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Old 10-04-2020, 09:25 PM   #15
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spyder - is that ford calipers u have in the photos??

I have a very small hole in one of my dust boots that goes over the caliper piston and am going to put a post on here to find out if anyone has done a dust boot change WITHOUT removing the piston

my rig has been on very little salted roads
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Old 10-04-2020, 11:41 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mustard View Post
spyder - is that ford calipers u have in the photos??

Yes it's a 1999 18k f53
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Old 10-05-2020, 05:08 AM   #17
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Back when cylinders were honed, it was because the rubber piston cup moved in and out of the cylinder. A rough surface caused leaks.

With calipers, if all is well, the piston never touch's the caliper walls. It sits inside the seal and pushes squarely against the brake pad. The piston needs to be clean and smooth so it seals against the fluid seal ring.

I have rebuilt calipers from salt loading, wheel loaders. The key was to clean out the groves that the seals sit in.
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Old 10-05-2020, 11:20 AM   #18
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I purchased this RV in 2014. I don't know if any fluids were ever changed. One of the fluids I flushed were the brakes. If you review my second picture you can see some rust which was causing the drag.
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Old 10-05-2020, 08:27 PM   #19
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thanks guys
spyderrv - when you rebuilt those calipers how did you get the piston back in, was it easy or difficult?? is there a trick to it
a few yrs back I tried to rebuild the calipers on my chev p32 chassis
it was no problem to get the pistons out but I found it impossible to get them back in with the new seals so gave up and bought rebuilt

the pistons on myf53 caliper are moving very smoothly and evenly on the side I have checked, just changed the brake fluid 2 months go

to buy new seals and pistons is quite inexpensive as are brake hones so it may be worth the effort to do it

I had 160k miles on the original rotors on my p32, changed brake pads on the front 3 times and 2 on the rear. changed the back calipers only , changed ALL the brake lines ,rubber and metal once, front wheel bearings changed once, and changed brake fluid every 2-3 yrs. when I sold it the brakes were still working excellent but they would squeal sometimes.

I think frequent brake fluid changes is a real lifesaver for the calipers.
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Old 10-06-2020, 01:21 AM   #20
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Honing out the rust didn't change any seal surfaces so the phenolic pistons pressed back into the bores easy as long as I kept them parallel to the bores using a vice. I applied brake fluid as a lubricant.
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Old 10-06-2020, 08:17 AM   #21
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Back in the 70's the Chrysler/Dodge phenolic pistons would warp enough to drag. Extra drag more heat and more warping. We had a 1978 Class C and the day of a trip to ME I took it our for fuel and the brake dragged/smoked on the way home. No doubt the pads were glazed and ruined. New pads,rebuilt calipers and changed to metal pistons before we departed. No issues.
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Old 10-06-2020, 09:09 AM   #22
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I just got rebuilt ones from autozone 55 dollars per wheel
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Old 10-06-2020, 10:17 AM   #23
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I was told years ago by a brake guy that the phenolic pistons used back then were very sensitive to water/moisture in the brake fluid as it could cause them to swell, he said that flushing and changing the fluid often especially in damp/high humidity areas was the secret.
whether that was true or not I do not know and it may have no bearing on newer rigs but I took his advice anyway even though I lived and usually recreate in dry areas
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Old 10-07-2020, 08:23 AM   #24
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mustard,


I'm not an expert but I'd doubt seriously water would effect the old style phynolic disc brake pistons. That's some pretty dense material and can't think moisture would do anything to it. I'm more convinced just heat could deform them enough to cause sticking in the housing. Those tolerances are fairly close so it wouldn't take much.

Back then I did not know of other manufacturers besides Chrysler who tried the phynolic pistons but most of us who encountered them did a replace with metal and solved the sticking problem. Our 1978 Class C was based on the Dodge chassis.
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Old 10-11-2020, 08:22 AM   #25
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Just put in a set of Wagner SX777 pads on my 22K GVW F53, and came through the mountains with it. The pads worked great - no squeaking, and it stops great! I paid $49 a set on Amazon, and couldn't be happier.
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Old 10-15-2020, 05:35 PM   #26
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About 300 miles from home on the return leg of a 2000 mile trip, I began to hear a slight grinding when I braked. Of course, it got louder as we got closer to home. I called my favorite mechanic and asked that he have new pads ready when we got home. When I took it out to him, they started on the driver's front and worked their way around. I was astounded at the amount of material left on every single pad (26k miles) until they got to the inside of the driver's rear. The piston had frozen and eaten all the material off the pad and lightly scored the disc. I will keep an eye on it from now on. I was also surprised at the inexpensive cost of the pads--NAPA, I believe--about $60/axle.
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Old 10-16-2020, 07:04 AM   #27
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Thewheelman,

Do you recall if your pistons were metal or phenolic? Just curious if the plastic pistons are still being used more or less than I've seen over the years.

Thanks,
TeJay
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Old 10-16-2020, 08:28 AM   #28
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My 1999 E450 Class C had phenolic pistons. Well 3 anyway, one was replaced by PO.

NAPA offered both and I selected steel when I replaced them.
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