I am having trouble with my rear brakes. I have a 96 sportsman 400 and I am in the process of doing some long overdue maintenance. I rebuilt the whole front end, with no problems brakes and all. Now I am doing the back and I changed the rear brakes. They are on the center sprocket. Once I changed then I can have the adjustment screw all the way out and when I first ride they are free and when i go for a little while they are rubbing to the point that I have bad brake fade where the front brakes will not even work. I am out of ideas how to fix this besides take the pads back off and sand them down to make them thinner. I am sure they are the right pads same part number but I can not get them on without them rubbing. I compress the piston the whole way followed everything by the book, with the same result. any help on this I would appreciate. I am actually debating on just taking the pads off and using the front. The rear always need adjustment from my experience anyhow.

 

is the caliper hanging up from corrsion or dirt built up and not letting them release? just an idea

 

Set the screw where you have a little peddle on the rear.This can help.If the piston is not returning you may need a new caliper or (if can find it) a rebuild kit

 

well what I ended up doing was taking a grinder and grind the pads down some. It seems to have fixed the problem for now. I do not like to fix things this way, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. thanks all

 

A new set of pads will rub slightly on the rotors when first installed but they will wear down quick while your riding .

 

Make sure the foot activated part of the rear brake which is mechanical is adjusted right and not siezed. There should be a fair amount of foot pedal travel on the mechanical side before it applies. Also it can get rusty and not work well.
Move the caliper piston in and out to free it up, maybe bleed it real good to get fresh fluid down there. May have to rebuild it with new orings and scotch brite the piston bores.