they are the anti-rattle clips... not to be mistaken for the anti-squeal shims that you are supposed to glue to the back of the pads. these clips are V-shaped, thinner in diameter than a coat hanger and the tips of the V go into the metal backing plates of the pads themselves. they apply outward pressure on the pads, away from the rotor surface.

the rubber seals you see on the calipers themselves are actually just dust boots... they dont actually hold in the brake fluid or any pressure. there is another rubber seal on the piston, like a piston ring, which seals the piston against the caliper body. if youve ever taken apart a master cylinder or slave cylinder, you know what seal i mean.

i may be able to adjust the brake pedal actuator rod so there is a little slack. i suppose its possible that the pedal rod is overadjusted and applying a slight amount of force on the master cylinder itself and the pistons in the master cylinder are unable to retract and return to their at-rest position. ill try to mess with that tomorrow. if youve ever adjusted the clutch slave cylinder rod under the dash on a car, youll know which rod i mean.

but, these brake lines are bad ass. you can feel the brakes grab as soon as you apply a tiny bit of pressure, and its like stepping on a board... which is how it should be. im so used to pedal travel equating in to braking force. in reality, brake fluid doesnt compress and in an ideal situation, the brake pedal would NOT move at all, except to take up any slack in the physical portion of the braking system (clearance between pads/piston and rotor, clearance between brake pedal and master cylinder) then it would come to a stop and the pedal would no longer move. at this point, brake pedal pressure equates into caliper pressure and braking force. this is EXACTLY what these brake lines do. the harder you press the pedal, the harder the brakes grab; as it should be... WITHOUT brake pedal travel.

i would highly recommend these brake lines to anyone who uses the brakes on their cars!