Slomo
It's Complicated
I finally decided to tackle my front birfield repack, front and rear wheel bearings, etc and my rotors already had a pretty good warp so I finally got to replace them as well since I was in there. Mars recently did an excellent write up on caliper replacement with reconditioned units but I couldnt find anything on rebuilding the brake calipers so I thought I would write it up in case anyone could use a good reference. It seems intimidating to many people but I think it is something any 1 - 2 banana mechanic could tackle. The benefit is that the two kits together cost less than one rebuilt caliper and each kit rebuilds both respective calipers front or rear. A little extra time spent to save a good bit of money. Tools required: Set of picks for getting out rings and seals etc. 17 & 14 mm socket and ratchet 10mm brake line wrench 6 mm allen wrench 1 Small and 2 medium flat blade screwdrivers Air compressor with blow nozzle FSM Brake bleeder - available at Harbor Freight for $20 Parts: 04479-60030 Rear Cylinder Kit 04479-60020 Front Cylinder Kit 3-4 cans of brake cleaner Roll of paper towels Extra non moly grease, I used Redline synthetic 2 small or 1 large bottle of brake fluid This is the obvious time to do a brake fluid flush, which is often overlooked (see FAQ), as well. I first used a 60cc syringe (a turkey baster will do) to drain the reservoir. This is not necessary but it does make for a little less mess and fewer drains of the brake bleeder. I then went to each caliper and removed the two mounting bolts and used the brake bleeder to suction all the brake fluid I could by inverting each caliper independently so the bleeder valve (normally the highest point on the caliper) was the lowest. This gets the most fluid out so less will come out when you remove the pistons. Brake fluid is very caustic and damages paint so use caution. Pic 1 Front caliper mounting bolts Pic 2 Rear caliper mounting bolts closest to shock body Pic 3 Two rebuild kits from cdan, It has been said many times before but thanks for the help cdan.
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