Disc Brake Caliper Woes

[MFalkinham]

Several weeks ago my truck was pulling to the right when driving, and pulling even worse during braking. I pulled both front calipers, (first time since I bought the truck last year) and noted that the caliper slides were pretty nasty with rust. I cleaned the slides with a wire wheel in my drill, used anti-seize to lubricate them, and reassembled.



Everything was fine for a few weeks, and the pulling was gone. Last week it started pulling right again. Upon inspection, it appeared that the anti-seize had gummed up some, so I pulled both calipers again, recleaned the slides, and used a sharpening stone to smooth them. This time I used Permatex synthetic disc brake caliper lube on the slides.



Again, the pull is gone, but I'm wondering for how long? Is this going to become a maintenance ritual like oil changes, or was I just using the wrong lubricant the first time??



By the way, is it only me, or is the Bendix caliper slide design just plain terrible. Caliper mounting with the key and spring is a PITA, and the design seems to invite dirt and rust to live on those slides.



Any insight would be greatly appreciated, guys. Thanks!



- Mike

 

[jtwcummins]

This is regular maintenance. Should only have to do it semiannually or annually depending on lube used. Using synthetic that came with my EGR upgrade has lasted almost a year w/o any pulling at all. The fact that you REALLY cleaned and polished surfaces will most likely get you thru for about a year if pads don't make lots of dust.



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[JLEONARD]

This is regular maintenance. Should only have to do it semiannually or annually

I must be having dumb luck then. I rebuilt mine 2 1/2 years ago when I bought the truck and haven't touched them since because they don't pull. I just used regular anti-seize with only a moderate cleaning of the slide area.

Jay

 

[Dman]

Caliper woes

I think you will find that your caliper(s) need rebuilt. Rust in caliper piston bore is not letting piston pull back from disc. Slides you mention are a poor design but if cleaned and lubricated as you have done should last at least a year in the worst climate.

 

[John Martines]

I had the same pulling problem and found that my front rubber brake line was collapsing and causing the pulling. It was pulling to the right but it was the left that was not being fully applied. Since then I have have redone the whole system with a EGR four disc with there special type of brake lines.

 

[MFalkinham]

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions. Should the pulling problem return, I'll rebuild the front calipers. I'm guessing the problem isn't the rubber brake hose, since the pulling happened even without the brakes applied.



- Mike

 

[Paychk]

Don't discount the hose, I've heard of cases where the inner hose separated from the outer. It acted as a check valve, holding some residual pressure on the calipers. With these 1st Gen trucks getting on in years, it may become a common occurrence.

 

[JLEONARD]

I've heard of cases where the inner hose separated from the outer. It acted as a check valve,



I had that also on another older vehicle I owned... It can happen.

jay

 

[AlK]

I must be doing something right, but I don't know what. Still have the original pads (over 55% left), calipers and rotors on my 92 with 112,000 km on the odometer and absolutely no problem.

---

Al

 

[MFalkinham]

Hi again guys,



Well, just like clockwork, the pulling to the right returned this past week. I removed the calipers again, and decided to replace them with rebuilt calipers rather than rebuilding the originals (the old pistons had some rust).



I've got the new calipers mounted, but I'm getting a brake fluid leak at the banjo fittings of both calipers. The calipers rebuilds appear to be well done, and I'm using the new copper washers both above and below the banjo fitting. But I keep getting a small stream of fluid down the front side of the caliper, next to the kingpin.



The hoses don't have any visible cracks or wear, and new ones would have to be special ordered. Would new hoses be the best answer, or is it that these new copper washers just aren't sealing? The new washers appear slightly thicker than the old ones, but of the same diameter. I don't want to tighten that hollow bolt any more for fear of snapping it.



Thanks for any suggestions.



- Mike

 

[rowland]

Check to make sure the banjo bolts aren't bottoming out before fully crushing the copper washer. Also make sure the sealing surface is flat and doesn't have any dents or burrs from the reman process. I had both these problem on the last set of Carquest remans I bought. The bolt one was a real stumper, took me most the evening to figure it out. Taking a few hundreths off the end with a grinder did the trick though. Aren't brakes fun?



Isaac

 

[PPeters]

I'd take a hard look at the "sealing" surface on the calipers where the banjo tightens down against the copper washer. Did a rear disk brake conversion from TSM, and it took 3 sets of calipers before I got a set that would seal Good idea to change the hoses out too.



Pat