Should I replace Caliper Slide Pins?

[dude8370]

I have a 2003 and 2004 Toyota Camry, and I was re-lubricating the slide pins like on Eric’s video with servicing brakes (With Silicon Paste of course ;).

I had a heck of a time getting them off!!! They were thermonuclear bonded to caliper bracket. The boot is fine, But there is a big glob of rust or something on top of the pin, and I mean a BIG glob. Maybe someone used grease in the past? Anyways they don’t move nice and easy, (On my Accord and TSX they move back and forth with little effort) and you almost need a hammer to reinsert the pins in the bracket. My question would be should I replace the pins completely, or clean them off (I don’t have a wire wheel or something to clean them…any advice on cleaning). Also the bracket where the pins insert will need to be cleaned as well. What would be the best way to clean that? Or replace it? Any info is appreciated!

Topic

[valde]

Probably you’ll be ok with just cleaning sliding pins. If you don’t have wire wheel wire brush will work it just takes longer. If you mean cleaning caliber where pins insert into just clean pins put in brake cleaner and pin and move pins inside clean pins and do this till pins move freely.

If one pin has rubber dampening part in it use only pin that doesn’t have it.

[dude8370]

Thanks, if it helps the pins basically look like this, maybe a little more rust on top

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l538/tdaniels83/BadPin.jpg

[valde]

Actually that’s pretty normal looking. But it’s only the sliding pin part that counts. Normally when they look like that and you have to turn and hammer them to get them out you still just only have to clean lubricate and renew seal.

[EricTheCarGuy]

When I run into that I take them over to the wire wheel and clean them up. That’s usually enough. I also have a bristle brush that I use to clean out the inside of the bore. Once you’ve got everything cleaned up, try applying more lubricant and reinserting the pin. Keep us posted on your progress.

[dude8370]

This weekend I finally got around to fixing the issue. I was at home depot and found a wire wheel that attaches to my drill! Needless to say it worked like a charm cleaning off the pins! I sprayed brake clean in the hole and inserted a small rod wrapped in a blue shop towel in the boot hole until it was clean. Took a while, but did the job. I had to lubricate the pins several times with silicone paste and insert/remove several times until it moved freely. Thanks for everyone’s help! Hope this thread can help someone else too. That wire wheel attachment for my cordless drill saved the day!

[dude8370]

This weekend I finally got around to fixing the issue. I was at home depot and found a wire wheel that attaches to my drill! Needless to say it worked like a charm cleaning off the pins! I sprayed brake clean in the hole and inserted a small rod wrapped in a blue shop towel in the boot hole until it was clean. Took a while, but did the job.

I had to lubricate the pins several times with silicone paste and insert/remove several times until it moved freely. Thanks for everyone’s help! Hope this thread can help someone else too. That wire wheel attachment for my cordless drill saved the day!

[EricTheCarGuy]

Fantastic! Thanks for the update. I’m sure the wire wheel was cheeper than a new caliper, AND you can use it the next time you run into a problem like that. I think you should be fine now that you’ve lubricated with silicone. From what I’ve seen, the problem you had is caused by mixing lubricants. Now that you have the right stuff in there, you should be fine.

Thanks for the update and for using the ETCG forum.

[Author]

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