I am going to replace my front calipers soon, because I have a tear in one of the dust boots that is sure to go any minute now.

When I put the new calipers on, they will not contain any brake fluid. I have a Mity-vac that I borrowed from a friend that I plan on using to bleed the brakes, but **stupid question alert** will bleeding the brakes get the fluid into the caliper? Or do I fill the calipers prior to installing them, and then bleed them again to get air out. Can I "prime" the calipers using the Mity-Vac? And how do you know when to stop filling the calipers? I guess initially you'll just be sucking air out, but at some point brake fluid will come through, and maybe that's when you know it's time to stop?

As you can see, I'm a bit unclear on the concept. Any advice is appreciated.

 

I've never had to bleed calipers seperatly from the entire system. but using a mityvac to prime them cant hurt anything, the calipers dont really retain a lot of fluid to "fill" them. Personally i would just hook em up, and bleed them all in one shot

 

Ditto.....no need ( or really good way) to fill them first....hook them up and start bleeding...

 

I don't understand why you are replacing calipers if you only have a torn dust boot, why don't you go and buy a new dust boot from an autopart store or dealer and replace it, they are cheap and easy to replace just pry off the old dust boot, slip on a new one and tapp it in place with a punch and hammer, you don't even have to bleed the brake system as long as you don't pull the brake piston out of the caliper....

You would not go out and buy a new tire and wheel just because the valve stem is bad...... would you?

Or am I missing something here.....

 

I agree with Ulf on this one. Try the new dust boot first, if it doesn't work or you can't seem to get it seat corrected, then go ahead and do the new caliper. Start simple (and cheaper) and work your way up.

 

Wow, thanks, guys.

I had no idea that replacing just the dust boot was an option. The closest that I knew of was a caliper rebuild kit, but I'm not really set up to do all that, nor do I have the experience to do that, so I figured that replacing the calipers was the next item up the chain.

I called several dealers in the area, and they all told me the same thing: a rebuild kit is not made for 2004s (and I assume from that point forward), and that the lowest assembly is the caliper.

I did some searching around online and found lots of websites showing how to rebuild calipers, but I couldn't find any auto parts places that sell rebuild kits for 2004 F150s.

So, we have disposable calipers, I guess.

Fortunately, I have the calipers, and I have a parts connection, so I was able to get two calipers for less than half of the price of one from the dealer. And they're semi-loaded, with new slide pins and everything (no pads, though, but I don't need them). I guess I can hang my hat on that.

Any other thoughts.

 

I successfully installed new calipers on the fronts and that was a pretty easy job. Bled the fronts first, and then bled the whole system, starting at the left rear and made my way up to the right front. The mity-vac is a pretty cool tool, made the job much easier. I used small zip ties to secure the plastic tubing to the bleed screw, and then packed grease around the bleed screw threads to make a seal. I bought some reddish-colored bearing grease that seemed to break down in the presence of brake fluid - it just turned to liquid. I then used some greyish-black colored general purpose grease, and that seemed to work better.

I'm a little concerned that the calipers are sticking now. I don't have much to base that on, other than a drive I took today during which I got pretty bad mileage. However, I was loaded down with some furniture, and I was in stop-n-go traffic for most of the trip. The area around each front wheel was warm, but it wasn't glowing red or anything, and it wasn't smoking. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. I'll keep an eye on the mileage and see if there's a dramatic drop.

Any other warning signs that I should be looking for that would indicate sticking calipers?

Thanks.

 

sticking caliper will generate heat,will be hotter than others.As for installing new boot I woudn't skimp on brakes and very few people rebuild calipers anymore.I recall the dust boot being the worst part of the job.

 

OK, so I'm lubricating the slide pins today on both of these new calipers I installed. On the right side, the top pin came out very easily, and it was well lubricated. The bottom pin, however, was tough to get out - I really had to pull on it. When I removed it, I noticed that it's a little different from the top pin: it has a little splined orange rubber section pushed over the pin and seated into a section of the pin that's a slightly smaller diameter that the pin. The rubber section extends about 1/3 up from the end of the pin. When I push it into its bore, it wants to slide out. I can hear air squirting out occasionally from the bore, and it's almost like the pin is acting like a piston inside there. I push it in, it pushed out. I can rotate the pin around and it helps a little, but it's not seating properly.

So I compare it with the left side, and the left side pins go in and out with no real resistance. They are well lubed. I swapped the offending pin to the other side, and it does the same thing.

WTF? Is that little orange rubber section acting like a seal or something? Should I cut it a little to relieve some pressure when I'm installing the pin?

Is someone will tell me how to post pictures in an thread, I'll put them up.

Grrrrr.

 

Well, I got everything back together. I tried to get as much grease out of the bore as I could, and then relubed the pin. I got it to go in a little better and stay in. Strangest thing, though.