[Joe Papa Sr]

Hi again...also doing brakes, and cant figure out how to remove the (loosen) front brake caliperoff the disc...I mean, I unscrewed the 2 big bolts that hold it on, but, must I remove it entirely , (not disconnected from the brake line, just off the disc,), but seems like it is stiff to come off cuz the brake line going to it is steel. Is there some flex there ? I take it it MUST be removed to allow for the compression later on of the piston, facilitating placing shoes on.

Thanks

 

[Tifosi]

You can (generally) press the pistons back into their bores by using a screwdriver as a lever against the edge of the disc w/the tip on the center of the piston.

There's also specialty type tools that slip in and jack both pistons back at once with the turn of a knob/handle.


Anyway, if you have to remove the caliper, there's two options:

1) undo the hardline at the caliper and catch the drips, then do the bleed thing upon reassembly.

2) looking at the backside of the hub, you'll see that the hardline has a bracket affixed to it that ties it to the hub via a nut and bolt arrangement. Remove the nut and the hardline will pop off the back of the hub and let you flop things about on the softline. (upside is it's easier as you don't have to bleed it afterwards, downside is sometimes the bolt that sticks out will displace into the back of the hub behind the disc rotor forcing a teardown of the hub and wheelbearings to get it put back in place)


If your rotors aren't coming off to be turned or otherwise serviced, and it's just puck replacement you're after, I'd suggest just leaving the caliper in place and levering the pistons back one at a time, putting the new puck in, then repeating on the other piston.

 

[ghnl]

If you are merely wanting to replace the pads, you do not need to unbolt the caliper. Just push out the cross pins and remove the pad retainer. Push the pistons into the caliper (leave one pad in place and do one piston at a time otherwise pushing in one piston will just cause the other piston to move out).

Below is a snip from the shop manual. The last sketch shows a speader tool being used. I just lever the piston back using a long, wide scrrewdriver. Make sure the brake fluid reservoir does not overflow. And check that the boots covering the piston are in good conditon.

 

[ghnl]

Again, Tifosi types faster but I gots attachments...

 

[bigpapajoe]

Thanks, you guys. I wanted to turn the rotors, but might take a short cut. I might do what Tif said, undo the bolt holding down the brake line, to loosen. Gues I can figure it out from here. Dont eat too much this Christmas!!!

 

[bigpapajoe]

You can (generally) press the pistons back into their bores by using a screwdriver as a lever against the edge of the disc w/the tip on the center of the piston.

There's also specialty type tools that slip in and jack both pistons back at once with the turn of a knob/handle.


Anyway, if you have to remove the caliper, there's two options:

1) undo the hardline at the caliper and catch the drips, then do the bleed thing upon reassembly.

2) looking at the backside of the hub, you'll see that the hardline has a bracket affixed to it that ties it to the hub via a nut and bolt arrangement. Remove the nut and the hardline will pop off the back of the hub and let you flop things about on the softline. (upside is it's easier as you don't have to bleed it afterwards, downside is sometimes the bolt that sticks out will displace into the back of the hub behind the disc rotor forcing a teardown of the hub and wheelbearings to get it put back in place)


If your rotors aren't coming off to be turned or otherwise serviced, and it's just puck replacement you're after, I'd suggest just leaving the caliper in place and levering the pistons back one at a time, putting the new puck in, then repeating on the other piston.

Wow, looks like I will not chance option #2, Tif. Thanks for the warning.

 

[bianchi2]

a neat thing to do.. if you remove the rotor from the hub,, smear the hub face with anti-seize this will stop any rust from forming and rusting the rotor to the hub( this is after you clean the hub face and rotor ) and as for those peasky hub screws , you know the ones that you amost strip to remove them..i took mine out and now use counter sunk allen screws now, easyer to remove and re-fit.

 

[Joe Papa Sr]

a neat thing to do.. if you remove the rotor from the hub,, smear the hub face with anti-seize this will stop any rust from forming and rusting the rotor to the hub( this is after you clean the hub face and rotor ) and as for those peasky hub screws , you know the ones that you amost strip to remove them..i took mine out and now use counter sunk allen screws now, easyer to remove and re-fit.

Right! I use an impact driver to unscrew, one from Harbor freight works OK. Kinda stupid the way they engineered that. Oh, Would you repack with new grease the wheel bearings? Simply unsnap that dome like cap and stuff with grease?

 

[Tifosi]

If you're gonna repack the front bearings, they need to come out to do a proper job.

Yes, you 'can' pack the cap with fresh grease, but it won't do a thing for the inner bearing, and it things get too crowded in there it'll start to blow grease out the inner seal which in turn may eventually spatter up onto the inside of the rotor and wreck the inner pad.

Second on the list is take the cap off, the nut, and the outer bearing and repack the space in the center so that when you put the outer bearing back in, fresh grease is squished into both the inner and outer bearing.

I'd not suggest either method actually unless you are prepared to take some risks.

Better to take it apart proper, clean both bearings (great way to inspect them too ) and the hub, repack everything, put on a new seal (ding-ding-ding-ding!! Expendable item!! Don't save it, replace it!) and head off down the highway in the confidence that you did it right onnaconna seized or cooked wheel bearings are pretty high on the suckatude list AFA dealing with it after the damage is done. (wreck 'em good enough and you'll be removing the inner race from the spindle with a torch or cutoff wheel. And that's not taking into consideration the possibilty of the spindle and/or hub being scored up badly before the bearing finally craps totally)


Oh, just to clarify: the left hub has left-hand threads on the spindle nut, so you might be a while if you try the lefty-loosey-righty-tighty thing with it.


