Caliper pins stuck?

[metallitera]

My truck pulls to the right, have to keep steering wheel at about 11 o clock to go straight.

Stopped by local shop today to see if he does alignments, he was a ford tech for a long time and left the dealership cause they suck.

anyhow, he came out and crawled all under my truck and under the hood and said he thought the caliper pins were prolly stuck on the front right and that was causing my pulling.

anyhow, im gonna check that tomorrow, was wondering if anyone else has had that problem.

[460+]

Yea, just about all the pins that Ive delt with have been froze. Take your brake calliper off an youll be able to tell. If you can free them up it will save you money, but if not I know you get those mounts with new calipers at Carquest. but im not sure if you can get just the mounts from them.

[Log Dog]

Just fixed that on mine. I used an air chisel to break it loose. Lubed it up and installed new caliper pins.

[metallitera]

hmmmmmmm, rusted that bad huh. were the calipers rubbing and making the truck pull?

what about anti seize on the threads also? or did you lube threads and all?

[Log Dog]

It pulled really bad! I pull a 17K lb trailer everywhere, and coming down the mountain that day was....interesting. I used Sil-Glyde from Napa on the new pins. It's like anti sieze but made just for brake parts. I did not put any on the threads. I could have used the old caliper pins, but new ones dont cost much and are cheap insurance, and brakes are not something I want to cut corners on. Go figure.

[metallitera]

hmmm. I hope its the pins stuck and not alignment....cheaper hehe. I pulled my hub caps and the lugs and studs are rusty......not like there is any structural cimnpromise, just like the truck spent a lil while near the coast. I'll see what else she needs when I get in there in a lil bit

[EDIT]
Good news:
lugs came off fine and werent WAYYYYY over torqued like I was expecting, wheel WAS dragging on pads when I spun 'er while on jack. caliper pins were NOT that hard to get off & pads look great.

Bad News:
HOLY RUSTY PISTONS BATMAN!!!!!!
and seals are shot it seems also. Rebuild kit & new pistons will be almost as much as a whole new caliper and more work so thats a no brainer.
[/edit]

[metallitera]

oh, and whats the difference between the caliper with the "OE PHENOLIC PISTON" and "METAL PISTON" besides $10?

[bigcountrysg]

If you have torches remove the caliper mount. Heat up the area where the pin is at. Then using vice grips clamp onto the pin then start twisting and pulling them out.

Be advised you will have to heat the area up pretty hot like cherry red hot. But this is the only way I have been successful with freeing the pins.

Once they are free replace with new ones. Lubricate the pins and reassemble the brakes.


Then if you want too while the caliper mount is off. You can drill and tap and insert grease zerks into the caliper mounts. You want the grease zerks where the slide pins are. This will allow you to lubricate the pins when you do your tire rotations.

[BuickLeSabre1960]

Originally Posted by metallitera

oh, and whats the difference between the caliper with the "OE PHENOLIC PISTON" and "METAL PISTON" besides $10?

Heat transfer, you want the phenolic.

[metallitera]

Well I replaced all 4 ball joints, bearings, races, seals and had 'er aligned. Guy said toe was off but didnt say how much. It still pulls to the right but not as bad.

While removing my spindles i noticed a thrown wheel weight wedged between the spindle and rotor, and this is what dug the ridges in the backside of the rotor. Im prolly gonna turn it, I just dont want to pull everything apart again and clean & re-lube. The calipers aren't stuck.