Rebuilding calipers?

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Happy Sunday BITOG

Does anyone here rebuild their calipers rather than going out and buying third world rebuilt calipers from parts stores?

On Rock Auto, I have found a few name brand rebuild kits for about $10 each for various vehicles. I'm assuming depending on the degree of wear, the piston(s) may need replaced too.

Aside from waiting on shipping and the convenience of local parts stores having what you need in stock, is it worth rebuilding yourself?
 
You will need a cylinder hone. Its not difficult at all. But rebuilt calipers are also pretty cheap these days. Unlike say a rebuilt alternator from some third world country, there is not a lot to go wrong with a rebuilt caliper.

Unless the piston is perfect with its chrome plating, replace it. Same goes for caliper pins.

Remember to soak bleeder screw with PB Blaster if its stuck and use a 6 pt wrench.

You can paint it while your at it.
 
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If you enjoy doing rebuilds and have the time - go for it. Personally, I prefer to give the 3rd world re-builders some reward for their fine skills. Gives me more time to dent my DVR stack.
 
I have rebuilt the ATE calipers on my BMW.

First, I make sure the bleeder is free. If I can't loosen the bleeder , I use the caliper for a core. Then, I loosen the brake hose just a bit

I demount the calipers, but leave the hoses attached

I carefully pump the pedal to ease the pistons outward to where I can pull them out.


I undo the hoses and hang the ends up high to keep them from dripping fluid. I head for the bench. I wire wheel the pistons and around the top of the caliper where the dust seal rides

Hone the bore if you must. I don't. The piston seal is at the top of the bore. As long as the seal is in good shape and the piston is smooth, The bore itself doesn't enter into it. I do wipe out the crud and make sure threads are good on the coupling.

To assemble, I use 3 things: A 6" C clamp, Syl- Glide to lube the dust seal. A small hammer to tap the side of the caliper to keep the piston aligned. I grease up the piston and seal.Then I start the piston in by hand. The hammer is more useful than the C clamp. If the piston is kept straight going in, The clamp isn't needed. If you resort to a C clamp, go easy, use side wise taps with the hammer on the caliper to keep the piston straight. Less is more. The straighter the piston is , the easier it goes in.

I used to use a rebuild kit. 2 pieces of rubber. When I took the old seals off, I noticed that they were in perfect shape. Then I had a rear caliper seize. I bought a set of pads and a qt of brake fluid. I have used the Tube of Syl-Glide for ages. It is good for spark plug boots too.

As I said, this was on an old ATE single piston caliper, I 'got the idea from my BIL, who used a spritz of WD 40 and brushed the worst of the rust away. This was on a GM caliper. They are all pretty much the same.
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I did them for years when calipers were very expensive and reman were few and far between.
When I first started in this business disc brakes were not common, they were for the most part an option on some cars, drums all round were what we saw daily.

The rubber materials back then were not the best and rebuilding the calipers and wheel cylinders was almost mandatory for a good job.
Today there are very few calipers I would consider rebuilding, it would have to be an expensive or rare one to make it worth the time.
 
I've done this in the distant past, when rebuilt calipers were rare and expensive, as Trav has said.
Calipers seem to be much less troublesome these days than was the case forty years ago.
I don't think that I've had to rebuild or replace one since the days of our old '76 Civic.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Remember to soak bleeder screw with PB Blaster if its stuck and use a 6 pt wrench.


Even soaking my PBR calipers' bleeder screws in KROIL did not get them loose.
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I did rebuild mine. Make sure to install the boot and snap ring correctly. Use the other caliper as an example on how to install the boot and snap ring.

Normally there should be no need to hone the cylinder or replace the piston. Clean them and then lubricate them with brake fluid along with the new rubber parts. Clean and use brake grease on the pivots and reinstall the pivot boots correctly.
 
Many years ago, Sure...Its not hard at all, If your Calipers have Phenolic Pistons....You need new pistons that makes rebuilding them not worth it. Any of you guys remember the late '80s early '90s Fords with Plastic pistons?, Man they were bad about hanging up, Must have rebuilt 100's of Ford Calipers with new steel pistons.
 
Phenolic pistons were used much later than that,my 99 Expedition had them, I just replaced them with rebuilt calipers with steel pistons for $39 ea. You cant buy the kit and pistons for that.
Most rebuilds are okay, they are so easy to do that a trained monkey can do them. When it comes to calipers that use a parking brake mechanism I start getting choosy of which brand to use.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Phenolic pistons were used much later than that,my 99 Expedition had them, I just replaced them with rebuilt calipers with steel pistons for $39 ea. You cant buy the kit and pistons for that.
Most rebuilds are okay, they are so easy to do that a trained monkey can do them. When it comes to calipers that use a parking brake mechanism I start getting choosy of which brand to use.


I know that, Just the early one's were worse about failures.
 
Seems like I've had calipers freeze up, replaced them with rebuilds, and they freeze up again in a year or so. I don't know if I'm getting unlucky or buying the cheap ones or what.

Last one I had freeze up, i pulled it apart, wire brushed all the rust and corrosion off the piston and bore and put it back together to see how long it would last. That was almost two years ago now. And I didn't even change the seals.
 
Originally Posted By: NibbanaBanana
Seems like I've had calipers freeze up, replaced them with rebuilds, and they freeze up again in a year or so. I don't know if I'm getting unlucky or buying the cheap ones or what.

Last one I had freeze up, i pulled it apart, wire brushed all the rust and corrosion off the piston and bore and put it back together to see how long it would last. That was almost two years ago now. And I didn't even change the seals.


Did you change out all your brake fluid? Sounds like you might have moisture contamination in your brake fluid causing corrosion.
 
Originally Posted By: clinebarger
Originally Posted By: Trav
Phenolic pistons were used much later than that,my 99 Expedition had them, I just replaced them with rebuilt calipers with steel pistons for $39 ea. You cant buy the kit and pistons for that.
Most rebuilds are okay, they are so easy to do that a trained monkey can do them. When it comes to calipers that use a parking brake mechanism I start getting choosy of which brand to use.


I know that, Just the early one's were worse about failures.


Your right about that, the old ones were worse. Some of the worst calipers I can remember were the old Corvette aluminum ones, they would corrode so bad they would seize in no time.
When they were stainless sleeved during rebuild they were fine, just one case of the rebuilds being better than OE.
 
3 years on the calipers on my Cherokee. Going to have to replace the right front. The piston is seizing. Not the sliders, like everyone says.

Usually, what works for me is to take the caliper off, remove the pads and pump the brakes a bit to push the piston out. Then drive it back in with a c-clamp. Doing that 3 or 4 times generally will make them work.

Except this time. I'm getting tired of having to hammer on it to get it to release after I stop
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Preventive maintenance goes a long way in keeping systems operating properly, your experience shows it.


You can change the brake fluid weekly - here in NY , the salt spray and salt brine spray is going to (1) dry up the piston seal (2) work it's way into the piston and eventually seize the caliper.

I have changed out the brake fluid on the Jeep at least once a year since I put on these calipers - replacing brake lines and hoses before they blow.
 
I changed brake fluid every 2-3 years on my Jetta, and replaced rear calipers about every 5 years. Pistons hard to turn back in. Not sure how hard it would be to rebuild, but on the second time, when I needed new pads, I just shotgunned it and replaced calipers at the same time (sure enough, one piston wouldn't turn, and IIRC the other had a sticky parking brake). Not cheap but 5 min per side at $100 each, or an hour plus at $10+ each side?

But that might have been just a MkIV issue.
 
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