Hawk Brake Pads Too Thick

[lonestar1]

Gentlemen, decided to upgrade my brake pads with Hawk Performance pads for 2002 GT. Tried to put caliper back on and realized the Hawk pads are much thicker than others I've used. I can actually get the caliper on with a rubber hammer, but it is really going to bind. Never had this problem before.
Thought about having the rotors cut, but I don't think this would be enough to matter and I don't like to do this anyway. Can the pads be ground down? Would this ruin the integrity? Don't want to drive with them this tight to wear them down. Can't be good.
Should I send the pads back or try something to get them to work.
Thanks for the help.
Lonestar 1

 

[madspeed]

did you compress the caliper piston(s)?

 

[lonestar1]

All the way in.

 

[jetmech807]

GT rotors or have you upgraded to Cobra rotors?

 

[mransr]

I know this sounds silly, but do you have the right pads on the inside? The alignment pins are slightly different between the inboard and outboard pads, and if they are reversed it will make it real hard to slide the caliper over the rotors.

 

[n0v8or]

Does this problem exist on the front calipers, rear calipers, or both?

The new pads can be thinned and chamfered with a vice and portable sanding belt (been there, done that), but it is hard to maintain uniform thickness.

 

[89lxsport50]

Same thing happened with mine. The Hawk pads were too thick. I had to sand them down quite a bit before they would fit over the rotors. It turned a simple brake job into an all day affair. I hated those pads. They stopped on a dime, but made a lot of dust and squealed like a pig. I got sick of it and replaced them with Akebono ceramic pads. No dust, no noise.