Disk Brake Caliper Tool!?

C

ChrisTheBest

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I've been trying to search the forum to find exactly which disk brake caliper tool you guys have used for turning the rear calipers back, I bought some little cube looking thing from auto zone but that crap doesn't work. I figured that my brake and rotor project would only take 2 hours but now i'm going on 6 and the auto parts stores are closing in 50 minutes, so unfortunately i wont be able to use my car for work tomorrow.

Please help with some input on which Tool you've used, if possible to provide a link, i would be very much appreciative. Thanks!
 
You don't need all the fancy tools to get the job done....

Just use channel locks and C clamps to finish your brakes. Put one of the old pads in front of the piston. Attach the c clamp from front of the pad to the back of the caliper.

Might be easier implimenting this method with someone else helping, but i never had problem doing it alone.

Good luck.....
 
Funny you are having this problem; I had the same problem today. Doing the rear bearing, figured s*&*, I'll just do the brakes while here. I have done them before on this car but today I couldn't get the first rotor back either. Bought the Harbor Freight kit and it still took some doing but it is in. Now putting the rest back together so I can to the other side so I can go to work tomorrow. Long story shorter, +1 on the Harbor Freight kit... Good luck...
 
I bought NAPA Premium lifetime ceramic pads, and rented (for free) a kit from Auto Zone for the rear brakes.
 
I'm gonna go check sears and see if they have that, if not i'll run down to auto zone, thanks for the input guys. I was looking at that kit before guess ill try it out. Ill let you know how it goes
 
I had a hell of a time doing my rear brakes you definetley need the correct tool the one they sell at the auto parts store that comes in the package by itself is garbage, do yourself a favor and buy or rent the kit for sure!
 
this what I bought for front calipers. I use the hell out of it.
makes fast ork of it, just get out the impact gun and zip zip

222402775p.jpg
 
>>>> You don't need all the fancy tools to get the job done.....


Why do people who haven't worked on the vehicle have to interject bad info? If you have not done the job, don't throw out bad guesses.


The cube is a paperweight and just is a bad idea. You can spend up to $260 for the Snap-On tool, but even Snap-On reps usually dissuade people from buying them. Lisle and Harbor freight are good alternatives for reasonable money, and you have a number of adapters that will work for you on different cars in the future. Disc brakes on the rear wheels are here to stay and it's more likely to see integral parking rather then DIH (drum in hat) in the future.
 
05 LS8 said:
You don't need all the fancy tools to get the job done....

Just use channel locks and C clamps to finish your brakes. Put one of the old pads in front of the piston. Attach the c clamp from front of the pad to the back of the caliper.

Might be easier implimenting this method with someone else helping, but i never had problem doing it alone.

Good luck.....
Click to expand...

While that works on the front, that's a great way to ruin the rear calipers. Due to the parking brake function on the rears, they have an auto-adjust feature. The only way to get the pistons back in is the screw them in while pressing in on them.
 
I first did a rear brake job that required the screwing-in of the piston on a '75 Mark IV I bought new. And I've done a lot of rear brake jobs since that time. It's probably ignorance on my part, but I've not ever had a bad time since that first job when I had to figure out that they needed to be screwed-in, and I never have had any special tool to do it with either.

Sometimes you just have to dig in and DO it!

The first half-a-turn is done with Channel-Locks with tape on the jaws to protect the piston, and then the rest of the job is done with needle-nose pliers tips into the indentations.

KS
 
TooManyToys said:
>>>> You don't need all the fancy tools to get the job done.....


Why do people who haven't worked on the vehicle have to interject bad info? If you have not done the job, don't throw out bad guesses.


The cube is a paperweight and just is a bad idea. You can spend up to $260 for the Snap-On tool, but even Snap-On reps usually dissuade people from buying them. Lisle and Harbor freight are good alternatives for reasonable money, and you have a number of adapters that will work for you on different cars in the future. Disc brakes on the rear wheels are here to stay and it's more likely to see integral parking rather then DIH (drum in hat) in the future.
Click to expand...

If you are talking to me... I will take the suspension apart in whatever you drive and put it back together within 45 minutes. I don't think i have to tell you how much experience i have working on vehicles or do I?

So who is making guesses now?

The guy said the parts stores are closing and he needs to finish up the job. I am the guy with a solution to every problem.



joegr said:
While that works on the front, that's a great way to ruin the rear calipers. Due to the parking brake function on the rears, they have an auto-adjust feature. The only way to get the pistons back in is the screw them in while pressing in on them.
Click to expand...

Yes, i am aware and i agree on using the right tools to complete a job. Although, I have used the method mentioned above without issues.

If someone has no clue how to work on vehicles, you can hand out the proper tool for the job and they will still screw up.
 
The fronts caliper is easy, a C Clamp etc will do the job.

The rear caliper is somewhat a pita. I just did my rear pads last weekend and discovered 2 things while using the Harbor freight tool. BTW, I used the HF tool before on the same car and thought it was a pita and was very hard to turn with the short handle they put on it. I didn't realize that at least my HF tool needed some mods.

