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Found a simple way to fix a stuck brake caliper without replacing it
I was working on a 2005 Ford F-150 last week for my neighbor. The right front brake was dragging bad, heating up the rotor to the point you could smell it. Normally I would just tell someone to replace the caliper, but parts are hard to find for that truck right now. I pulled the caliper off and noticed the slide pins were coated in this hard crusty old grease. Instead of swapping the whole unit, I cleaned the pins with a wire brush, hit them with some brake cleaner, and put a thin layer of high-temp silicone grease on them. Put it all back together and the caliper moved free as could be. Has anyone else had luck reviving a sticky caliper this way, or do you think it's just a temporary fix?
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alex3071d ago
Did you clean inside the bore where the rubber seal sits? That's where crud builds up and makes the piston hang up even if the pins move fine. Worth checking before you call it good.
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Yeah, have you checked if the boot on that caliper pin was torn at all? I've had the same thing happen on my old GMC, cleaning and regreasing gave me another two years before it finally started sticking again. It's definitely not a permanent fix but it buys you time. If the caliper piston itself isn't pitted or rusty, just dirty pins are almost always the culprit. I'd say keep an eye on it, but you probably got a solid season or two out of that truck with that cheap fix.
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