Brake pad drag reduction clips (tested)

[EcoCivic]

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?

[oil pan 4]

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

[cowmeat]

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.

[MetroMPG]

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.

[redneck]

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






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[MetroMPG]

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.

[redneck]

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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...




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[EcoCivic]

Originally Posted by redneck

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






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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.

[Ecky]

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.

[EcoCivic]

Originally Posted by Ecky

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