Took my front wheel off to have a fresh boot put on so I checked out the pads. Looks like the pads on the left caliper have been wearing at a slight angle like this |/ /|. I have never felt any vibration or had any kinds of braking issues.

I definitely need new pads but will they work or is that angle from an issue with the rotor. Also I read that you can sand your rotors with 600 grit then wash them with soap and water to "freshen" them up. Is this okay. I am desperately trying to avoid buying new rotors.

 

When you replace the pads, put some brake lube on the pad anywhere it touches the caliper and hardware. This will help keep them sliding evenly. DO NOT PUT IT ON THE BRAKE SURFACE.

 

Make sure your brake caliper's pistons move freely by pushing the brake a bit when the caliper is off the rotor, but not too much or you'll pop the pistons out. Push the calipers in, they should go in by hand with moderate force, inspect the piston sleeves for corrosion before pushing them all the way in, make sure the surface between the piston and the pad is clean, also check that the pad won't stick into the slides around it (clean with sandpaper) put copper paste between the pad and the piston, and between the pad and the slides, make sure the bolts that secure the caliper are straight and in good nick, make sure the possible rubbers between the caliper and the bolts are intact. If the rotor itself is not slanted and has no significant shoulder from wear it should be ok. Can't see why you should sand the rotors, doing that by hand could result in slight differences in the thickness and could cause the brakes to vibrate. My best guess is that the caliper is not sitting straight, so I would start from the bolts, they usually are pretty soft and bend fairly easy.

 

The calipers are bad or needs cleaned up. Sounds like one piston is pushing out and the other is stuck.

 

which way the pads are crooked? Front/back or top/low side?

 

Am I the only one completely confused by this? A boot is either something you put your feet in and walk around on or if your in england its the trunk of a car. Your saying you took the tire off, how did you do that with the rim still mounted and what exactly is the boot?

As for the calipers, I'd suggest VERY SLOWLY pulling the brake lever with the calipers off the rotors and allow the pistons to push out as far as possible without poping them out completely. Then clean them up with brake cleaner. Don't be shy with the cleaning either.

 

haha in this case when I said "boot" I meant "tire". I did word that confusing and I just edited it. Around here, maybe its very isolated, its not that uncommon to call tires: sneakers, kicks, or boots.