Seized caliper pins... they're out there

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted by maxdustington
Originally Posted by Urshurak776
.. I do find it odd that Eric O (South Main Auto) does not lubricate the "ears" of the pads. I have always lubricated the ears.
I was watching him do a brake job and he lubricated the area under the brake hardware but left the pad ears dry, I was shocked.

I don't do it either anymore. Attracts too much soot sand and brake dust. Hardens into a solid mass which makes the pads stick and drag on the rotor.

 

[WyrTwister]

When I do a pad slap , I inspect the pins and lubricate if needed . Use what ever lube is handy . Never replaced hardware on disc brakes .

 

[diyjake]

For those of you that don't lubricate the ears, do you have any issues with the brakes? Noise or any other issues?

 

[demarpaint]

Sil-Glyde has been working well for me on slide pins for many years now.

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted by diyjake
For those of you that don't lubricate the ears, do you have any issues with the brakes? Noise or any other issues?


No noises or squeaks like the old days. Could be because I'm using ceramic pads and they resonate at a level only dogs can hear LOL. The infrared heat gun has really paid off. It tells me what things I do make any difference in keeping heat down on the rotor surface. (Assuming drag is partially responsible for the higher reported temps, and varying temps from side to side) One is keeping the shims / slides clean. Only a month after replacing pads the temps were consistently up on the front right . I took it apart and the inside brake pad was stuck in goop. Cleaned it up and it was within 10 F of the other rotor. Another is filing the ears down so the pads almost fall out when I remove the caliper. The ears aren't always smooth. Sometimes they have little gobs of paint or Burrs from the manufacturing process.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Sil-Glyde does not swell the pins but it only like 5% silicone...
Originally Posted by JTK
To me it's because as mentioned above. Sil-Glyde isn't 100% pure silicone grease.


From a standpoint of brake parts applications, do you know that that's a bad thing (5%) ? What is a proper amount ? More isn't always better.


Not being a chemist or materials scientist, I can't say for certain either way.

All I can go by is what I've experienced.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Raybestos makes all-NEW calipers for your Avalon

 

[diyjake]

Originally Posted by LeakySeals
Originally Posted by diyjake
For those of you that don't lubricate the ears, do you have any issues with the brakes? Noise or any other issues?


No noises or squeaks like the old days. Could be because I'm using ceramic pads and they resonate at a level only dogs can hear LOL. The infrared heat gun has really paid off. It tells me what things I do make any difference in keeping heat down on the rotor surface. (Assuming drag is partially responsible for the higher reported temps, and varying temps from side to side) One is keeping the shims / slides clean. Only a month after replacing pads the temps were consistently up on the front right . I took it apart and the inside brake pad was stuck in goop. Cleaned it up and it was within 10 F of the other rotor. Another is filing the ears down so the pads almost fall out when I remove the caliper. The ears aren't always smooth. Sometimes they have little gobs of paint or Burrs from the manufacturing process.


How much of a temp difference was there before you cleaned them up?

 

[LeakySeals]

They are rarely if ever identical. The left may be hotter than the right by 10-20f. But it's very random. Probably road conditions. If I see a trend of +30,+50f on the same rotor I'm taking it apart proactively. It's something minor like the pads are getting stuck in the shims or pins are sticking. Without the gun you would never know. You can't feel the difference until it's around 100f. Then you're well aware of a drag. It's hot to the touch you can smell pads. It's pulling duri g braking. More serious problems like pistons getting stuck on the seals or a collapsed brake line. If I see temperatures that high more than a few times I just shotgun the caliper and brake line with a reman. The problem does not come back. In recent years with this method of monitoring with the heat gun after trips coincidentally my problem with "warped rotors" has disappeared. Assume that's because I'm fixing heat problems that are causing uneven pad material distribution sooner.

 

[Hootbro]

Originally Posted by LeakySeals

I don't do it either anymore. Attracts too much soot sand and brake dust. Hardens into a solid mass which makes the pads stick and drag on the rotor.


Same here. If the brake ears are sliding on stainless pad hardware, I do not lubricate the pad ears either.

I think Eric O. of SMA probably has done enough brake jobs over the years to see enough normal service return work to know best practices on where to apply caliper grease .

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted by Kira
Suggest to people to service their brakes and see what kind of faces they'll make.


I'll be doing my '98 Mustang's next week and be sure to post detailed pics when I do it. I bet the rear caliper pins are nearly as bad as ^^^

 

[HangFire]

After years of experimenting, this is what I ended up with. Silicone for pins, Moly for pad ears and backs. Only use a tiny wipe of Moly on the ears. Moly dries out and leaves a lubricating powder behind. Check rotor for runout.

Remove pads and pins once a year, clean, inspect, remove old lube and relube. Inspect both rotor sides for smearing. Inspect and clean pin boots, piston accordion boot, shims and abutment clips. Check for free, smooth piston movement. Replace as necessary. Check rotor runout on reassembly. Bleed.

Agree some pads need a little pad ear filing to be flat and smooth.

 

[supton]

I only recently started experimenting with Sil-glyde for pins, upon recommendation here. I've been using Sta-Lube brake grease, or whatever was present in the pin already, and usually after a year the pin has taken a bit of a set. Pulling it in and out gets it moving again--don't even have to pull it out--but it's kinda annoying and doesn't inspire confidence.

I do the M77 moly paste per The_Critic's suggestion for pad ears. And on the caliper bracket, to try to slow down rust. I don't see it attracting dirt, and we do have dirt roads around here. I can as long as a year before it really needs to be regreased though--it will be thoroughly gone after about a year on our daily drivers. If I lube every six months there will be just hints of it there. Maybe we drive too much in the rain, I dunno; we also get 4-5 years & 100k out brake pads without any drama--I usually replace due to delamination rather than actual wearing out.

As always, YMMV. I suspect each of us must have different roads and driving habits in order to have such a range of opinions. But I'm a proponent of yearly brake dissasembly when possible. Putting all seasons back on after winter is a great time, although when putting on the snows isn't a bad time to do it also.

 

[WillB]

Clean them off, or replace thrm and lube them with sylglyde. Buy new rubbers for them also.

I service mine twice a year - spring & fall.

 

[diyjake]

When you guys replace the slider pin rubber boots, do you guys get them from big auto part stores or OEM?

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted by diyjake
When you guys replace the slider pin rubber boots, do you guys get them from big auto part stores or OEM?

If I will not touch it for years, OEM. Better rubber.

Since I pull down my brakes annually for a clean and check, I usually use a known aftermarket brand like Raybestos.