rebuilding brake caliper piston

P

plus_ar

Guest
On another site, I had posted a question about my 99 D-1 pulling to the right occasionally, while braking. Someone had mentioned that it is probably a piston that is sticking in the caliper on the front right and that it could either be replaced or rebuilt. Does anyone have any thoughts as to how difficult or $$ this may be?

thanks,
Greg
 
A

Apexdisco

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
691
0
46
Castle Rock, CO
In a previous post, someone mentioned that you could pick up rebuilt calipers at Autozone, Napa, or Advanced Auto. I don't remember which store, but I do remember them saying that they were only like $50 bucks and hard to get a hold of.

Just a thought.
 
Blue

Blue

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2004
10,059
875
AZ
First determine what level of rebuild you need. Are your caliper pistons shot (corroded)? Or do you just need new seals? Blown seals are cheap & easy. You may be able to get away with just removing the caliper, cleaning everything up, resealing, reinstalling, and bleeding the system. I have one of my front calipers sitting on my workbench right now with a bad seal. I can't remember where I picked up a reseal kit from last time, when I did the other caliper. I'll post back when I find the kit.
 
P

plus_ar

Guest
brake info

thanks for the info. After this weekend, i'll have to look into this a bit more to see what level of work is going to have to take place.

greg
 
Lutzgaterr

Lutzgaterr

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2004
578
0
LUTZ, Florida
Latest issue of Land Rover Enthusiasts has step-by-step, color pictures included, of how to rebuild a caliper, all of the parts possibly required? Looks quite easy. Catch is time, so you won?t know what to replace, pistons that is, until you pull these out.
 
R

RBBailey

Well-known member
Jul 26, 2004
6,758
3
Oregon
www.flickr.com
I just finished rebuilding mine, it wasn't a big deal. In fact, the worst part was getting the stupid bolts out of the back of the caliper - you can't get any real large wrench arm in there without cutting your ability to turn it more than 2 degrees at a time. It literally took me about 2 hours of actual work just getting the 4 bolts out of the two calipers.

Don't take the caliper apart, follow the directions exactly in the Haynes manual. You really can get the pistons out using air pressure (about 15 psi).

Make it easy on yourself and unhook the caliper from the brake line and take just the caliper off - don't mess with the bolts on the top of the steering ball unless you absolutely have to. Just deal with the leaking fluid - block it with a rubber cap - it is much easier than taking the mounting plate off the top of the steering ball!!!!!!

I went to a local LR shop (not a dealer) and bought just two pistons. I knew at least one would be bad enough to replace. You cannot buy single pistons anymore from RN, Atlantic Brit., or the dealer; they only come in packs of 4. When I got the pistons out I used a new set of seals - a bear to get into the piston housing, but possible - and I dicarded the two pistons that were in the worst shape. The two that were OK I cleaned with brake cleaner, and polished with a dremel tool with a felt pad and chrome polish. They turned out pretty good, at least when I got it all back together, bled the brake lines - use a partner to press the brake pedal while you work at the bleed screw - they brake the truck just fine, no pulling to the side, no warped disc feel and the pistons are all compressing at very closely comparable rates.

It is an easy job, but difficult to get done - like all Rover jobs, you have to develop techniques. Just buy 2-3 cans of brake parts cleaner and keep everything very clean. Go through the extra time to make sure the hub, caliper, and all other parts are free of surface rust, dust, etc, it will be worth it.

http://landrover.mrbaileyshistory.net
 
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