Hit pothole now my brake caliper grinds against wheel?

What would cause the caliper to grind on the wheel/rim? I can barely even stick a finger between the two

Things off the top of my head would be improper installation of the caliper or mounting bracket, aftermarket wheels that don't have enough clearance.

sure its the caliper and not the dust shield hitting the rotor or rim?

i'm going to take the wheel off and take a few photos later today.

I had previously taken of the wheel and replaced the inner brake pad and that took away the grinding sound for a few days but the caliper was still almost touching the rim.

Would a bad tie rod or wheel bearing cause the caliper to push closer to the rim?

I also tried using a old wheel/rim i had lying around to see if its the wheel was bent but the grinding was still present.

I will update with more info later

Just because the caliper is close to the rim doesn't mean it is the cause of the noise. My caliper is within millimeters of my rim and doesn't rub. If the caliper were rubbing you'd definitely know it. I'm with Crvett on this. I bet its the dust shield.

i'm going to take the wheel off and take a few photos later today.

I had previously taken of the wheel and replaced the inner brake pad and that took away the grinding sound for a few days but the caliper was still almost touching the rim.


Normally pads wear equally. So if the inner wore down I suspect caliber slide pins sticking or frozen. Did you clean/grease the pins? Did the caliber move freely by hand? May not be the cause of your grinding but you definitely need to check it.

had some old pads laying around so i just removed caliper again and reinstalled the brakes, the piston had to be compressed so i just used a block of wood and hammer it in a bit(last time i changed inner brake i didn't compress).....took a ride around the block and no grinding noise,but this is the same result i got last time i checked/replaced it.


oh and the caliper is still close to the rim, so maybe thats not the problem?

Normally pads wear equally. So if the inner wore down I suspect caliber slide pins sticking or frozen. Did you clean/grease the pins? Did the caliber move freely by hand? May not be the cause of your grinding but you definitely need to check it.

by slide pins do you mean the two bolts that holds the caliper?

by slide pins do you mean the two bolts that holds the caliper?
The 2 bolts that have the rubber boots. Remove the bolts, pull pads and caliber. the square or round looking pin with rubber boot. It should slide freely in and out. If not, you need to pull them, clean them up including the hole it goes into.(make a note which caliber pin went where. Some are different from top to bottom) Then add some brake caliber grease. FYI. To compress the piston. Use an old brake pad and C clamp. Make sure your brake reservoir cap is off when you compress. Put the cap back on. For safety, always pump the brakes several times whenever you have done brake work. So you don't go pulling out of the driveway and realize you have no brakes.

Edit: Helps if you put the year and engine on future posts.