Date: Fri, 12 Apr 1996 09:47:10 -0500 (CDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: jbrill@unlinfo.unl.edu (James Brill)
Subject: Caliper rebuild confession
Ok, someone just posted a story about a failing rebuilt brake caliper.
I can't stand this anymore. I bought two rebuild kits for the
calipers on my '71 a few months back from RMMW. Probably paid too
much but what the heck. I rebuilt the first one and then the other
one a day later. In between the two I realized that a nice brass
brush cleaned things up nicely. Hence, the second one was cleaner and
a better rebuild. So, I decided to take the first on apart again and
clean it up better.
This is where it gets ugly. Not having any compressed air handy I was
levering the piston out with two screw drivers. This worked fine
twice. It did not on the third time. I busted a small chunk out of
the piston. If you have seen on you know what I was prying on. So, I
cussed and cried and looked at things. I surmised that the pressure
was behind the rubber ring that sits in the grove in the bore of the
cylinder and that the piece I broke off of the piston (about 1cm) held
the other rubber part there to keep the fluid leaking out. So, I
figured this piece wasn't under high pressure so I shouldn't have a
problem.
I put everything back together and crept out onto an crowded roadway
and did several hard stops. Everything seems great. I have about
1,000 miles on it since with no problems. No leaks or irregular
braking. So, am I right or just a dumb ass? I am thinking I should
work harder on getting those calipers off of that '72 I have my eye on
and rebuild those, with the aid of compressed air, unless I really was
right in my assumption that this is ok. Which leads to another
question. Where can I get a quality rebuild kit for less than the $20
RMMW gets? Thanks, Jim
--
James A. Brill Jr. \\ //
jbrill@unlinfo.unl.edu \\ \\// // If you're not outraged
University of Nebraska \\//\\// you're not paying attention.
free-lance homo sapien \/ \/
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