If you're replacing brake calipers on your 03+ Dakota...

[Josh_101]

I learned this the hard way today. Bought new front calipers because one of the old one's was draggin on the rotor and not releasing properly. The new caliper kits came with all that's needed including new caliper mounting brackets (mounts the caliper to the wheel hub) I didn't check to see if the two bolts/slider pins (which attaches the caliper to the hub mounting bracket) were tight because when picking them up out of the box, it all felt like they were put together well, like they sould be.

Not quite... After a few days I started getting this crazy rattling noise in the front end when going over bumps and could feel it through the steering wheel. Had a mechanic check out the front end cause I was thinking it was suspension related, or maybe ball joints going bad. Everything was tight as it should be. They couldn't figure out what it was untill I put my hand on the caliper, and I just about freaked. On the left side caliper, both bolts securing it to the mounting bracket were gone, so it was barely hanging on while bouncing all over the place and even hitting and scratching up the inside of the wheel. The other caliper was missing one bolt, the one remaining was close to falling out.

Got new bolts in their, and TIGHTENED so I'm safe now!

[KotaChuk678]

Thanks, came very close to that situation myself. Good headup!

[Josh_101]

The mechanic their said he's seen a similar thing happen to someone's car, only it came all the way off and got lodged up into the rim, put a nice hole on it too.

[Wrider]

Damn, glad you didn't get hurt man... That could have gone very bad very fast.

[petrock]

Originally Posted by Josh_101

I learned this the hard way today. Bought new front calipers because one of the old one's was draggin on the rotor and not releasing properly.

Question: why replace the caliper instead of rebuilding it? $5 for a caliper rebuild kit vs $50-80 for a new caliper.

Pistons, more often then not, will hang up like that when the rubber o-rings inside the piston bore are damaged or worn out. Its the thicker of the two o-rings that pulls the piston back from the rotor. When it goes, the piston won't return to its neutral position and the brakes will drag. Simply replacing the o-ring will solve the problem.

Just sayin'...

[Josh_101]

I dunno how to take those apart though...

[petrock]

Its fairly simple. Remove the piston, remove the old o-rings, lather the new o-rings in new brake fluid, install the o-rings in the piston bore, put the piston back on, and bleed the system. Its a fairly universal procedure.

Do a search for "how to rebuild caliper" on YouTube.com to see a good video series on it from 'expertvillage'. They break up the steps into multiple video's. Kind of annoying, but the guy explains things pretty well.

[rollers888]

Originally Posted by petrock

Its fairly simple. Remove the piston, remove the old o-rings, lather the new o-rings in new brake fluid, install the o-rings in the piston bore, put the piston back on, and bleed the system. Its a fairly universal procedure.

Do a search for "how to rebuild caliper" on YouTube.com to see a good video series on it from 'expertvillage'. They break up the steps into multiple video's. Kind of annoying, but the guy explains things pretty well.

thanks for that tip

[6shooter]

Originally Posted by petrock

Question: why replace the caliper instead of rebuilding it? $5 for a caliper rebuild kit vs $50-80 for a new caliper.

Pistons, more often then not, will hang up like that when the rubber o-rings inside the piston bore are damaged or worn out. Its the thicker of the two o-rings that pulls the piston back from the rotor. When it goes, the piston won't return to its neutral position and the brakes will drag. Simply replacing the o-ring will solve the problem.

Just sayin'...

unless the piston bore is worn out or pitted, then you're fucked and have to buy a new one anyway. why fuck around with all that when you can spend a bit more cash and you 1) know they're not worn or pitted in the piston bore and 2) have a lifetime warranty so you only need to replace them at cost once. ive checked on kits when i replaced mine on multiple trucks in the past, and parts stores dont even list a kit for them anymore.

[petrock]

Originally Posted by 6shooter

unless the piston bore is worn out or pitted, then you're fucked and have to buy a new one anyway.

Unless the piston dust cover is loose or damaged, chances are the piston bore should be just fine. And if it is worn or pitted, a little emery cloth can usually clean it right up. Its fairly rare that the piston bore is severely damaged/worn/pitted. Something else was probably wrong if that was the case.

Originally Posted by 6shooter

why fuck around with all that when you can spend a bit more cash

Three simple reasons: 1) not everyone has money to burn, even if its just $30-40. 2) A lot of people are old-school like me and take pride in truly fixing something rather then just replace parts. 3) It takes less time to rebuild a caliper then it does to remove an old caliper and install a new one. You can rebuild a caliper with the brake lines etc still connected, for example.

Originally Posted by 6shooter

have a lifetime warranty so you only need to replace them at cost once.

I haven't seen a caliper with a lifetime warranty. Couple months warranties tops because most are just rebuilt OEM calipers. Either way, good luck getting a replacement caliper under warranty. Those warranties are so limited, they are almost worthless.

Originally Posted by 6shooter

parts stores dont even list a kit for them anymore.

Don't know what parts stores you've been checking, or when you checked. But AutoZone, Pepboys, Kragen/O'Rielly & NAPA in my area and their online stores carry caliper rebuild kits for many many different vehicles. If you can't find it there, check rockauto.com or summitracing.com. They are fairly common and very inexpensive.

[SynRG]

Scary shit!

