I tried to replace the rear brake pads today, and ran into an issue with the first wheel I tried. The caliper won't go back on. I compressed the cylinder all the way, but now it won't fit over the new brake pads (there's plenty of space between the piston and pad). Trying to force it pretty much applies the brakes. As you can see, there's a misalignment, and I can't figure out why. I tried 1 old and 1 new pad and it went back on. I'm wondering if it's a bracket issue? This caliper isn't that old (put it on around 2019).

. You can line up one of the mounting holes, but the other is off, and trying to force it on pretty much applies the brakes it's so tight.

 

As for the pads: They were put on new when I replaced the caliper. Inside one was down to metal while the outside is still a bit more than half there.

 

Well I wound up getting a new caliper and bracket, and everything went together perfectly. So I tried the other side, and it was the same story. Apparently the pads (off brand from Napa) wouldn't work with those calipers, so I had to get another (calipers were Napa too). Anyone else ever have this issue?

 

That's interesting that the caliper fixed the issue. I would have said that 100% of your issue is the pad material was likely too thick.
We've been running into THAT problem for about 15 or 20 years now, on all sorts of vehicles. Mostly older ones though.
That's where either the brake shoe OR brake pad friction material was far too thick to allow the existing drums to go over the shoes, or the calipers to slide down over the rotor.

Sorry I can't really tell what's going on in your close-up shot above. But that's probably more that I'm not as intimately familiar with your setup that I am with others, rather than the issue not showing in the pic.
I'll go back and see if I can see it more clearly. But in the end, did you compare calipers side by side to see what exactly the difference was, that allowed the new ones to fit where the old ones did not?

Paul

 

No I didn't. I just stuck them on. The guy at Napa thought it might be the brake pads since they're low end ones so that would make sense.