caliper advice needed (92 4cyl p/u)

[SizzleChest]

on both of my front calipers , the inside pad has worn down to zero percent while the outside pad has 60-70% left. i got a price from the local parts place and got a very good cost of $58 ea + core, but i would rather repair my calipers if possible. i was talking to a guy that knows much more about mechanics than I and he said it is very common for rusty pins to cause this problem and that if i just remove the surface rust on pins, i might be ok. just looking for some advice from someone else who has hopefully been there, done that. thanks.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

I'm afraid I don't have great news. The "guy" was right, but our trucks don't use the same design he was thinking of. The pins he was refering to are part of calipers that only have pistons on the inside side of the rotor. The caliper slides on the pins to allow the outside pads to contact the rotor. On our trucks there are pistons on the inside and outside of the rotor. So they are pushing from both sides. They are rebuildable I believe, but I have never done that. Hope that helps.

 

[KLF]

"2ndGen" is correct, your friend's advice only applies to a "floating" caliper design, but you don't have this style on your truck. You have 4-pistons calipers, and I would bet that the pistons are sticking on one side of each caliper.

It's not that hard to rebuild calipers if you have the time and tools. I've done it several times. Toyota sells a seal kit, it should be about $30 to do both of your calipers. Nobody does this anymore in any of the shops, it's just easier to replace the entire caliper.

The toughest part of the job is getting the stuck pistons out of the caliper. The FSM shows a procedure where you slip a piece of wood in the caliper then pop the pistons out with compressed air, but I've found this rarely works, you really need a lot more pressure. Here's a trick: before disconnecting the brake line or removing the caliper from the truck, pull the pins out of the old pads, slide the pads out, then get in the truck and step on the brake pedal. The hydraulic pressure will force the pistons out, but the rotor will keep them from falling all the way out and making a big mess. Do both sides, then take everything apart.

This is also a good time to flush out all your old brake fluid in the entire system and put in new fluid.

 

[Shock5]

92 Caliper

I bought my rebuild kits from autozone for 8 dollars a side.
Depending on how much rust is on the pistons this may or may not work. Good Luck


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93 toy SR5 286,000