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Brake Caliper Repair

Brake Caliper Repair
G

gonfst

Jeeper
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Location
Tampa, FL
Vehicle(s)
1979 CJ5, 304 V8, AMC 20 rear, Dana 44 front.
I was testing my brakes after replacing my front left hub and bearings and forgot that I had the other caliper off the rotor - stupid me! Now it is leaking fluid araound the boot. I am assuming I busted the seal.

I just ordered two of these kits:

Brake Caliper Piston & Seal Kit 8127582

The boot on my other brake is torn and tired, so I thought of rebuilding both.

Anybody have experience replacing the piston, seal, and boot? Is it worth it, or should I just order a rebuilt caliper and call it a day? How difficult?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark
 
Not to hard to rebuild. You need to remove the bleeder and blow out the piston with compressed air. The bore should be honed. Replace the seal ( lube with brake fluid) and dust boot and that's pretty much it. The dust boot can be a pain though. Kind of a lost art since reman calipers are pretty cheap. P.S. they may leak when you're done. Good luck
 
Thanks. I feel better about the rebuild option. I will post an update once the parts come in and I get into it. I am really hoping I can do it without a continuous leak...otherwise, I will have wished I'd bought a replacement.

Time will tell. Can't pass up a good challenge.

Thanks.
 
gonfst said:
Thanks. I feel better about the rebuild option. I will post an update once the parts come in and I get into it. I am really hoping I can do it without a continuous leak...otherwise, I will have wished I'd bought a replacement.

Time will tell. Can't pass up a good challenge.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

This is a first for me, never seen anyone rebuild them... just replaced both of mine last weekend @ $18 a piece... curious though on something, can you show me the position of the bleeder and line connection for one of yours?? When I went to do mine, I started on the right side and grabbed the box with the new caliper that said right side, but it was the opposite one.. I looked them over, and compared the two, pulled the other out of the box and did the same... my point is, apparently you can use the left on the right, and the right on the left, if you choose to.. advantage, you say? you gain 3"-4" on the brake lines by reversing them.
 
Where did you find replacement calipers for $18?

I will try to get some pics tomorrow to send you. Thanks for the tip.
 
7D8CJ said:
Not to hard to rebuild. You need to remove the bleeder and blow out the piston with compressed air. The bore should be honed. Replace the seal ( lube with brake fluid) and dust boot and that's pretty much it. The dust boot can be a pain though. Kind of a lost art since reman calipers are pretty cheap. P.S. they may leak when you're done. Good luck
Click to expand...

I agree. It's not to hard. Used to do them all the time in days gone by. Didn't have an air compressor then, so I threaded in a grease zerk, pumped it full of grease to get piston out. Then you had grease to clean up, but it worked.
 
Last edited:
Niedhogg said:
though on something, can you show me the position of the bleeder and line connection for one of yours?? When I went to do mine, I started on the right side and grabbed the box with the new caliper that said right side, but it was the opposite one.. I looked them over, and compared the two, pulled the other out of the box and did the same... my point is, apparently you can use the left on the right, and the right on the left, if you choose to.. advantage, you say? you gain 3"-4" on the brake lines by reversing them.
Click to expand...

The bleeder goes up together the air out better. I've seen them down, but the you need to use a vacuum pump to bleed them.
 
73CJ said:
The bleeder goes up together the air out better. I've seen them down, but the you need to use a vacuum pump to bleed them.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that that really matters, but my point was that the factory position must be with the bleeders down because that's how they are packaged when you buy them, and that it's pretty cool that they can be swapped around. I also think no matter the position, you can bleed them without a vacuum pump, as long as you have help you can do that. :D
 
It does matter, bleader goes on the top or you will never get all of the air out of the brake line.
 
The bleeder MUST be at the top or air will be trapped.
 
So then you're saying, that my random purchase of two separate brake calipers just happened to both be packaged incorrectly, and that I just ended up with those two random calipers to make a complete set?? :confused:
 
Disc brake bleeders should always be at the top of the caliper, so you can bleed them on the bracket.

You can mount the bleeder at the bottom, but you will need to remove the caliper from the bracket and turn the bleeder up before bleeding. Then you'll need to place a block of wood between the pads while the bleeder is pointed up.

As you can see mounting them at the top is much easier.
 
Quick update...after reading everyone's posts, I wimped out and bought rebuilt calipers from Advanced Auto. They ended up costing me less than the rebuild kits I ordered and later returned. After picking up the new calipers, I later found out I was given the wrong pair. Apparently there are two sizes that were made depending on your rear brake drum size (10" vs 11"). Mine are 11".

Swapped them for the right ones, then found our that I had two different sized banjo bolts on the existing calipers that connect the brake lines! Finding a 7/16" x 24 banjo proved to be a major pain.

Finally got all the right parts. Put the new brakes on and am currently living a nightmare trying to get all the air out of the lines. Haven't messed with the proportioning valve or lifted the rear, but those are my next steps. Currently it takes three pumps before I start to get good resistance. Hopefully I am getting close.

I bought a Mity-Vac and pumped it till I had forearms like Lou Ferrigno! No luck, so I have switched to the old fashined 2 man process. Now I am debating whether to buy a tool for the proportioning valve or try to fab something.

The brake saga continues...
 
Are your bleeders on top ? Right and left are interchangable.
 
Bleeders are on top. Right and left are interchangeable. Even says R/L on the labels.
 
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