Fun With Calipers!

[Arnold]

The brakes on my d/d were new about 2-3 years ago. I don't know how old the calipers were? They looked pretty good!
 I bought the vehicle,inspected the brakes at the dealership on his hoist.
  They were like new.
  And still like new next year..when I just lubed them up.

   I never did like those brakes..felt like too much metal..same as my 1 ton work van.

  SOOo...I figued I would put some softer pads in a few months ago.
  No big deal.

   The old pads had tons of life left,everything was still lubed up,pistons retracted easily.On went the softer pads.

  WOW what a difference in BITE..just great brake feel..

   Then one caliper started to stick..now and again..then only when hot..then worse..yeah that caliper has packed it in.New caliper.

    Then another caliper..ya ok..change the pads..caliper pistons retract nice..all the hardware/brackets/bushings are all good and nicely lubed up.

   I actually waited a bit for ALL the calipers to pack it in.

    An auto parts guy says he sees this..going to other than the manufacturers reccommended rotors/pads can overheat calipers that are not new..and twist square o rings.
   He said my calipers were just old enough that they would not tolerate
any additional heat..he said they would probably have been ok for quite a while to come if I had left the old hard pads on.

   I can see this if the pistons don't go back in easily..or if the are out a fair bit..

  Worked on my 1 ton work van..slapped in some softer pads..and voila..much more initial bite. They are a 1 piston.Maybe they are less sensitive.

  Least I have new calipers