I never did brakes but my dual piston front brake caliper boots are torn. Calling parts suppliers tells me I have two economical choices.
One is a $50 "semi loaded" rebuilt caliper (with $50 core charge) and the other is a $15 O'Reilly or Napa gasket rebuild rebuild kit.
What's your time worth? The rebuilt caliper will have the cylinder honed and all of the inside and outside parts cleaned (no rust etc). Depending on climate, salt etc old calipers can be pretty funky. OTOH I know guys who just take them off, compress the piston and slide in new pads. Those calipers are likely to start leaking because they didn't clean up the insides and the seals are riding on a different area of the cylinder.
Buy the semi-loaded caliper - comes ready to mount except for pads - all new sliders.shims etc. Rebuilding is a PAIN - you'll likely enf up with a pitted piston and a seized/worn/rusty slider , a susty boot groove, or a stuck bleeder screw that will make you swear one blue streak and you'l end up buying the rebuilt caliper anyway.For the difference betweena bare caliper and the semi-loaded unit even THAT is generally a no-brainer (even for myself - a retired wrench) Can't remember the last time I rebuilt a caliper - definitely wasn't on one of my own cars.
When I hear (and search for) "caliper boots". I think of the boots that go on the guide pins.
Since you said "I never did brakes" I just want to make sure that you know that those boots do tear and are just a few bucks for a set.
So I'll assume you mean the dust boot for the *piston*, correct? If so, go loaded if you don't mind getting whatever pads come with the caliper or go semi-loaded and choose your own pads.
In either case, you should lube the pads, clips, etc. so it's not like you should just slap the loaded ones on even though they come with pads installed. Some areas may be pre-lubed but I never assume that everything is to my liking.
I assume you know that you'll need to bleed the brakes after changing the calipers. That _can_ be done by yourself, but if you are doing it the old school way, it's easier with 2 people.
How are your rotors? As long as you everything off (Good luck with the caliper bracket. Those bolts can be a bear if you live where they use salt) it might not hurt to get some decent rotors. New rotors, pads, and calipers? Your front end will be very happy. ;-)
Opinions differ on bedding procedures, but many pad manufacturers will give your theirs on their website. Bedding is the process of transferring some pad material to the rotors by driving and braking in a specific pattern. Unfortunately, not everyone can always follow the bedding procedure because it often involves driving at specific speeds, braking at specific speeds, almost stopping but never fully stopping with the pads in contact with the rotors, etc. Tough to do unless you have open roads with no one else around.
Oh yeah, consider RockAuto for your parts. Not the fanciest of websites and no telephone support, but if you know what you want, they often have the best price. Typically at least a step up in quality from the well-known auto websites at the same or lower price. You can go higher-end too.
Semi loaded could mean anything. Call and ask what comes with the calipers.
You can easily rebuild the existing calipers yourself, IF:
1) the insides of the calibers are not too rusty. 2) the pistons are not rusty, not scratched, and still chrome plated. 3) the bleeder is removable and not rusty.Check the slides. May need new slide hardware. Don't let any air get into the system.
After reading that reference, is this correct on the package differences?
Loaded = Caliper & pistons & caliper mounting gear & pads & pad mounting H/W Semiloaded = Caliper & pistons & caliper mounting gear but not pads or H/W Unloaded = Caliper & pistons only (even some caliper components are missing) The missing caliper mounting gear might be brackets, bolts, bleeders & pins.
I tried rockauto but that system of ever expanding plus signs was too difficult for me as a novice. I'm sure it's fine for you experts though.
I ordered over the phone from Carid the pads, the rotors, and the semi-loaded calipers but not the high temperature grease as it was a $16 shipping for a $0.55 cent 0.14 ounce tube. The brake fluid was only by the case so I still have to get the brake fluid (is one quart enough?).
The car is more than twenty years old so it specifies DOT3 but I googled and it seems I can put DOT4 in the master cylinder instead which google said has higher heat resistance.
What someone said about rebuilding being a pain influenced that decision. So did what someone else said about pistons can be pitted or rusted.
To clarify what someone else asked, I meant the boots on the dual pistons. And for lube a friend lent me a tub of quality Mobil1 wheel bearing grease.
The range of rotors was so confusingly huge that I opted for the cheapest.
The decision on pads was only $3 between semi-metallic and ceramic and the Carid salesman said the ceramic was better for less dusting (not that I care all that much about brake dust on twenty year old blackened steel wheels).
As someone mentioned I will ask my girlfriend to help me bleed. The caliper has a metal line going into it so I may have to plug it up with something.
I bought this kind of brake piston spreader which won't fit because the calipers are completely enclosed so I can't spread the pistons with it.
