Brake pad drag reduction clips (tested)
 

Hello everyone, I have recently came to the conclusion that brake pad drag reduction clips are in fact a good idea. About 2 years ago I installed a set of drag reduction clips on my 2005 Honda Civic's front brakes about a month after I installed steel braided brake lines, Hawk pads, and drilled and slotted rotors. I wasn't expecting much difference, but I like testing these kinds of things out to see if they really work, and I figured for $5 why not. I installed the clips and didn't really notice any differences in how the wheels spun. However, I decided that this is not a valid test because the front wheels are so draggy anyways since they are connected to the transmission, so I figured any reduction in brake drag may not be detectable since the vast majority of the drag is coming from the transmission rather than the brakes.

So I decided to give drag reduction clips one more chance on my rear disc brakes. My thought is it would be much easier to tell if they work on the rear brakes since the only drag on the rear wheels is the wheel bearings and the brakes, and the brakes create noticeable drag when spinning the wheels. I noticed that ever since I converted to rear disc brakes that the rear wheels didn't spin as freely as they did with the factory drums. With the factory drums the wheel would spin for 20 or so seconds when I spin it, but only about 5-10 seconds with the disc brakes and I can hear them slightly dragging. Probably insignificant, but definitely enough drag that I would be able to see an improvement with drag reduction clips if they work.

So I ordered a set of Raybestos drag reduction clips for the back brakes for less than $5 to see how they work. Once I installed them, I could feel right away that the wheel spun more freely than it did before. Now it will spin for around 15 seconds, which shows a significant reduction in drag, almost eliminating it. I can still hear a little drag, but it's very slight compared to without the clips. I can't think of a good way to measure brake drag other than how long the wheel spins and how it sounds while spinning, but still not great tests because I may spin it slightly harder one time than another, and noise is rather subjective. There aren't any noticeable differences while driving, but I feel like the car starts rolling a little faster when I release the brake from a stop.

From these results I would say that drag reduction clips do work, at least in certain situations. If the pads or calipers are stuck it's clearly not going to help, but those clips worked for me when I tested them on a healthy brake system. I am sure that brake drag doesn't waste a whole lot of fuel. That slight drag probably doesn't cause a whole lot of wear either. However, for the price of these clips and considering how easy they are to install, there is no reason to not install them. The way I see it it's basically an easy, quick, almost free improvement with no downsides.

Anyone else use these drag reduction clips or have any thoughts or experiences with them?

I use them on the leaf.
Don't be afraid to double up on the clips if you need to.

I doubled up on them on my Festiva back when I did a lot of P&G, and it coasted really well for its boxy shape.

In the summer, I looked, but couldn't find a cheap set of clips (aren't they really more like springs?) for the MPGiata.



This thread makes me want to look harder.

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You can make (bend) your own from bicycle or motorcycle spokes.



;)


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Oh yes? I tried making a few with binder clip springs (read about it on the internet!) but they just didn't seem stiff enough. They would unbend when installing them.

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Most spokes will work. Big box store bikes though tend to have junky wheel sets.

Just sacrifice one of your older bikes...

:D


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I have heard of people doing that and I may have tried it if I had more time. However, I have been extremely busy lately, so for the less than $5 the clips costed me shipped to my door I decided to just buy them, install them, and move on.

I had these on my car some years back. Every little bit helps, but I'm thinking that even though they made a noticeable difference when spinning the wheel while it was off the ground, it would almost certainly disappear into background noise while driving.

For $5 though? Why the heck not.

I agree! It’s cheap and easy, people spend a lot more than $5 and work a lot harder to get similar or smaller gains. And most importantly there is no downside whatsoever to these clips, they don’t adversely affect anything

I wonder how much these added. These are standard on everything now that doesn't have severe knock-back problems (c-clip stick axle performance cars that take high g turns).
Prius has them front and rear.
Mustang had them up front but not the rear bc c-clip axle hero car. :P

Upon further review apparently the oem strikes a balance between long brake pedal, zero pad friction, and anti-rattle.

The drag racing boys love them though. Especially the NA Honda guys. Low drag entire corner assemblies for all da watts.

This seems like a great idea. How are they installed? Are they universal?

They work best with free floating pads. Your Jeep pads clip to the caliper on the outside and into the piston on the inside, I don’t know if you would gain much. You would need to drill small holes in the metal backing to slip the springs into. The Ford F150’s I work on have these springs from the factory.

They are basically springy wire clips that go between the pads to help pull them off the brake rotor when the brake pedal is released so they don't drag against the rotor constantly, they are really easy to install. They are specific to your vehicle, but it's not too hard to find the ones you need. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxFzg_VORQA

I’ve got a video on this! I made mine by bending aluminum bicycle spokes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk6uaHJE7r8

Just buy some and if they don't fit a bend and maybe some cutting and they will.

They look pretty cool. I have disc brakes front and rear so I think this would be pretty good. I think this is what I will do after I finish my current project (making headlamp covers and partial grill block from lexan plastic).

Yeah why not as cheap as they are and as easy as they are to install. Also lubricate where your brake pads slide on the caliper bracket and clean and lubricate the caliper slide pins with silicone grease while you have it apart.

Just did the front brakes on the Fit. New calipers, pads and rotors. The calipers actually came with a set of these, calling them "retention clips".

I went to replace my one with two on my previous vehicle (2005 Tacoma) and found the stock ones had more spring than the aftermarket replacements I had ordered, so I left it alone. On my current driver (1999 4Runner with 2005 Tundra Brakes), I ended up ordering new factory Toyota clips/springs and putting them on both sides of the caliper.

Oh? I was thinking that I needed to do something or have a thinner disc installed, as the brakes are used very little and the drag can be heard...

I have never heard of these clips...

I found some for my Accord! :) Raybestos H6001 Brake Pad Drag Reduction Clips

How long would it take to pay back? They are $6.41!

Depends on how accurately you measure, I imagine. ;)

That doesn't sound very fast! :D

Edit: They are $8.70 for Mom's 2006 Camry. I would do these first because we are taking a road trip in her car soon, but they would not be here until after we return: Raybestos H6037 Brake Pad Drag Reduction Clips

Too bad they don’t have any for a 2000 Insight

Unless the brake pad and caliper design is extremely unusual you can probably modify clips for another vehicle to work or make your own out of bike spokes as some other people have done.

Yeah I used some civic clips for my 2000 Insight. Took some bending though.

That is actually a definitive method - the torque from brake+bearing* drag is (very nearly) constant, so the rate of decrease of wheel rotational velocity is constant, therefore that velocity decreases linearly (to zero) with time. The result is the ratio of times to stop (assuming the same initial velocity) is the inverse ratio of total drag. ...so two to three times as much, therefore one-third to one-half the drag.
Question 3 of the 2018 AP Physics test is a good reference to this phenomenon.

*air resistance at low speed is negligible.

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I tutor AP Physics

Thanks for the demo vids, helped to illustrate the point.

Had this been standard on all vehicles from the beginning, then premature brake/rotor wear, gas & emissions that could have been reduced...

I've noticed jerky back & forth movements when letting go of the accelerator & coasting sometimes seems to staggerdly end more abruptly than it should. Mechanic said the brakes which were just replaced are fitted as they should & he sees nothing wrong.

The pay back on a Nissan leaf is never, unless they allow you to get that last km to a charger so you dont go brick mode on the side of the road. They they pay for them selves 20x over plus whatever not dieing is worth.