Remanufactured calipers

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JHZR2

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My experience is all start to rust in no time flat. But is there one brand/type that is better than others? Seems like these things change all the time. Had seen some good reviews on nugeon, but apparently they were taken over and offshored. Have seen some custom/specialty shops, but they want $2-300 per.

Recommendations?
 
You could rebuild and paint them yourself. Or buy rebuilt calipers and paint them, which is what I did with my van three years ago. They are holding up quite well.
 
NAPA Eclipse reman come already painted with black paint. No experience with them though. Only corrosion protection calipers out of the box that I can find with a reasonable price.
 
Originally Posted by DuckRyder
Build the factory ones yourself.


That's my plan #1, at least until I hit a snag... I'm not seeing pistons for 37yo Bendix calipers readily available, though maybe they're more generic than I know...

Originally Posted by demarpaint
You could rebuild and paint them yourself. Or buy rebuilt calipers and paint them, which is what I did with my van three years ago. They are holding up quite well.


What paint is recommended? I think I read it is zinc coatings that are OE.
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
Originally Posted by DuckRyder
Build the factory ones yourself.


That's my plan #1, at least until I hit a snag... I'm not seeing pistons for 37yo Bendix calipers readily available, though maybe they're more generic than I know...

Originally Posted by demarpaint
You could rebuild and paint them yourself. Or buy rebuilt calipers and paint them, which is what I did with my van three years ago. They are holding up quite well.


What paint is recommended? I think I read it is zinc coatings that are OE.

Rustoleum and VHT make caliper paint which work well. There are also some expensive kits for doing it. I found the Rustoleum and VHT paints work well as long as the surface is perfectly clean and free of oil, grease, and/or brake fluid.
 
Originally Posted by BigD1
NAPA Eclipse reman come already painted with black paint. No experience with them though. Only corrosion protection calipers out of the box that I can find with a reasonable price.



I have used these in the past. They seem to hold up just fine.
 
Makes me thankful we do not live in the salt belt ! :)

Never considered painting calipers or rotors / drums . Have considered painting steel wheels .
 
The Napa eclipse caliper are still a Cardone product y my understanding. Lately I've been using remans from BBB which come factory coated to the OE color, or if they weren't coated they come black, I believe.
 
If you're lucky, you can get Raybestos Element3 all-NEW calipers
smile.gif


If not, the Napa Eclipse is about as good as you'll be able to get otherwise. The coating does hold up.

Another option is the Powerstop red calipers.
 
Originally Posted by Astro14
I would avoid most rebuilders like the plague and do them yourself. Still a common chassis, so parts should be easy.

If you want someone to do them, find a specialty rebuilder like these guys:

https://m.pmbperformance.com/catalog.html

Or these guys:

https://www.goldlinebrakes.com/

With a shout out to Sam Julier who is getting his brakes done. Similar concerns to yours.


Yes, my plan is DIY, and I've seen PMB's work. Great but also more expensive than buying new ATE calipers for the car from Mercedes.

My concern primarily is if I need new pistons (two-piston caliper), and I cannot find them. So far I haven't.

The car was from CA and has never seen salt that I'm aware of. So I'd suspect the piston is ok, but corrosion could still be present.... after all, why else would it seize?
 
I do not live in the rust belt , thank God .

I can not remember replacing / rebuilding a caliper on my vehicles . ( I have rebuilt / replaced a few wheel cylinders , master cylinders ) .

If one needed it , I would compare the cost of new vs. rebuilding it DIY ( which I have never done ) .
 
Personally, I'd get Centric remans and paint them.

The quality of their remans seems very good and I have had no trouble with them, but they don't have any real coating on them. Centric does an excellent job cleaning up their cores though, which should make them easier to paint yourself. The calipers I got for my 25 year old trucks looked like new OE parts out of the box.

I have used NAPA Eclipse, and while they are painted, the overall quality seems lower than Centric. Cardone will paint right over chunks of rust/dirt, it looks like they are starting out with rougher cores, and I had to really tighten one of the bleeders and use teflon tape to get it to seal fully. The paint was thick, but otherwise quality was nowhere near Centric.
 
Originally Posted by 01rangerxl
Personally, I'd get Centric remans and paint them.

The quality of their remans seems very good and I have had no trouble with them, but they don't have any real coating on them. Centric does an excellent job cleaning up their cores though, which should make them easier to paint yourself. The calipers I got for my 25 year old trucks looked like new OE parts out of the box.

I have used NAPA Eclipse, and while they are painted, the overall quality seems lower than Centric. Cardone will paint right over chunks of rust/dirt, it looks like they are starting out with rougher cores, and I had to really tighten one of the bleeders and use teflon tape to get it to seal fully. The paint was thick, but otherwise quality was nowhere near Centric.

Their 141's are uncoated, but the 142 calipers (semi-loaded) are painted.
 
Seals fail over time, too... if you're lucky, the pistons won't be rusted.

But you're going to have to pull them off to find out.

Given a choice between Cardone/NAPA/whoever and new ATE from Mercedes, I would go new, every time.

www.Mboemparts.com
 
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