Brake caliper refurbishment
Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2023 8:35 pm
Let's just start with a typical disclaimer. Brakes are the amongst the most important parts of your car. If you're not sufficiently qualified to work on them, please step away and leave to a professional. It's not just your life you risk but other road users.
Before getting into the how to, there's LOTS that can be fixed without overhauling the calipers. On the fronts, new sliders and cleaning the pad mounting surfaces can improve performance. The same would apply to the rear, but I'm sure many people would be looking at this for the dreaded handbrake. The dreaded handbrake is often fixed by simply setting it up properly, which we've covered in a previous how to.
If you're contemplating this, then consider if buying replacement calipers or having someone else refurbish them, could be cheaper. Whilst the fronts are relatively simple to do, the rears do require some special tools. However, I should point out that if you are having your calipers refurbished, I'd absolutely make some form of permanent mark on the cap of the handbrake lever. As you'll see in the post, this cannot be removed without damage. Refurb kits also do not come with a replacement cap, meaning if your "refurbished" caliper returns with the mark you made in place, the cap has not been removed, which means the seal underneath the handbrake lever has not been replaced.
Before getting into the how to, there's LOTS that can be fixed without overhauling the calipers. On the fronts, new sliders and cleaning the pad mounting surfaces can improve performance. The same would apply to the rear, but I'm sure many people would be looking at this for the dreaded handbrake. The dreaded handbrake is often fixed by simply setting it up properly, which we've covered in a previous how to.
If you're contemplating this, then consider if buying replacement calipers or having someone else refurbish them, could be cheaper. Whilst the fronts are relatively simple to do, the rears do require some special tools. However, I should point out that if you are having your calipers refurbished, I'd absolutely make some form of permanent mark on the cap of the handbrake lever. As you'll see in the post, this cannot be removed without damage. Refurb kits also do not come with a replacement cap, meaning if your "refurbished" caliper returns with the mark you made in place, the cap has not been removed, which means the seal underneath the handbrake lever has not been replaced.