Sticky Caliper

[bilbo]

Today my driver front brake caliper stuck after a stoplight. It freed up after a few snacks on the pedal and I was thankfully able to get home relying on planning my stops well in advance, downshifting, and a very light pedal touch. It looks to me like one of the pistons is sticking and the other is free. I see both new and reman calipers are available. Is it worth rebuilding the original calipers? I’ve never done it but I’m always up for learning, as long as it has a good chance of solving the problem. I see pistons and seal kits are available but if the piston sticks now wouldn’t it screw up the bore and require some machining to repair?

 

[broncc]

No reason not to at least take the caliper apart to see whats wrong. Often times just cleaning up the pins and fresh grease is all they need.

I rebuilt (resealed) the single piston calipers for the first time on my bronco and its super easy if you have an air compressor to pop the piston out.

 

[BroncLander]

Here's a step by step Caliper Swap out I did a few weeks ago.

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[Josh B]

When you buy calipers do they require a core? I can't recall if I traded any cores or not.
Seems rebuilding would be a great way to go, specially if you had the original set and wanted to keep those

 

[BroncLander]

When you buy calipers do they require a core? I can't recall if I traded any cores or not.
Seems rebuilding would be a great way to go, specially if you had the original set and wanted to keep those

I had to return my old ones to get the core charges back. That was with Napa in Canada. I think the core charge on them both was around 25 or 35 bucks.

 

[bilbo]

Yeah there’s a core. These are likely original and I’d like to keep them if possible. Good point, maybe worth it to at least dog on and see what’s wrong. Nothing to lose there.

 

[sgtsandman]

I’ve never rebuilt a caliper but I’ve been told it is easy to do. If the fluid has been kept up with regular system bleeds, the caliper should be in good shape and just need a rebuild.

Of course, swapping out the caliper for a rebuilt or new one would be more convenient but it is a chance to learn something, if nothing else to open the old one up and see what you have. They are going to have to tear it apart for the rebuild anyway.

 

[Josh B]

I wonder if you took it back in pieces what they'd do

 

[BroncLander]

I wonder if you took it back in pieces what they'd do

At Napa they said all that matters is if they get the main core unit back. And it gets sent off to the remanufacturer/distributor. The new ones I got had all new everything except the main cast steel part. Even the piston is new

 

[Shran]

Rebuild kits are $10 or less but a reman caliper is only maybe $30-40. What's your time worth - I've rebuilt a few calipers and a bunch of wheel cylinders, usually I just buy new though. Problem with rebuilding calipers is they often need a hone run through them and it's hard to find one that is big enough to fit but doesn't hit the other side of the caliper. Then you have the expense of a hone, and brake cleaner to flush them out.