Caliper Rebuild Finished

[SubaSteevo]

Rebuilt all four calipers this weekend and replaced the brake fluid with DOT4. For those of you who haven't done this and will eventually, let me offer some tips.

1. The only way I was able to get the pistons out was to clamp onto them with vice grips and clamp it in a vice after using some liquid wrench. Then I did a twist/pull to get them out. Make sure you smooth out any burrs you put in the piston if you do it this way.
2. Push the pistons in all the way before attempting to insert the seals.
3. To put the seals in I used one flat head screw driver to hold the part I was able to get into the grove with my finger, and then another one to push the part that wasn't in. Then I just worked my way around the pistons. (Be very careful you don't put a hole through the seal with the screwdrivers)
4. The backs are WAY easier to do then the fronts.

All in all it wasn't too hard. The first caliper took me about 4 hrs before I figured out the above, the other front took me about an hour and the backs only took about 30 mins each.

[svx_commuter]

Congrats man
Thanks for the info. It's always great to learn from others.

How do you get the piston to come up after it's pushed in past the calipher seal groove?

John

[SubaSteevo]

John,

I'm not sure if you're talking about before or after the new seal is in. I took the old seals out without compressing the pistons (some came out easy, but others ripped this way), that way I had about 1/4" of piston to grab onto to pull them out with the vice grips. Once the pistons were back in and compressed I put the new seals in the grove and then I just put the caliper back on with the pistons still compressed. I let the brake system do the hard part for me.