Front vibration/woble when brake applied

[psyguy]

I think your right about not getting it right with the homemade tool. I'll probably have to get that checked out. I took the caliper apart (after a long fight) and cleaned it well or what I thought was well. It looked clean to begin with, except for a bit of rust spots her and there. I put it back together and found that the brake sticks just as much. I have to use the bike to get to work tonight, I'll be extra careful and see if I made any improvements.

hm, not clear from your post, did you disassemble the caliper itself?
that's what i needed to to to get some results as the piston needs to move in and out freely (it did look ok from the outside and it did seemingly go in/out ok)
however, before doing this, it may be easier and wiser to first get the rotors checked for warpage by a shop (so to eliminate them as prime suspects)

[rphillips]

The calipers slide on 2 pins. these pins get pretty gunked up after years of normal riding. These pins are the 2 bolts, that aren't mounting bolts, on the outside of the caliper. They should have little rubber boots on them. Remove them one at a time, sand off any rust or corrosion, grease them real good & put them back in.

[bexabarr]

umm... I did remove the whole piston, but I did not grease it when I put it back in. I also damaged the dust cover a little bit (first time I ever did this with little instructions). I didn't think greasing the piston was a good idea... should I have, Is that why it might still be sticking? If that is the case I will do it all over again if I have too.

[psyguy]

... I didn't think greasing the piston was a good idea... should I have...

no grease needed on the piston, the brake fluid does that
ideally you'd use new o ring and dust cover, but if they're in good condition you can get away with cleaning them with the brake fluid
you do need to grease caliper axle bolts though

if it's still sticky after this, sorry, i have no more ideas (but i'm sure some more experienced people here will have)

[bexabarr]

It actually improved a lot.. I'm going to give them one more cleaning with brake cleaner and then grease the axle bolts like you've suggested. Thanks guys again and again.

[relic-rider]

umm... I did remove the whole piston, but I did not grease it when I put it back in. I also damaged the dust cover a little bit (first time I ever did this with little instructions). I didn't think greasing the piston was a good idea... should I have, Is that why it might still be sticking? If that is the case I will do it all over again if I have too.

If you damaged the dust boot, even slightly, order a new one. A perfect place for crud and crap and water to get into the brake calipers. You're ok for now. Might as well get some new o-rings for the pistons also. When you reassemble, you should lightly coat the piston, piston bore, and o-ring with clean brake fluid. You only use grease as before mentioned on the caliper sliding bolts.

[bexabarr]

Thanks for the advice. The caliper wasen't budging so I wanted to see if was the dust cover that was making it stick. And a I broke it a bit. I'm going to do a complete rebuild in a month or so (I'm leaving to Peru until July)- I lubricated the axle bolts on the caliper just now. Thanks Relic.