Rebuilding a brake calliper

ste2006

Hi All,

I have an old jeep that the brake callipers are totally seized on, While trying to free them i broke the seals on one of the callipers and brake fluid came out everywhere,

I now need to rebuild the callipers but try as i might i can not get a seal kit to rebuild them and i have tried and tried,

I found one crowd who will refurbish them but they are looking for €100 a side and the jeep is barely worth that,

I will only be using the jeep off road and really want to spend as little as possible to sort it as the engine could go anytime,

Anybody any ideas where i could get a seal kit to rebuild the callipers????

or any other ideas??????

Thanks,

biko

What jeep is it? You could try getting calipers of another one in a breakers?

ste2006

Its a Suzuki SJ413, They are hard to get to be honest as people pick up these jeeps all the time for off roading just like me :-)

BrianD3

have you tried BiggRed
http://www.biggred.co.uk/caliperpricing.html

They sell seal kits and also recondition calipers that you send to them.

ste2006

I had never heard of them before but i have e-mailed them,

Ill let you know how i get on, Thanks for your help,

Stephen

ste2006

Just to let you know i picked up a seal kit from Big Red,

Now the rebuild part,

Thanks again

E39MSport

It's a fairly straight forward job - you'll be delighted with the results.

Please pay a lot of attention when doing the job - it's one of the most important safety related parts on the car.

Don't score the pistons when cleaning - don't use sand paper or similar to clean them.

ste2006

How will i clean the pistons, They are not brilliant so could do with a bit of a clean??

Any idea where to get Super Super Fine Sandpaper???

E39MSport

ste2006 wrote: »

How will i clean the pistons, They are not brilliant so could do with a bit of a clean??

Any idea where to get Super Super Fine Sandpaper???

You're supposed to just rinse them in diesel or someting like that. Don't recall tbh.

However, I've done this job on a few landcruisers. I used warm soapy water and the back of a sponge. Rinse and dry with a very soft cloth and an air line.

The pistons can be a bugger to get out though. Push them out as much as you can with compressed air but put a block of wood between the opposing pistons to stop them flying out.

If you can't get them out by hand after that then it can be difficult. I've done it using 2 large screwdrivers and small blocks of wood as levers on opposing internal walls of the pistons. There's usually a lip on the inside (hollow) of the piston that you can grip it with.
You need to do this on both sides at once or you can get it totally jammed in there.

I've worked with badly corroded calipers where the top of the bore where the dust boot attaches to was very rusty. I carefully used a drill with wire brush to clean it up. Again, be very careful not to damage the bore.

On that note, remove the old rubber seal with a tooth pick and not a metal object. It can be difficult but persevere.

Applying the dust boots can be tricky. On cruisers you pop the boot onto the piston before you reinsert the piston into the bore.

Don't forget to grease it all up with specialist grease (should be included in the kit). Don't use too much - just a nice film on the pistons and rubber parts.

edit: - hey, there's tonnes of related vids on youtube. Just checked.

Also, this should be in the tech help section.

ste2006

Whats the Tech Help section???

Ye i have been steeping the whole calliper in a bucket of diesel for about three weeks now so at last iv been able to pull it apart (Rubber seals got eaten by the diesel)

I have it apart now but was reading in the Haynes Manual that Crocus cloth can be used to clean the piston,

Where can i get Crocus Cloth???

Or what is it???

Thanks,

E39MSport

Somebody posted a link in another thread on here describing what it is.

Use the back of a sponge.

ste2006

what thread???

I did look first but could not find anything

E39MSport

ste2006 wrote: »

what thread???

I did look first but could not find anything

ffs
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055887232