Brake caliper slide pin boots

[ecom]

I'm about to perform a brake pad replacement and the inner pads are worn significantly more than the outer pads. From what I've found, this means the slide pins need lubrication.

Is it necessary to replace the rubber boots when lubricating the slide pins or do I just need to remove the pin and put grease on the pin?

I have a 2.5oz container as depicted on the left half.

 

[jlee]

If the boots aren't cracked, split or otherwise damaged, there's no harm in reusing them.

 

[boomerang]

Don't be surprised if lubricating the pins doesn't solve your problem. I believe that uneven pad wear is sometimes "engineered" in - and not intentionally.

Don't misunderstand, greasing the pins is good maintenance. I'm not suggesting you don't do it.

 

[ecom]

Thanks for the responses.

It's possible that the uneven wear is normal since I see the condition on all four corners. Given 150000 miles though, I think the pads had a good run! That is not a typo.

 

[DivideBYZero]

150k on a set of pads!? Holy crap, you must live in Utah and drive like a nun!

 

[ecom]

Most of the miles are highway so the brakes wouldn't be used all that much.

The inner pads are down to about 4 mm and starting to squeal. The outer ones have maybe 8 mm or more. If it weren't for uneven wear, I'd still be using them. Original pad thickness is ~17mm on the front.

 

[StageLeft]

Make sure that if your pins themselves have rubber boots (I think only a minority of cars have this. My Maxima does, though) around them you get a pure silicone break grease and NOT the ceramic or anything else sold at autozone et al. even if it claims it's rubber safe. Otherwise the pins WILL bind. I had this happen last year and finally on my third break job in two weeks after getting red-hot rotors I used silicone grease

 

[rootaxs]

If the boot is still good, turn it inside out and remove all of the old grease before applying the new one.

 

[LTC8K6]

On the other hand, if the boots are 38 cents apiece, use new ones...

 

[Demon-Xanth]

150k on a set of pads!? Holy crap, you must live in Utah and drive like a nun!

Believe it or not, but I'm over 100k on my pads and they still have a lot of life left in them. And I do check them regularly.

 

[ecom]

On the other hand, if the boots are 38 cents apiece, use new ones...

At Napa, the boots are about $10 per axle set which is actually a hardware kit that includes clips and boots.

The dealer wants $6 per boot, 2 boots per caliper.

 

[ecom]

Make sure that if your pins themselves have rubber boots (I think only a minority of cars have this. My Maxima does, though) around them you get a pure silicone break grease and NOT the ceramic or anything else sold at autozone et al. even if it claims it's rubber safe. Otherwise the pins WILL bind. I had this happen last year and finally on my third break job in two weeks after getting red-hot rotors I used silicone grease

I am using brake grease with moly as I depicted above.

 

[LTC8K6]

At Napa, the boots are about $10 per axle set which is actually a hardware kit that includes clips and boots.

The dealer wants $6 per boot, 2 boots per caliper.

Well, that's what I meant. Cheap insurance, imo. Hate to have to do it again because the old boots weren't up to it.

 

[drnickriviera]

Anyone know why they switched to sliding calipers? Just cost? I hate them

 

[thomsbrain]

I only just recently changed the front pads on the Accord (120K+ miles), and they didn't need it but since I had the wheels off and the pads in hand, I figured I might as well get it over with.

Anyway, back to the OP, at those prices I think I would use new boots just to play it safe, but I tend to be conservative.

 

[ecom]

So my hardware kit came with the items circled in red.

The black diamonds are non-reusable parts (as specified by manufacturer. The black arrows indicate areas to lubricate. The numbers in rectangles are torque specifications in Newton meters first, and last number is lb ft. Not sure about the middle one.

What are these items in blue? I'm assuming this isn't required for normal brake service.

 

[Homer Simpson]

What are these items in blue? I'm assuming this isn't required for normal brake service.

the blue item is the actual piston and seals. the only time you would be messing with that is if you were rebuilding a caliper. for a normal brake pad job, you wont be doing anything with it aside from maybe compressing the piston a little to get it to fit over the rotor with the new pads (large c-clamp works great for this).

 

[StageLeft]

I see your brakes have that rubber "Cylinder slide bush". Just make sure, per above, that the break grease will work well with those. I have no idea if it does or not. I can say, though, that the stuff from the counter at autozone with those rubber pin bushings will lock the pins up. Rubber-safe means it won't deteriorate rubber. It does not mean it will let it move smoothly, though.