I'll tell you what I did today...I learned a lesson that should never have to be learned. I'm only going to admit it for the same reasons people share details of NDs. Hopefully somebody learns something.
Wife's brakes have been making noise. Sounded like just the front so I grabbed a set of pads yesterday and told my son (11) we had a project this morning. Figured I'd walk him through the job in the hopes he'd do his own work in the future.
Car is a 2005 Pilot with ~160K on it. I've done multiple pad changes on it. But I've never changed the rotors. They need it, but this is the only car I've ever worked on that the rotors were attached to the hubs with screws...and I've never been able to break them loose. So, I do a pad slap job and move on.
Jack up one side, remove the wheel, swap the pads, install the wheel, done. Quick work. Repeat on the other side. Take it for a spin.
What. The. Crap. Is. That. Noise?!? Figured maybe the rotors had finally had it. Get back in the driveway and send my son inside. It's one of those moments where I just don't need anybody asking questions.
Pull the passenger wheel off to start checking, and notice what looks like metal shavings. Didn't take long to find the issue. Inner pad was installed with the metal side facing the rotor.
This is even after I'd mentioned to him that the pads were shaped symmetrically so they could be installed on either side. I had blindly reached in and inserted the pad without paying enough attending. Nice little piston ring on the pad side now. Quick fix, not really any harm done to the parts...but a major one to the ego.
I've done dozens of brake jobs on probably a dozen different vehicles. Never made this mistake before, and I'd like to think it'll never be made again.