OK, I have heard of this happening, but through 2.5 years of tracking I had not seen it. Doing the post event stuff after Road Atl, inspecting the rears. Checking the pads, something looks wrong here, wait, where in the heck are the pins?



So obviously I need to get some new pins. But real question is, how do you keep this from happening in the first place?

 

i saw someone mention recently about tying them in...but im not exactly sure how. possibly drill a small hole in the spring and safety wire it to the pin?

 

Mine popped out early '07 at Barber on her 3rd ever track weekend, had to make makeshift bolts for the x hour drive back to Orlando, had pics on here at one point but can't find them, if you need pics leme know. Basically get 8 new OEM rear pins, put 1 whole set in your box for what-ifs. Take the other set of OEM rear pins and modify them so you can insert clips into the ends. In my case I used a belt sander to sand the angled part (end) of the pin facing outside flat, then used a drill press to carefully make a hole, and stick small clips in. Haven't lost any since

 

Is the issue the pins sliding out, or the spring popping out? I guess one would lead to the other either way.

 

Same thing happened to my VIII and IX, simple fix is to clean the area around the ends and add a dab or RTV. I also lost the wear plate that looks to be missing on yours too.

 

Pretty sure Hoops lost his during One Lap last year too.

I've never had the issue fortunately! Btw, if those lugnuts are the same long plastic ones I got with a set of wheels - get rid of them asap. They're liable to strip and/or partially melt!

 

Plastic lug nuts? You are kidding, right?

Those are the muteki Steel Extended lug nuts. I don't trust Aluminum and can't see dropping $$$$ for Ti to save an ounce or two.

 

I lost mine last year at Summit. Was running really hard and working the brakes... pins worked themselves out and lost them on rear right caliper. Subaru's have little metal clips that help hold them in, but Evo's didn't get them. I just replaced them with OEM pins (and I bring extras) and check after every session that they are properly seated.

 

I have never had it happen but I always have extra pins with me because I have seen it happen. I do question if they just didn't seat well on reinstall. They do go in deeper then flush so you really need to tap them in with a nail or something. Plus with the friction created by the retainer they can't exactly just slide out easily. Who kno's, the wire tie and tiny hole would be my fix if it ever happens.

 

After taking a quick look, there sure isn't a lot of room to drill z hole. Looks like a PIA! I'd try thread sealer or a silicone to just give you a bit more stick. Or a piece of duct tape over the hole. It would probably melt right to the caliper and create a nice sticky bonding material. Lol

 

Thinking about this also makes me wonder if the retaining spring/plate failed and that's why the pins came out? I always give them a bend when I reinstall to make it very tight to slide the pins in. It's hard to see the pins just coming out with the kind of upward tension that is on them.

 

Question, anybody ever drill out the small holes on the front of the caliper and get a long skinny bolt to run all the way through and put a locknut on? This is the appraoch AP took with the calipers on my front.

Or at a minimum open up the small hole equal to the backside hole and get a long enough shaft all the way through so you can put a decent sized retainer clip on it.

 

I've never had this problem either, I normally use a stubby phillips screwdriver to push them in further. I also carry a small spool of safety lock-wire to use instead of the pins in case this happens to me.

 

Safety wire, clips, pretty much anything metal. Here's what I did, kinda hard to see but you get the idea. I got one of those assorted boxes of clips from Harbor Freight so any SS ones would be better. Any kind of grease or anything won't cut it, you REALLY need something in there. And I always go up under the car, use a nail punch, and tap them in as far as they go, but they still "go."

 

Simple and effective! Thanks!

And yes I always fully seat mine till they are just below flush. Same drift punch I use to tap them out works the other way. I made it through 2.5 years of heavy tracking before it happened. But once is enough.