Just Me

my guess is in the last 5 months he got his answer

wibs

So after many months since I posted the last response, I have learned some new things.

A) The item you mentioned above is probably the reason why I am having some issues. My guide bolts were the old ones (they weren't grooved that I could see) but I didn't add ADDITIONAL high temp grease after I cleaned them when I took them out originally (they had some on still). I suspect this may be the cause of some of my problems and perhaps why my car has been dragging on the right all along... or maybe I messed up my alignment banging on the wheel to get the factory rotor off--I was hitting it pretty hard for a long time to break all the rust up.

B) The stopping power issue subsided over the next few days. I never did get the VAG-COM to cycle my abs pump but I did a poor-man's (well, non-equipment) version of it, I just ran the car up to 60-70 and slammed on the brakes after the bedding-in period was over about 10 times. After that and some additional time, my brake feel returned to normal. I've done some high speed driving/repeated braking and it seems to work well. I'm sure there's a little air in the brake lines still, I'll maybe try to bleed them again soon or in the spring (not planning on going to the track before then).

C) That power bleeder was worth it's weight in gold. I will never ever try to bleed my brakes again without one.

D) I still think that maybe I didn't evenly tighten my bolts/caliper carrier bolts on the car. It's my suspicion that there may be some minor alignment issues due to uneven tightness of the bolts. I'm not sure how much difference 5-10 lbs of torque will make on alignment of the system but nonetheless, I'm skeptical. The next time I do this, I'll rent or buy a torque wrench so I am applying the correct amount of torque to the bolts (I'm a spirited driver, I'd prefer everything to be factory spec, or as close as possible).

I have a ton of pics from the process, I'll make a how-to for dummies sometime when I'm not buried with work and new baby stuff (my first).

Thanks for your feedback guys, I hope others find these threads helpful.

Vorsprung my ass

I replaced my front brake pads, and kept my old rotors about a month ago. First both front wheels were draging. Today i changes my wheels and saw that only passenger side is draging now. I still got a awful noise that starts around 40 km/h. Its definitely a drag noise. Hope it sorts it self out soon cause i don't now what to do with it.