Brake Caliper Rebuild kits - Questions ?

I have purchased a set of front discs and chris wilson brake pads...

today I decided to take the brake calipers apart (front ones) and I dont think they have ever been serviced.

I was pretty lucky that none of my glide pins where stuck in however both sides were extremly difficult to take out. One of them had some surface rust towards the top but sanded off and cleaned off ok. The other 3 just needed a good rub to get the gunk off.

The rubber boots were ok and the bores within the caliper holder were good. I used Red grease to rebuild the slide pins Its always good to replace these items However my local motor factors didnt have any and my Toyota dealers quoted for Thursday / Friday for parts so I carried on anyway.

The actual greese around the caliper was a greyish colour and had become "gunkey" and as I took these slider out some rubbers that are located around the

actual pin where badley streched I can only assume with me turning and slowly pulling them out these little rubbers got damaged. Now it could be the grease in the calipers is actually the genuine stuff and just went solid after being in the car for 16 years and 80k of miles!

Now I have put the calipers together with the new discs and pads and drove around alittle and the brakes work fine ( dont worry tried them on the drive first)

For those who dont know what I am taking about please see this picture

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FRONT-BRAKE-CALIPER-LOWER-SLIDE-PIN-BUSHING-LEXUS-IS200-GS-TOYOTA-AVENSIS-ARISTO-/261444315880?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3cdf4baae8&clk_rvr_id=628544824075

Now after some reading late last night and early this morning it seems that the rubber one is the "lock pin" (lower bolt) and the rubber is designed to stop it from squealing.

can anyone give any ideas if this is right ?

Red rubber grease is viscous brake fluid, and is for lubricating things like the caliper pistons, and master and slave cylinder pistons. I use molydenum disulphide grease (C/V joint grease) for the slder pins.The anti rattle O rings are not important, in fact I prefer to not run them and have totally free sliders. The red grease won't have done harm, it's just not suitable in that environment. Putting C/V grease in master or slave cylinders, or inside caliper bores WILL cause serious harm though.

Thanks Chris!

I did mine and my pins just wont return. Like the grease is too sticky, the rubber boot around pin doesnt make it retract.

The caliper brackets the pins go into sometimes need reaming if they are full of rust. So long as the pins slide in out using forefinger and thumb and no real effort thay will be fine. the rubber rings obviously cause some stiction, which is one reason i do not use them.

The caliper brackets the pins go into sometimes need reaming if they are full of rust. So long as the pins slide in out using forefinger and thumb and no real effort thay will be fine. the rubber rings obviously cause some stiction, which is one reason i do not use them.

I just googled reaming. It's either got an alternative meaning, or car maintenance has changed A LOT recently. The pins on one of my front JSpec calipers are very stiff, so I might have to get reaming. What tools would I need?

The nice way is with an adjustable parallel reamer of suitable size range. They are expensive, so you won't want to buy one just for doing a couple of caliper brackets. The nasty way is with a drill bit the nearest size up from the OD of the pins, no matter if the drill is metric or imperial.

The caliper brackets the pins go into sometimes need reaming if they are full of rust. So long as the pins slide in out using forefinger and thumb and no real effort thay will be fine. the rubber rings obviously cause some stiction, which is one reason i do not use them.

+1 on not using the rubber rings on the end of the pins, they end up getting stuck at some point.

I gave Joe Marcon a working set of rear j-spec calipers and carriers for him to play with, and explained to him about why I removed the rings.

I think its just his fronts he has a problem with now.

The rust inside the caliper brackets that the pins go into, if you just keep greasing them, rather than cleaning them once in a while - the rusty bits and crap that is in there mixes in with the grease and starts to act like a grinding paste on the hole.

One of my calipers holes went from circular to oval, meaning that you could grab the caliper through the alloy wheel and it would wobble about. (it would knock going over bumps too, unless light braking was applied)

Other than not driving in the rain(lol), id certainly keep an eye on them.

For people running a TPMS like I was(eventually!), I was waiting until I was getting tyre temperatures that differ on the same axle to identify any binding, and then I would put on a spare set that I had cleaned earlier.

That way you can keep the car on the road, and spend time making the caliper nice and fresh, without rushing it and making a half arsed go of it.