2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid. Replaced my rear brakes and rotors myself for the first time this weekend with some youtube guides. Went pretty smooth aside from having to hammer the old rotor off.
When putting the caliper guide pins back in, I removed them from the bracket / rubber boot, sprayed them with break clean and wiped them down, then applied syl-glide generously and put them both back in the caliper bracket. I noticed one of the pins (bottom pin on each bracket) have a little thin piece of black metal or plastic wrapped around the end of it, about a quarter inch up from the end. When I gave them a squeeze in the caliper to see how they moved, the top one that didn't have the black piece moves very quickly, smoothly, and freely and springs right back out when you push it in. The bottom one that has the black piece doesn't move nearly as quickly and doesn't spring back out as much as the other when you push it in. It's almost as if that black piece adds the slightest bit of diameter to the pin to make it not move quite as freely. You can even hear the suction "pop" sound as you pull the pin from the caliper bracket. I even noticed my old break pads had uneven wear, with the short edge toward the bottom pin being slightly thinner than the edge toward the top pin.
Is this normal or designed this way? Should I do something to correct it or don't worry about it?
I'm even trying to find a picture of the pin to show you guys what I'm talking about, but I can't find any images or even youtube videos with the black piece at the end of it.
