just finished the front brake rebuild - ahhhh piece of mind

[Nessism]

Cowboy, Ed, you guys were right. Having finished the fork polish job, I put everything back together and took her for a ride. The brakes are only very marginally improved (if at all), and the lever still feels wooden and only extreme pressure gets it slowed down. I guess the pistons are partially stuck.

Oh well, here goes nothing. I'm ordering the parts for the full rebuild.
Jim

Good job Jim. Don't forget to replace the brake lines too. There is a thread about how to make your own using Earl's components. Simple, cheap and effective.

[GS Jim]

"There is a thread about how to make your own using Earl's components. Simple, cheap and effective"

Ed, you guys are going to end up making a mechanic out of me at this rate!

[GS Jim]

You won't regret it Jim, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy this work really is.
Have fun with it!

Just ordered the parts from CMS in Holland, they should be here in a week or so. Gives me time to study BassCliff's how-to's.

A question: I read about protecting the bike's paint from the brake fluid. What about SKIN, how corrosive is this stuff?

[cowboyup3371]

I don't think it's that bad.......

I'm going to change the dressing on my hand now









Just kidding, you'll be fine

[GS Jim]

Haha, very funny, I'm sending the Dr's bill to u and Ed! LOL.

[Jagir]

Just ordered the parts from CMS in Holland, they should be here in a week or so. Gives me time to study BassCliff's how-to's.

A question: I read about protecting the bike's paint from the brake fluid. What about SKIN, how corrosive is this stuff?

Seriously, it's not too bad on the skin, but it will dry it out. Wash it off as soon as possible. Also, do yourself a favor and wear safety glasses of some sort, especially if you use compressed air for any of the procedure. You'll be pushing air and fluid through the system and splashes or drops in the eyes will ruin your day.

I had extra worry about the fluid because I have a curious tyke around so i wanted all the fluid stuff done at once instead of spreading it out, lubing, partially re-building, then packing it all up and away again when he gets curious.

Good for you with going ahead with it. You'll be so pleased with yourself after.

[GS Jim]

Thanks for the comments Jagir, safety glasses sound like a good idea! I don't have a compressor and was wondering what the best way would be get the pistons out. Should I pump them out as far as they will go using the break lever?

[cowboyup3371]

You can or you can use two screwdrivers or whatever to slowly pry it up. I think it's in Basscliff's writeup (have you seen his page? ) on doing brake calipers.

[Adler]

Getting those pistons out was the hardest part of my caliper rebuild...

One came out pretty easily, the other was STUCK.

Ultimately the best method was to put it back on the bike while holding the other piston in with a clamp. The stuck piston built up a lot of pressure then, with a light crack, slid out. It was messy.

[GS Jim]

The PO provided me with several spares, including 2 used calipers. I've been fooling around with them to get familiar with what I'm supposed to do before tackling those on the bike. The one that was rust free came out fairly easy using a screw driver, the one that shows some corrosion ain't budging......

[Jagir]

Thanks for the comments Jagir, safety glasses sound like a good idea! I don't have a compressor and was wondering what the best way would be get the pistons out. Should I pump them out as far as they will go using the break lever?

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=164521&highlight=hydraulic+pressure+brake+piston

Good luck!

[Octain]

I put the piston in a vice and leverage the caliper off with two hands.
Lots less messy..

[GS Jim]

First of all, thank you guys for (gently) brow-beating me into doing the full rebuild, sometimes one needs a little shove in the right direction.

The pistons were not seized (see pic) as the whole piston/seal/cylinder assembly was perfectly clean.



I think, however, that I might have found the cause of the wooden/hard feeling at the lever. After I had cleaned and repainted the caliper bracket (pad carrier), I noticed that it was notched where the tab on the brake pad lies. I checked the carrier on the extra caliper set I had received from the PO and guess what, that channel is supposed to be smooth to allow the pad to move in and out.

My theory is that the pad is hanging up in that notch and therefore when I apply the brakes, I'm moving the whole carrier/pad assembly on the spindels instead of the just the pad, what do you guys think? FWIW, the master cylinder piston moves freely and is leak free.

Oh, a friend is coming over this afternoon to show me how to bleed the system, so I will be able to test the rebuild brakes.

[cowboyup3371]

That could make sense especially if the rubber seal tore at all. Did you replace all of the seals?

[Nessism]

When putting that caliper back together you need to use high temperature caliper grease on those sliding pins and bushings. Also, the factory service manual calls for greasing the back side of some of the pads so you might want to check the Suzuki manual to get this detail right.