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How-To
How to change seals/boots on your front brake calipers
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<blockquote data-quote="mooch91" data-source="post: 9578592" data-attributes="member: 90547"><p>Did this job myself tonight as part of my complete brake service, found it quite quick and easy and took some pictures. Thought I'd share.</p><p></p><p>Seems the boots are prone to degradation on our calipers. I'm sure the seals on mine were fine, but it's part of the job to replace them. You can see the condition of the boots on mine, caliper removed from the car:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204400[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The replacement parts I used. Only one set of seal/boot per package, two packages required for each caliper:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204401[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>First thing is to remove the pistons from the caliper. A little bit of pressure works well here. Wear safety glasses and insert a block between the pistons and the other side of the caliper to prevent the pistons from flying out like the projectiles they will become. A 2x4 is a little bit too big to allow the pistons to pop out enough. I started with a 2x4 and ended with a sanding block I had around:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204402[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204403[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204404[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Wiggle the pistons out the rest of the way and remove and discard the boots. Here you can see how much dirt/grit can get in there, even with in-tact seals:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204405[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Next step is to pop out the seal with a dental pick:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204406[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Seals out, throw them away too:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204407[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The caliper bores also look pretty dirty:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204408[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Use some brake cleaner to clean up the pistons, real well, spotless:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204409[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Clean up the bores with brake cleaner as well:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204410[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Install the new seals. They slip right in to the ridge inside the bore. Lubricate the seals and the bores extremely well with fresh brake fluid in doing so.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204411[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204412[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Installing the new boots was the tricky part of the job. There seems to be one easy way, a trick if you will, for getting the boots on properly. Start by slipping the new boot (in the correct direction (wider diameter down, narrower diameter up) over the top of the piston:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204413[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204414[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Slide it down beyond the ridge where it will sit in the piston:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204415[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204416[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>And actually hang the wider diameter end over the bottom of the piston:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204417[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Lubricate the piston up real well with brake fluid. Begin to re-insert the piston by installing the wider diameter of the boot in to its detent in the bore. Start at the point of the bore on the closed side of the caliper since you won't have access to this side once you get the piston moving in place. When you've got it, you know it - you can actually spin the boot in its detent with very little resistance. It's important to lock the boot in its detent before trying to insert the piston:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204418[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204419[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Now you can start to insert the pistons, gently and evenly, in to the bore. Make sure they don't go in cocked at an angle:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204420[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Push the pistons in until the narrower diameter of the boots snap in to the detent in the piston. They should be bottomed out in the bore. Check to see that the boot is properly seated around the piston:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204421[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Clean your caliper up with some etching wheel acid (I used Eagle One Mag Wheel Cleaner) and it's just about ready for paint. Paint them after the seal and boot replacement; the brake fluid you encounter would almost certainly ruin the paint:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1204422[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mooch91, post: 9578592, member: 90547"] Did this job myself tonight as part of my complete brake service, found it quite quick and easy and took some pictures. Thought I'd share. Seems the boots are prone to degradation on our calipers. I'm sure the seals on mine were fine, but it's part of the job to replace them. You can see the condition of the boots on mine, caliper removed from the car: [ATTACH=full]1204400[/ATTACH] The replacement parts I used. Only one set of seal/boot per package, two packages required for each caliper: [ATTACH=full]1204401[/ATTACH] First thing is to remove the pistons from the caliper. A little bit of pressure works well here. Wear safety glasses and insert a block between the pistons and the other side of the caliper to prevent the pistons from flying out like the projectiles they will become. A 2x4 is a little bit too big to allow the pistons to pop out enough. I started with a 2x4 and ended with a sanding block I had around: [ATTACH=full]1204402[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1204403[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1204404[/ATTACH] Wiggle the pistons out the rest of the way and remove and discard the boots. Here you can see how much dirt/grit can get in there, even with in-tact seals: [ATTACH=full]1204405[/ATTACH] Next step is to pop out the seal with a dental pick: [ATTACH=full]1204406[/ATTACH] Seals out, throw them away too: [ATTACH=full]1204407[/ATTACH] The caliper bores also look pretty dirty: [ATTACH=full]1204408[/ATTACH] Use some brake cleaner to clean up the pistons, real well, spotless: [ATTACH=full]1204409[/ATTACH] Clean up the bores with brake cleaner as well: [ATTACH=full]1204410[/ATTACH] Install the new seals. They slip right in to the ridge inside the bore. Lubricate the seals and the bores extremely well with fresh brake fluid in doing so. [ATTACH=full]1204411[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1204412[/ATTACH] Installing the new boots was the tricky part of the job. There seems to be one easy way, a trick if you will, for getting the boots on properly. Start by slipping the new boot (in the correct direction (wider diameter down, narrower diameter up) over the top of the piston: [ATTACH=full]1204413[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1204414[/ATTACH] Slide it down beyond the ridge where it will sit in the piston: [ATTACH=full]1204415[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1204416[/ATTACH] And actually hang the wider diameter end over the bottom of the piston: [ATTACH=full]1204417[/ATTACH] Lubricate the piston up real well with brake fluid. Begin to re-insert the piston by installing the wider diameter of the boot in to its detent in the bore. Start at the point of the bore on the closed side of the caliper since you won't have access to this side once you get the piston moving in place. When you've got it, you know it - you can actually spin the boot in its detent with very little resistance. It's important to lock the boot in its detent before trying to insert the piston: [ATTACH=full]1204418[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1204419[/ATTACH] Now you can start to insert the pistons, gently and evenly, in to the bore. Make sure they don't go in cocked at an angle: [ATTACH=full]1204420[/ATTACH] Push the pistons in until the narrower diameter of the boots snap in to the detent in the piston. They should be bottomed out in the bore. Check to see that the boot is properly seated around the piston: [ATTACH=full]1204421[/ATTACH] Clean your caliper up with some etching wheel acid (I used Eagle One Mag Wheel Cleaner) and it's just about ready for paint. Paint them after the seal and boot replacement; the brake fluid you encounter would almost certainly ruin the paint: [ATTACH=full]1204422[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]
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How-To
How to change seals/boots on your front brake calipers
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