Anyone have a write-up or how to complete this? Or Tips or tricks....One of my pistons sticks...I got a set from junkyard that I want to paint and rebuild and do not know where to start...thanks

 

The calipers are pretty easy to rebuild.

After you take them off the vehicle, insert a seal removal tool....or a dull screwdriver.....and remove the outer piston seal on the caliper. You may need to fully retract the piston cup into the caliper bore to gain access under the outer seal lip around the piston cup.

Then, insert a compressed air gun nozzle into the hole where the metal brake line attaches to blow out the piston cup from the caliper bore. Be careful, the piston can fly out pretty quick. I usually get a couple of old towels/rags and place them right under the caliper/piston cup. Remember, have the piston cup facing away from you when doing this.

Once the piston cup has been removed, you can easily replace the inner O-ring seal on the caliper piston and clean the inside of the caliper bore with some crocus paper or some very fine grit sand paper. Once everything is clean and all the corrosion has been removed, you can decide to strip and paint the calipers at this time if you want to.

Install is basically the same except you will use a large C-clamp to insert the piston cup into the caliper bore. Lightly coat the caliper bore, piston and O-ring seal with some clean brake fluid before assembly. The outer seal can be installed by using a seal installer or a large socket around the outer edge to press it in.

Oh yeah, the slider pin seals will need R&R too. However, they're pretty simple and you don't need any special "techniques" to do those. You can also replace the bleeder screws at this time before mounting them back on the truck.

 

Do I have to use air to get pistons out? What slider pin seals are you talkng about? Can I get the O-Rings at any Parts store? Thanks for the reply

 

Yeah, you're gonna need some kind of compressed air source to pop those pistons out. Unless, you can somehow "grip" the inside of the piston cup with something to pull it out. I don't know of anything that would be able to do that though.

The caliper piston (inner) O-ring seal comes with the caliper rebuild kit. When you take the piston cup out, you'll see a groove machined into it that the O-ring fits into. It basically helps to keep brake fluid from leaking out between the caliper bore and the piston cup when it's inside the caliper.

The slider pin seals go around those long bolts that hold the caliper into the backing plate on the spindle. They just help keep the grease in and dirt out when the caliper slides over the pins when braking that's all.

The brake caliper rebuild kit should give you everything you need to rebuild the caliper. They even come with the bleeder screw cap plugs to help keep dirt from getting inside. Unfortunately, they don't give you new bleeder screws. You have to buy those separately.

 

Just a thought. Why not buy rebuilt calipers for 54.00 ea.?
How much is the rebuild kit?

 

Just like to do things myself...I will rebuild them and repaint....I just like to do things like that....end up screwing more stuff up sometimes...LOL

 

Make sure the pistons don't have any rust pits on them (will leak later)

 

I hear you.

 

and also...please, I beg you make sure when yo blast the piston loose from the caliper, make sure you have like a brake pad or wooden piece sandwhiched in between the outer holding brackets and the inner bore of the piston, otherwise that bugger will shoot out like a rocket (i had to catch someone before from doing that)

 

Yeah I did mine last month. Everything is pretty straight forward. Like they said you are gonna have to use air to get the pistons out, just to remember to be careful when you do it. Don't want them to go shooting off and possibly hit someone or something. The only hard part for me was putting the rings on the outter seals. I did not have a tool to do this, so I used a screwdriver. Took me about an hour just to get the first caliper's seals. The second side was alot easier. Good luck.

 

A grease gun can also be used. However, it's a little messier than the air method since you have to clean all the grease out.