DOT 3, 4, and 5.1 are compatible. DOT 5 is silicone based and in not compatible. Why DOT didn't go to 6 to avoid confusion is beyond me. the only thing 5 has going for it is it doesn't remove paint if you're sloppy. Other than that it's a PITA. I've got in it the Harley and it feels spongy half the time. I'd go to 4 but that requires a complete system flush.
There are vacuum bleeder kits in the $20 range if your girlfriend doesn't feel like pumping brakes but I don't know how well they work. A Mityvac is up in the $60 range to taking her out to dinner as a bribe might be cheaper.
What ever works. C-clamp(s), small turnbuckles, or you can buy the $20 ratcheting tool that fits in the slot. But, new calipers should not need retracting and neither will the old ones.
Brake bleeding: get two quarts and use one to flush the lines before
*before* installing the new calipers then bleed after installing the new calipers. Open a can and quickly turn it upside down in the reservoir. That way there is less worry about getting air into the system. You can bleed the brakes yourself with a hose from the bleeder to a bottle.
Do you need brake pads? Or are you picky (special quality brake pads) ?
Go find some hi-temp brake grease locally. Don't use the Mobil bearing grease.
[For some reason (cross posting issue, perhaps?) the OP's response isn't showing in GG, so I'll respond here and hope he sees it.] +1 on the use of brake grease, not bearing grease.
And to go a step further, many feel that different grease should be used on the pins vs. the pads. I use Permatex Green for the pins and purple for the pads. I don't have the source for that info handy. It was something that I read a long time ago, so I bought both, marked the containers and do that way each time.
re: Buying the cheapest calipers
Good luck with that. Cheapest could mean warping, depending on how you drive, weight of the vehicle, etc. The term "warping" covers a number of "uneven surface" issues as explained below. Some rotors do a better job of dissipating heat, thus reducing the chance of warping. I'm not necessarily talking about high end slotted rotors, but I am talking about something better than the "cheapest".
Good luck with them. I tried them once for a trailer hitch. Ordered, got charged, got a promised delivery date - something like a week. Not bad. I started tracking the order and things didn't seem right. Delivery date didn't change, but nothing was showing as shipped. I eventually called and found out that they don't stock the hitch and that it comes from another source. They just process the order. They contacted the real seller - out of stock, it'll be at least a month before they get anymore. WTF?
I cancelled the order, which they were very reluctant to do, until I threatened to call my credit card company to dispute the charge. A few days go by and no refund was showing on my card. I called them back and they said that they issued it on the day that I called. I said "Proof it. Email me some kind of receipt." I was told that they would "look into it." I never heard back from them but my credit card company was nice enough to issue a credit and take over the fight for me. As far as I know, no refund was ever issued, so Mastercard eventually ate the cost. Could be a one-off situation, but I'll never use them again.
The bearing grease is for bearings ONLY - NEVER put it on brake parts
- particularly where it and brake fluid could meet, and NEVER on rubber brake parts.
I don't know but it sounds reasonable.
LOL. I'm proposing a system with not just + and -, but I want to add * and ^ too. Each will have a meaning but we won't say what it is.
Yes, we stilll have stores. An envelope of that costs a dollar last I looked.
IIRC bearing grease has some sort of strings in it. right? Not sure if they're visible or not. Not the same as brake grease.
Girlfriends are good at bleeding guys.
The red Mobil 1 synthetic grease says it's a racing 100% synthetic extreme pressure grease for exceptional performance at -40 to +350 degrees F.
The tub says it "exceeds NLGI GC-LB & ASTM D4950 Automotive Service Grease Requirements" and the SKU is 0-71924-96103-6 (071924961036 without spaces).
What brake grease do you suggest I can buy online of about that size? (I'll buy one for the person who gave it to me and one for me)
BTW, I already looked up how to make my own brake cleaner (it's acetone and ATF for a "penetrating oil") but I didn't know about the Mobil-1 grease.
Which of these would you buy to give as a gift and for myself to use?
Lately I've been using SuperLube as I have a tub of it and no SilGlyde. - pretty much the same stuff but I think SuperLube has PTFE in it and SilGlyde doesn't
The issue with a torn piston boot is how long was it torn, what was the climate where it's been, etc. If you catch it while it's just deteriorated and starting to crack, replacing it can be cheap and easy. If it's really shot, been like that for a long time, in winter with salt on the roads, etc, then the piston may be corroded. And they could work fine, because the corroded part is the exposed part. But when you put new pads on and it gets shoved inside, then it will bind and you'll have a caliper burning up the new pads. So if it's really shot, the safe, no fuss choice is to replace the caliper. When it could be better to rebuild it would be if it's an OEM caliper on a MB, BMW, or similar, where the originals are high quality, the rebuilds can be any kind, of dubious quality and to buy a new OEM one is expensive. Then you can take it apart, see what's doing and decide. But that assumes you can have the car apart for a week.
Does that work with antilock brakes?
Yes.
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