HOW TO: rebuild your front calipers
WARNING: I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE if you damage your calipers,car,person,others, property trying to rebuild your cars calipers after reading this:
You will need the following tools and accessories: ratchet,17 mm socket,14mm socket,3/8 breaker bar, 1/2 socket extension,small hammer,c clamp,vice,dot3 brake fluid,small screw driver,prong/pick,air compressor, air blower,bearing grease,brake cleaner,floorjack,brake caliper rebuild kit,rags,2x4, and the up most Self-Confidence,(and friends dont hurt either;all models are over 18 years of age)
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1) start here:
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2)remove brake line, then caliper.brake line will leak,i tried putting a piece of rubber tube with a piece of my latex glove to help it from leaking. it still leaked,so DON'T do what i did and remove both calipers at once, by the time i was done rebuilding both calipers the master cylinder was bone dry(i had to bleed the master cylinder afterwords,("how to" coming soon)
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3)after removing caliper,secure it on vice.
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4)remove old seal carefully using pick and your finger by just tearing it off.
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5)remove the steal ring by carefully using pick making sure not to scratch the inside of caliper, if you removed enough of the old seal you should be able to see it. if you do slightly scratch it you can buff it out with scotch brite,luckily i didnt have to do that.TAKE YOUR TIME.
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6)remove the old seal and ring from the otherside. put a little brake fluid on the pistons to help lubricate them making it easier for them to be removed.
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7)once both seals and rings are removed you can remove the pistons with air compressor and blower.place rags around pistons so that they dont pop out and fall on a hard surface where they can be scratched.
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8)take the air blower and securely place it into the brake line port.
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9)inject air into port, if only 1 pops out its cool, that happened to me, just simply put back the piston that poped out back in , i used a latex glove and put it right back in 3/4 of the way,then placed a 2 by 4 right behind it but still leaving a little play for it to pop out,it took 3 times of repeating these steps for both to pop right out.
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10)once pistons are out,carefully remove the rubber ring seal found inside the piston port with a small screwdriver,should come right out using finger and screwdriver.
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11).clean caliper inside and out with break cleaner especially the inside,remove all dirt and grime. then lubricate the caliper ports with brake fluid.
12)place new rubber seal inside caliper port,lubricate with brake fluid,it should fall right in.
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13)run your finger along the newly installed o ring to make sure its in place.
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14)now clean your piston with break cleaner and lubricate with break fluid.then place it in evenly into port.
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15)lubricate piston again with break fluid, this will help it fall back into place nice and smooth.
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16)next get your 1/2 inch extonsion and place onto the piston, it should fit not to tight, not to loose, and take your hammer and lightly tap it into place more or less where it origanally sat.it sould go down very easily,if you have probs at this point then your piston was not seated correctly to begin with.
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17)next apply the bearing grease on the top of piston,use a q tip.
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18)then apply some grease to the outer piston seal.
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19)now your ready to place the seal onto the piston.it should slide right over it nice and snug.run your finger over it several times to insure it is seated over the piston correctly.
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20)now comes the tricky part, you must install the new steel ring between the last lip and midlle ring of the new seal now that it is in place on the piston,this next pic should give you an idea of where to place it once the new seal is in.
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21)it may take several trys to get it in between the lips,you 'll have to squeeze the steel ring between your fingers as it slides right into place.you'll knw its in place once the lips close up around it.although this last part sounds hard,its really not.
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22)now your ready to compress the pistons just like you would if you were changing the brakes.this "evens" up the pistons so that they are now where they were when you first started ,grab an old brake pad and your c clamp and compress.
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23)your done, thats it!your rebuilt caliper should look like this:
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24)also VERY IMPORTANT after you install caliper refill the brake fluid resevior BEFORE you remove the other one.
25)after youve rebuilt and installed both calipers, you must pump the brakes several times(just like when you do your brakes) and add brake fluid as neccessary.
the entire procees took about 4 hrs, i actually spent almost 3hr on the first caliper cause it was a first for me, but after that it took i say 1 hr1/2 for the
other. ive been riding on my rebuilt calipers for about 2 months now, they feel like brand spanking new, NO BULL.it was not that hard to do, if u can change your break pads you can do this. and it only cost 8 bucks per kit.i hope this helps some one out.
