Just removed my front brake caliper drivers side. I cant seem to retract pistons back into the caliper assembly. I remoived it completely from the hoses and have it at hand. No bleeder and no brake fluid in it. What can i do already busted a C clamp, is thier a trick? Or is it shot.....

 

Sounds to me like you need a new caliper.. It should move with a c clamp without any effort..

 

Sounds like it is shot, was it seized on the rotor? There is a tendency for the slide pins to get FUBR the caliper clamps the rotor and heats to some un Godly temp, and you are screwed.

 

in both trucks i've owned, this one and my f450 i sold, the right rear caliper has seized up and had to be replaced. on the 450 i suddenly lost brakes, or pressure actually, i was hauling a load of lumber on the flatbed, and suddenly i had to keep pumping the brakes to stop. got to the jobsite, and looked at the caliper, well the outside brake pad was good, the inside, worn down the rotor so much that it allowed the piston to be pushed almost all the way out. the brake fluid would pour out when you stepped on the pedal, by the time i got to the jobsite the master cylinder was almost bone dry. what i did, which i conceed is not recommended and very ghetto, was to take a small c-clamp, and clamped the brake line right at the caliper. filled the master cylinder up with fluid, and then bled the system. worked great, but i only needed to make it about 30 miles back to the house. i then replaced the caliper and rotor.

on my f250, about 5 months ago, i heard the familiar metallic sound, and thought, time for new pads. well i looked into the wheel well, and yeah the front rotors were ever so slightly worn, and the pads definitely needed replacing. so i swapped on some new pads. seemed ok. no more noise. the a few days later i heard it again. turns out it was the right rear caliper sticking on the inside just like the other truck. somehow i overlooked it. i planned on new rotors all around, just needed to make it a couple days till i got paid. then the next day, this loud as hell metallic BANG. get to the house and fluid is covering the entire inside of the wheel. the PISTON exploded. the pad was jammed all up in the caliper, it still had some backing on it, but the PISTON broke into about 5 pieces. first time i'd ever seen that.

what is it with the RR on these, is it because its the furthest from the master cylinder?

 

Can these calipers be rebuilt? I used to rebuild old style calipers off old chevys and fords.....If so is it worth it or should i just buy a new one....


Thanks for the replies

 

I recently put new ft Calipers in my early 99 4x4 last month for under 120 a side. Rebuilt from VIP Auto with new slider pins and reman caliper bracket. Thought it was a great deal as the local Ford Dealer wanted 80 for just the bracket with slide pins.

 

I had 1 yr old OEM's calipers seize up on the rears, I made the shop replace replace with out cost. I've had my cailipers seize at least four times, not always the same one. You have to pay good attention to maintaining to original equipment, if I would of taken them apart and greased the pins on a regular basis, I would imagine the stock calipers would last for a long long time.

On the other hand it seems like a poor design and you should only have to maintain them with pad replacement etc.

 

I did pull, clean and regrease the slide pins......just 6mos prior. I had a sticking rear caliper....so I cleaned up the fronts as well. Perhaps the long NH winter seeped past the slidepin boots. I thought of using a waterproof marine grease.....but thought it may not handle the high temps. Any suggestions? Tim

 

i just finished this afternoon replacing a stuck slide pin thats on a one year old caliper. i replaced the caliper and i know i greased them good. don't know why it froze/ anyway the boot had a little tear in it so maybe thats it but what a hassle i had gettin it out.