rear brake calipers

[LETZRIDE]

I got the ones off the new 96 camaro off... anyone know how the hell I am suppose to compress this cylinder? I cant seem to get my c clamp on it, and a hammer isnt doing much good...I tried putting a bottle jack on it, with the other side of the caliper under the car...still the brake pads dont want to clear the rotor...not even close enough to force it...

[thedetailman]

Re: rear brake calipers

do you have a vice?? those work really well. if that doesnt work try to put it back on the stick two pieces of something on the pistons and pry them apart with a steel pry bar.

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: rear brake calipers

Agree with the pry bar idea. Stick a 1x2 or something in the caliper and use a wonder bar to compress the piston.. But that sounds like the caliper might need some work to me, I'm usually able to compress the pistons with my hands.

[bigairboarder44]

Re: rear brake calipers

I used a c-clamp and put a 1/2" ratchet over the piston, then tightened the c-clamp down on the ratchet.

[Mogobs30th]

Re: rear brake calipers

You did open up the master cylinder didn't you?

[transamtom1]

Re: rear brake calipers

I got the ones off the new 96 camaro off... anyone know how the hell I am suppose to compress this cylinder? I cant seem to get my c clamp on it, and a hammer isnt doing much good...I tried putting a bottle jack on it, with the other side of the caliper under the car...still the brake pads dont want to clear the rotor...not even close enough to force it...

Are they totally off,hose detatched or just unbolted?

Try releasing the bleeder screw and use the old pad backing plate with your clamp to get it done.

If that doesn't work:

I found that on my LT1 the rear calipers wouldn't slide over the rotor loaded unless it was the factory oem pads,the aftermarket ones are a little too thick.

Put a belt sander in a vise upside down and shave a little material off the pads.

[transamtom1]

Re: rear brake calipers

BTW the caliper could be seized and in need of a rebuild.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: rear brake calipers

You did open up the master cylinder didn't you?

there is no fluid in the rear lines...I just replaced them...besides that the caliper is 100% off...I actually need to figure out how to reassemble the parking brake piece, because I thought I had to pull apart that spring and everything to remove the caliper.

The bleeder screw and everything is apart on the caliper...I can get a C clamp only on 1 side of it at a time...if I compress it, the cylinder does go down more, but as soon as I release the clamp, the cylinder pops back up...it does that on both sides...

[LETZRIDE]

Re: rear brake calipers

someone please tell me that the front rotors just slide off? Cause these ones will not budge and I have beat the sh*t out of them with a hammer...calipers off as well...

[LETZRIDE]

Re: rear brake calipers

also, are 1996 rear calipers the same as those with 98+ rear calipers?

[Mogobs30th]

Re: rear brake calipers

there is no fluid in the rear lines...I just replaced them...besides that the caliper is 100% off...I actually need to figure out how to reassemble the parking brake piece, because I thought I had to pull apart that spring and everything to remove the caliper.

The bleeder screw and everything is apart on the caliper...I can get a C clamp only on 1 side of it at a time...if I compress it, the cylinder does go down more, but as soon as I release the clamp, the cylinder pops back up...it does that on both sides...

How would it if the lines are not attached and the caliper is 100% off?? There should be no force against the piston of the caliper to push it back out, unless Im missing something here.

Are the lines attached to the caliper or not? If they are, it isn't 100% detached.

[LETZRIDE]

Re: rear brake calipers

no, its 100% detached...I took it from my grandmothers (where the car is), home so that I could try putting it in the vice and squeezing that cylinder open more.

No matter what I do, the new pads will not fit over the rotor...if I stick the old pads in (which are about 2mm thinner then the old ones) the caliper barely fits over the rotor...I have to tap it with a hammer to get it on...

Unless I am missing something myself and there is a trick to this...will a 98+ caliper work on a 96 car? Ebay has some rebestos ones for 60$ each...which is a helluva lot cheaper then $175 they want per caliper at the autoparts store...

[bwkmaro]

Re: rear brake calipers

car quest i got mine for 45 a piece i believe with a 30 core

[Mogobs30th]

Re: rear brake calipers

What kind of rotor is it? Possible to get it turned as to shave off some of the metal on the rotor, free up some room?

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: rear brake calipers

What kind of rotor is it? Possible to get it turned as to shave off some of the metal on the rotor, free up some room?

x2. It sounds like the pads might be too thicker than they should be. If you compress the cylinder and it pops back out then they are maxed out.

I'm 99% sure the 98+ rear calipers aren't direct swap to the 96 brakes, but Rockauto has rebuilt ones with reasonable core charges and whatnot, you might check that out. If the brakes seemed to work fine though, I'd probably just turn the rotors.

On a side note, why are you replacing pads that are almost new? Upgrading to Hawk or something?