[6shooter]

Originally Posted by petrock

Three simple reasons: 1) not everyone has money to burn, even if its just $30-40. 2) A lot of people are old-school like me and take pride in truly fixing something rather then just replace parts. 3) It takes less time to rebuild a caliper then it does to remove an old caliper and install a new one. You can rebuild a caliper with the brake lines etc still connected, for example.

take all the pride you want, thats all you. if its faster to just replace it, thats what im doin. if im so broke i cant spend another $50 bucks to fix what gets me to work and back, ive got bigger problems than brakes. lol and you do realize you have to remove and re-install a caliper either way, weather its to rebuild it replace it? for $5 you can get a cheap self bleeder if your that worried about removing the brake line. only takes 2 minutes to bleed brakes. not to mention, you still have to clean the caliper pins and re-lube them if using the old caliper. a new caliper comes with new pins, just throw some lube in the bores and your done. so while your fuckin around cleaning caliper pins and bores with emery cloth and a round file, you could just use new parts and be done with it.

Originally Posted by petrock

I haven't seen a caliper with a lifetime warranty. Couple months warranties tops because most are just rebuilt OEM calipers. Either way, good luck getting a replacement caliper under warranty. Those warranties are so limited, they are almost worthless.

Don't know what parts stores you've been checking, or when you checked. But AutoZone, Pepboys, Kragen/O'Rielly & NAPA in my area and their online stores carry caliper rebuild kits for many many different vehicles. If you can't find it there, check rockauto.com or summitracing.com. They are fairly common and very inexpensive.

for shits and giggles, i called a few parts stores last night and checked. autozone and advance, and neither one even listed a rebuild kit and both offered reman calipers for ~$50 with lifetime warranties. and fuck rockauto or summit. if my truck is down, im not gonna sit around waiting on the UPS guy to get my ride back up and running. for the minuscule amount of money you save buying online, id rather spend the few bucks and 5 minute drive and have my truck fixed immediately.

[gocartone]

Originally Posted by 6shooter

for shits and giggles, i called a few parts stores last night and checked. autozone and advance, and neither one even listed a rebuild kit and both offered reman calipers for ~$50 with lifetime warranties. and fuck rockauto or summit. if my truck is down, im not gonna sit around waiting on the UPS guy to get my ride back up and running. for the minuscule amount of money you save buying online, id rather spend the few bucks and 5 minute drive and have my truck fixed immediately.

How old are you? You sound like you think shopping online is the devil or something crist. Most stuff is not a few bucks, it's $10-20 difference just for stuff under $100. When you are ordering $200 parts you can usually find them WAY cheaper on Rock Auto. I can get parts for their cost at Napa and when I replaced all my front end parts it would have still been $10 cheaper getting the same parts from rock auto, that's AT COST not what they charge when you go there. I think it was about $150 cheaper than buying it without my discount, I did end up going with Napa as I would have lost that $10 sending back my power steering rack for the core.

Not everyone waits til they are upside down in a ditch after a wheel bearing goes out, fix shit before it goes and then you are not waiting with your truck down.

[6shooter]

Originally Posted by gocartone

How old are you? You sound like you think shopping online is the devil or something crist. Most stuff is not a few bucks, it's $10-20 difference just for stuff under $100. When you are ordering $200 parts you can usually find them WAY cheaper on Rock Auto. I can get parts for their cost at Napa and when I replaced all my front end parts it would have still been $10 cheaper getting the same parts from rock auto, that's AT COST not what they charge when you go there. I think it was about $150 cheaper than buying it without my discount, I did end up going with Napa as I would have lost that $10 sending back my power steering rack for the core.

Not everyone waits til they are upside down in a ditch after a wheel bearing goes out, fix shit before it goes and then you are not waiting with your truck down.

im 27. i didnt dispute the cost savings, and i buy shit online all the time. but if my truck is down for repair, i need it back up as soon as possible so i can get to work, cart my daughter around, etc. why the fuck would i wait 3 or 4 days to save $20 and have to find someone to take me to and from work, when i can just run down the street, get the part, and fix my truck same day for a bit more $$$? if im lookin over my truck and find a balljoint is goin out or a wheel bearing is loose, im sure as shit not gonna drop it off the jack and drive it for another week on bad parts while i wait for rockauto to ship the parts that i saved $50 bucks on. thats just absolutely retarded. if my AC takes a shit and rockauto can save me $200, then yeah i would buy there to save a good amount of cash and wouldnt mind waiting to get it since AC is not a necessity. i look my truck over all the time for bad/failing parts, but sometimes, shit just goes bad without any warning. and on a tuesday evening after i blow a brake line or wheel cylinder on my way home from work, im not gonna fuck around online trying to save $6 on parts. im gonna go to the store 2 miles away, get the parts, fix it tuesday night, and be at work on time wednesday morning. if you wanna wait until saturday for the parts and have to hitch rides to work the rest of the week, be my guest.

the only way i would use online parts stores is if it was for a project sitting in my barn, or a secondary vehicle that i didnt need fixed in a hurry.

[Josh_101]

I spent $240 in total and got $100 back for the cores, had to wait a day but the brakes still worked if I needed to stop. I'm fine with that if I'm able to take a few bolts out, swap parts and have it all done in an hour and a half.

When the noise came this went on for 4 or 5 days and got progressively worse until we found the real reason behind it all. Spent $40 to have it lifted and a couple caliper bolt kits (not exactly the right kit, but the bolts fit) purchased and hopefully I won't have to worry about anything else for a while.