price to quality ratio of the Raybestos (they can match the quality but then price goes out the window), I'll try the other suggestion this friday when I get my workin-man-who-pays-the-bills paycheck.

Off to R1 I go...

EDIT: Apologies for my high amount of crassness, I just cannot wrap my head around the shitty shitty shitty customer service from what seems to be one of the bigger online autoparts retailers. Money might be an object of this but also it is principal as well. You sell me an item that doesn't fit and refuse to let me return it without fees (which totals half the damn price of the item itself)? F*CK YOU JC Whitney. At least Sears would mail me out a return label for UPS, SEARS!!! Bankrupt ass SEARS has better customer service than JC Whitney, who knew? And yes, I miss my white collar desk job at Sears making 20 bucks an hour full time plus benifits and overtime.