legacycentral bbs

Is there any problem with rusty calipers? My rears are wicked rusty, and I was wondering if they should be replaced, or if they are OK?

What do you guys think?

Just get them turned if its the braking surface thats rusty otherwise take em off and wire brush some of the rust off

If it is, indeed, the calipers. . . I'd replace them if they're really bad.

That's just me, though.

Hmm, where can I order the new calipers online?

I might as well do all the brake stuff at once.

External rust should be okay and can be cleaned off fairly easily. However, if the rust goes under any of the boots or anything, you really should at least overhaul them if not replace them.

I think you should take a closer look. Pull the calipers, clean them thoroughly with a wire brush, and look closely at the areas around the guide pin and the piston. Make sure the caliper slides and rotates around the guide pin easily. Peel the boots back a little and take a look under them. You might find that they're okay. Or you might find that you want to replace some of those boots and relube the guide pin. Or you might find that you want to replace them, but I think that's unlikely unless they've been sorely neglected by previous owners.

Awesome! Thanks Vikash. I'll clean them up this weekend with the IC install as well.

Looks like this weekend's project is planned out.

wow, duh, I gave you advice on rotors.... I read calipers and thought rotors...

I need a job, my brain is turning to mush

How do you overhaul the calipers?

I've got a general idea, but do you know where I can find the specifics?

I have a brake rebuild kit in my garage (piston boots and retaining clips) and they came with this orangey stuff in a pouch. Is this some sort of lubricant?

The Haynes manual says nothing about this, so I figured I may as well ask here.

It's fairly straightforward... you just replace all the parts in the overhaul kit.

I would guess the orangey stuff is high-temperature grease which you put around the guide pin and such.

These pictures can help you understand how it all fits together:

http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/pics/frontbrakes.gif
http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/pics/rearbrakes.gif

Thanks. I think all I got was parts 8 and 9. I'll have to check.

Is there any special tactic to replacing the boot ring?

That's odd; the kits I have include new boots for the guide pin and lock pin as well as a new piston seal.

I didn't do anything special; it just took a little bit of patience. I lubricated all the seals and stuff with brake fluid while installing them.

I think it originally did, but Opie already put those on the calipers, as they needed replacing.