hey guys going down the road today and feel my front left caliper is sticking, they started getting hot so pulled over to let it cool off and that seemed to help. I just ordered permatex ceramic lube for the slide pins ironically. I saw guzzles pin upgrade install write up but was wondering if it is possible to just pull the pins out , lube them , and put back in without removing the whole caliper assembly? Is there anything else that will cause the calipers to stick that I should look at?

 

Check to see that your pistons are not seizing in their bores also.

 

Yes you can just remove the slide pins, relube them and reinstall with out removing the calipers. I do this once a year as part of a maintenance program whether I've done the brakes or not. Remove the wheel, clock your wheels to the opposite side, this will give you the room you need to do this. But I'd like to add how important it is to thoroughly clean the slide pin bores first. Using a metal wire bottle brush on a cordless drill and parts cleaner to establish a base line to the process, then it is just doing maintenance. I wouldn't suggest just pulling the slide pins, re-lubing them and re-installing them because the lube tends to cake up inside the slide pin bores and it will just compound the situation. Again, this can be done with out removing the calipers it's just a bit of a challenge with the lack of light. Loosen both slide pins, but be sure to only pull one slide pin at a time, then just pivot the caliper out slightly, clean the pin and bore, then re-install. Also, Fordtrucknoob added an excellent point here that most folks don't mention or talk about, is that the actual caliper pistons aren't froze up as well. The only way to check this piston travel, is to remove the caliper from the rotor to verify that they travel freely.

 

Thank you guys I appreciate the help. Looks like I will have to pull the caliper anyways but good to know for future maintenance on the slide pins. I felt the truck pulling to the left and then pulled over for 10 minutes or so checking things out, then started driving again, it was still pulling but after about 3 minutes it stopped and drove fine. Does that sound more like the pins or the pistons freezing?