Caliper guide pin question

[CraKaJaX]

Car: 2008 Subaru Legacy

Last night I finally had time to do my front brakes - both rotors and pads. I've done them once or twice in the past, but this time I noticed that one of the caliper pins on the driver side was stuck pretty good. It would move, but I had to push/pull a hell of a lot harder than the other one. The one that was hard to pull has the pin that has a cutout for a rubber boot to go around. For those that have no clue what I'm talking about, see link below:

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=968452&cc=1440455&jnid=411&jpid=4

The pin on the left has a place for this rubber boot to slide over (middle piece):

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=541623&cc=1440455&jnid=413&jpid=0

The pin that I am questioning I actually ordered that guide boot kit from rock auto. The OEM one was ripped and I had to replace it. The replacement seems too large to have a nice sliding motion even with the grease. Instead of sliding the pin in smoothly, I actually had to twist it to get it all the way in. Bad sign... that shouldn't be. I am wondering if I could order two more solid pins (there is one per side) instead of having this rubber boot. I don't even understand the point - my experience is it's just a pain in the ass. Is this a viable option? Has anyone done this or dealt with these damn boots?!

Thanks guys

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Could there be corrosion on the female end the slide pin fits into? If the old pins were rusted from a torn boot, I wouldn't be surprised if there is rust inside the slot as well. That would make the new pins too tight.

If you can get some gasoline or other solvent into the slots and let it soak for a while. Then a pipe cleaner or sandpaper rolled into a tube to clear out some of the loose debris.

Either that or the aftermarket pins just aren't a good fit and you should try another brand.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Did you clean out the bore the pin goes into? You need to get the crud out of the bore as well as replace the pin when they seize up like that.

 

[CraKaJaX]

I did shine a flashlight inside but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Cleaning that out and re-greasing I guess is the next step. If not, I'm going to assume the boot is just slightly too big and will need to be replaced. I just didn't want to gamble with buying another one and (hoping) it fits if I could just replace the entire thing with a straight pin like the others. I still don't understand why one side has this boot and the other doesn't. The rears don't have any boots.

 

[Kenmitch]

The rubber part on the pin is to absorb vibrations that can cause noise. New ones tend to fit snug. Even old ones once lubed sometimes are hard to put back in as they kind of create an air tight seal. What did you use to lube them?

 

[Pulsar]

Keep in mind the old pins wear and change their OD (outer diameter) as they do so. So if the old one has worn there very well might be a coating of crap in there on the bushing. The tolerances are tiny on these.

Don't use sandpaper though. Get a scotch bright pad, wrap them around a drill bit so it's slightly bigger than the bushing and tape it to the bit, then lubricate the bore with dish soap and hone it. Keep it nice and wet. Wipe it out then grease it and see if the pin slides in.

We use scotch-bright pads regularly because they do a fantastic job of improving surface finish but they don't clog up with crap like sandpaper will. The soap will actually act as a cleaning agent and a honing fluid.

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=UTF-8#q=scotch+bright+pads&safe=off&tbm=shop

 

[foghorn67]

I had the almost the same issue with my Malibu this weekend. First time I touched the back brakes. The factory didn't pull the rubber boots over the flange on one of the pins. Fortunately, I live in California, so the corrosion wasn't deep. I dried the pin off and gave the pin one or two light swipes with a very old piece of scotch bright. Fit like factory after that. Just had to re-grease and made sure that boot was on there for good.
Your caliper "bridge" is corroded where the pin goes. If you aren't comfortable with cleaning it, I don't think these are very expensive.

 

[foghorn67]

I might make a new thread about this...but it got me curious. Folks in the midwest or where roads are salted regularly....do you guys need to rebuild calipers every couple of years?

 

[Pulsar]

Nope.

 

[tracerbullet]

I wouldn't say every couple of years, but I have rebuilt and / or replaced a few. Off the top I think ~ 7,8 years or so for some of my cars? It's kind of "that was then", they do seem to last longer now.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Not every couple years, no. I still have a factory caliper on my 02 Trailblazer (front right), 212k miles. I think one of the others may still be factory original too, not sure off the top of my head.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Keep in mind the old pins wear and change their OD (outer diameter) as they do so. So if the old one has worn there very well might be a coating of crap in there on the bushing. The tolerances are tiny on these.

Don't use sandpaper though. Get a scotch bright pad, wrap them around a drill bit so it's slightly bigger than the bushing and tape it to the bit, then lubricate the bore with dish soap and hone it. Keep it nice and wet. Wipe it out then grease it and see if the pin slides in.

We use scotch-bright pads regularly because they do a fantastic job of improving surface finish but they don't clog up with crap like sandpaper will. The soap will actually act as a cleaning agent and a honing fluid.

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=UTF-8#q=scotch+bright+pads&safe=off&tbm=shop

:thumbsup:

I will be doing that this weekend and report back.

I've never had to replace the calipers, only once I replaced this same exact boot that I'm having problems with now. Haven't had issues with the one on the passenger side.

 

[jagec]

I might make a new thread about this...but it got me curious. Folks in the midwest or where roads are salted regularly....do you guys need to rebuild calipers every couple of years?

When your first caliper seizes, you cut it off and clamp the brake line. When your second caliper seizes, your car is already rusted to pieces and so you buy a new one.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I'm in northeast Ohio. My 10 year old Focus with 250,000 miles is still on the original calipers. But I've had to disassemble all 4 of them to clean and repack the pins. A couple of them were completely frozen when I went to replace the pads and rotors. Amazing how well the brakes work after that.

 

[thomsbrain]

I had to rebuild all 4 calipers on the S2000 at 45,000 miles, but that was because I had burned all the grease and melted every piece of rubber on them on the track, not because of salt.

 

[Pulsar]

I'm in northeast Ohio. My 10 year old Focus with 250,000 miles is still on the original calipers. But I've had to disassemble all 4 of them to clean and repack the pins. A couple of them were completely frozen when I went to replace the pads and rotors. Amazing how well the brakes work after that.

Same. 2005 freestar. Never changed them. Might do it now.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Cleaning out the female end unfortunately didn't work I went with the gasoline and Scotch Brite pad method.

I ended up taking the rubber boot off completely and sliding the pin in. I'm going to be ordering two regular, non-boot pins tomorrow. I'm not sure what else there is to do besides order another boot and hope it fits. I could sand the hell out of the inside, but that would be to fit what appears to be a larger than normal boot. The boot that I'm having issues with is from rockauto.... Which is the only place I could find that I could buy just the boot and not the entire kit. This shouldn't be so difficult

 

[Pulsar]

Sorry to hear it didn't work. Go take a look at my 'analyse this noise' thread if you want to feel better about your vehicle =).