Rear caliper pistons

[smithymc]

Am on the rear brakes now. The Haynes manual calmly says 'screw piston clockwise into caliper' to gain clearance for new pads.

Any tips on how, what with and whether you need a gorilla to hold caliper and turn piston at same time?

Much bad language and skin loss in past half hour.

Thanks for any help.

Mark

[MattNoVAT]

Sometimes you need to screw them in and apply quite a bit of force so that the thread picks up and the piston starts receding, I've even had to tap gently with a hammer on the head of the piston on rare occasions because the piston has come out too far.

[HFStuart]

A piece of 6mm keysteel is just about perfect IIRC to turn the piston. As Matt says sometimes you need a bit of force too.

[MattNoVAT]

I use a tool that was originally meant for bolts that secured the anti-tilt plates for AS400 expansion racks ( computer kit )

But there are universal square block sockets that are about £7 from Halfrauds that make life easier.

[Neil-yaj396]

If the piston won't respond to the suggestions above it's time for a rebuild anyway as the handbrake won't be responsive.

[smithymc]

Thanks all.  After some rummaging I found an old trim pry-bar with a square shank that worked a treat - once they started to move it was easy. It was even pretty good for prying the caliper to get the wedges in.

In doing the job, I found some quite corroded brake pipes up around the fuel tank ( and some more nasty fuel pipes). Are the braided brake kits a good choice and easier to work with than metal pipes in the confined space? Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Mark

[Neil-yaj396]

The braided kits only replace the flexible (rubber) pipes. You will need a full pipe kit or to get the new sections you need made up.