On that bolt that can walk back into the hub?

If you ever do a full pulldown on the hub, you can fit one of those snap clip thingies onto the outside of the bolt to prevent it from slipping back into the hub ever again. (dunno the name for it, but it's like a flat spring steel washer w/three 'prongs' in it that you press straight on and the prongs hold it in place)

T'won't hurt a thing as the only thing that the bolt in question holds is the bracket on the hardline. (others in that area are for the dust shield)

 

[Joe Papa Sr]

If you're gonna repack the front bearings, they need to come out to do a proper job.

Yes, you 'can' pack the cap with fresh grease, but it won't do a thing for the inner bearing, and it things get too crowded in there it'll start to blow grease out the inner seal which in turn may eventually spatter up onto the inside of the rotor and wreck the inner pad.

Second on the list is take the cap off, the nut, and the outer bearing and repack the space in the center so that when you put the outer bearing back in, fresh grease is squished into both the inner and outer bearing.

I'd not suggest either method actually unless you are prepared to take some risks.

Better to take it apart proper, clean both bearings (great way to inspect them too ) and the hub, repack everything, put on a new seal (ding-ding-ding-ding!! Expendable item!! Don't save it, replace it!) and head off down the highway in the confidence that you did it right onnaconna seized or cooked wheel bearings are pretty high on the suckatude list AFA dealing with it after the damage is done. (wreck 'em good enough and you'll be removing the inner race from the spindle with a torch or cutoff wheel. And that's not taking into consideration the possibilty of the spindle and/or hub being scored up badly before the bearing finally craps totally)


Oh, just to clarify: the left hub has left-hand threads on the spindle nut, so you might be a while if you try the lefty-loosey-righty-tighty thing with it.


On that bolt that can walk back into the hub?

If you ever do a full pulldown on the hub, you can fit one of those snap clip thingies onto the outside of the bolt to prevent it from slipping back into the hub ever again. (dunno the name for it, but it's like a flat spring steel washer w/three 'prongs' in it that you press straight on and the prongs hold it in place)

T'won't hurt a thing as the only thing that the bolt in question holds is the bracket on the hardline. (others in that area are for the dust shield)

Man, Tif, You are really keeping me working on this car. Now that I am more edjukatid, I cant ignore this grese job, and to do it right.

On this left, driv side hub nut, to loosen, I turn it to the right, as opposed to normally left ?? Also, when I take the bearing set out, to clean, should I dip and brush in mineral spirits to remove ALL old grease?

Good idea on that hub nut snap clip thingy. Ill keep it in mind.

 

[Tifosi]

Ya, the left/drivers side (on LHD) spindle nut gets turned clockwise to loosen it.

If you've got mineral spirits, then great as that's one of the best things you can clean it with.

And yes, you want to get rid of all the old grease in the bearings and hub, then check the bearings for (1) free rolling, (2) no noises/crunching, (3) not a serious amount of slop between the inner and outer race. *there may be a little bit, but it certainly shouldn't rattle, and (4) any pitting/scoring or the like in the rollers.

Oh, if you've got a compressor and use it to blow the bearing dry, resist the urge to spin the bearing at ungodly speeds by blowing air at it. It is kinda fun to do and to see how fast you can get it screaming, but it's really quite bad for the bearing itself to be spinning like that with no lubrication in/on it.

Repacking can be done by a tool you can buy, (looks like a cup sort of thing with a lid and a grease fitting so you can use a gun to do the work for you), or by hand by putting a dollop of grease on the palm of your hand then kinda cramming it into the end of the bearing until it oozes out pretty much everywhere all the way around.

Most autoparts stores carry good bearing grease (make sure you get the kind made for high temp/disc brake bearings as it does matter once the heat gets to it) and if you end up with the kind I use, it'll look like cherry pie filling. (but still tastes like crap)

 

[Joe Papa Sr]

Ya, the left/drivers side (on LHD) spindle nut gets turned clockwise to loosen it.

If you've got mineral spirits, then great as that's one of the best things you can clean it with.

And yes, you want to get rid of all the old grease in the bearings and hub, then check the bearings for (1) free rolling, (2) no noises/crunching, (3) not a serious amount of slop between the inner and outer race. *there may be a little bit, but it certainly shouldn't rattle, and (4) any pitting/scoring or the like in the rollers.

Oh, if you've got a compressor and use it to blow the bearing dry, resist the urge to spin the bearing at ungodly speeds by blowing air at it. It is kinda fun to do and to see how fast you can get it screaming, but it's really quite bad for the bearing itself to be spinning like that with no lubrication in/on it.

Repacking can be done by a tool you can buy, (looks like a cup sort of thing with a lid and a grease fitting so you can use a gun to do the work for you), or by hand by putting a dollop of grease on the palm of your hand then kinda cramming it into the end of the bearing until it oozes out pretty much everywhere all the way around.

Most autoparts stores carry good bearing grease (make sure you get the kind made for high temp/disc brake bearings as it does matter once the heat gets to it) and if you end up with the kind I use, it'll look like cherry pie filling. (but still tastes like crap)

Thanks for the detailed info. Im all ready to do the job right! (Man, its gonna be a mess, I figure...LOL)

 

[bianchi2]

.. tifosi.. your stuck in the snow, and can't drive your spider..right?..... and what is that snap ring thingy, with 3 prongs?

 

[Tifosi]

Yah, it are winter here

I don't honestly know what they actually call the snap ring thing, but they look kinda like this:

 

[bianchi2]

.. i know the feeling , tifosi..is only going to be 45-48 degs. here wensday...might have to put the top up..there goe's my tan...