What I found the last time I did the pads was that the HF tool might not be able to fit into the caliper if the piston is out too far. Also on my car the piston did not turn when the tool was used, unless I used Godzilla strength and cheater bar. I never had another car that required turning the pistons so I didn't know this is not normal

Now I know why 1) the piston doesn't turn and 2) the tool might not fit into the space between the piston and the caliper.

1) The reason the piston might not turn when using the tool is that sometimes the piston is either stuck or some other reason keeps it from turning easliy. This time I used a "Channel Lock" like tool with non serrated teeth to grip the piston and hand turn it. pita. Since I could not yet get the HF tool in place and I was desperate, I shot some PB Blaster around the piston under the rubber bootie. That helped A LOT.

2) The reason the HF tool might not fit is that for some reason the Roll Pin that attaches the tool head to the shaft that you turn by hand does not allow me to turn the adjustment collar all the way down so I lose maybe about an inch of space that might prevent me from getting the tool into place.

The solution to this is to cut a roll pin so that it fits inside of the hole attaching the two parts but does not stick out past the threads. You have to make the roll pin long enough to connect both parts but not stick out. Once I made this mod the tool was adjustable all the way down and since I shot the PB Blaster into the piston the tool worked by hand just like it is supposed to.

BTW, if the piston is stuck, it is probably better to do a rebuild on the caliper or exchange it.

Jim Henderson
 
+1 on Harbor Freight. I bought their smaller kit about 4 years ago ($20 at the time) and have used it on multiple cars, domestic and foreign. Works great!
 
Resurrecting this thread - rear brakes apart - tool rented from Autozone, and maybe it's just my hangover but this shi*t is not making sense to me. I've done brakes before, and there are always two sides to the clam... this thing just seems to have a push side. and no pull - can anyone instruct me how to get this thing to compress? - I'm sure the answer is simple as hell and i'm just not seeing it. - Thanks
 
Do you have the same tool as in post 11? If so, with the caliper removed from the mount but the brake line not removed from the caliper, remove the pads from the caliper. Slide the tool into place on the side opposite the caliper pistons with the plate inside the caliper and the shiny knobs side facing the pistons, then tighten the bolt heads on the other side until the bolts reach the pistons. Then slowly tighten the bolts down turning one then the other while allowing time in between turns for the fluid to move. Personally I've always just used a couple of C-clamps but that's a nice tool they have.

Here's where my knowledge deviates from LS-specific advice. On GM cars with ABS, you must crack the bleeder screw on the caliper open to compress the calipers. Not doing so will force fluid back through the ABS system which can cause all sorts of four figure problems. I don't know if it matters on Ford ABS systems but until someone with more Ford-specific info chimes in you might either want to crack the caliper bleeders or wait until there is a response. Better safe than sorry, and it certainly won't hurt the caliper to crack the bleed screw to compress the pistons.

Cracking the bleeders to compress the pistons will result in fluid spraying so a plastic tube over the bleed screw going to a bucket is a good idea. Leave the wrench on the bleed screw as well, so as soon as you finish compressing the piston you can immediately close the bleed screw to keep air from being sucked back in. Also, when you finish make sure to top the fluid back up, and top the fluid after each caliper is worked on. If you let the level fall out of the reservoir you can get air into the system requiring a full rebleed.

After you see what comes out you'll probably want to do a full rebleed anyway. Here's another suggestion that I do in GM vehicles, but I would wait until a Ford pro chimes in. If you decide to rebleed, use DOT4 fluid instead of DOT3. DOT4 is compatible with DOT3 systems but has a higher boiling point so the brakes won't fade as quickly. Do not use DOT5, which is a silicone based fluid that is NOT compatible with DOT3 systems.
 
Telco - thanks for the quick response.

I went back out after that last post and realized that the flange has to be fed over the handle of the compressing tool which then gives you something to 'push' against - got it. Brake pads are back in and clamping. Which leads me to a whole new problem.

Got the car 5k miles ago, from a dealer, (one previous owner) Dealer said they would change the brakes and tires before they sold me the car. A few weeks back the passenger rear started to squeal. So i scheduled today to change the brakes, upgrading to gold pads. Broke down the drivers side first - pads looked almost new, so I assumed the caliper was stuck and that my pasenger side had been doing all of the work and that was why it was squealing. Cleaned the caliper, made sure it was not frozen, and put the drivers side back together w/ the old pads since they still seemed to have 85% of their thickness. I just broke down the passenger side (which was squealing) and again the pads seem to have 85% of their life appear to be clamping just fine (hard to tell w/ only one person). SO. that all said - any idea what could be squealing when i brake? it is only when i brake and only on the passenger rear - adding insult to injury - i do not even see any squealer tabs on these brakes. Ideas??
 
I've used the block and it has worked for me. Yes the kit would be better but that usually means your calipers need to be rebuilt. They should turn easily.
 
Telco said:
...Here's where my knowledge deviates from LS-specific advice. On GM cars with ABS, you must crack the bleeder screw on the caliper open to compress the calipers. Not doing so will force fluid back through the ABS system which can cause all sorts of four figure problems. I don't know if it matters on Ford ABS systems but until someone with more Ford-specific info chimes in you might either want to crack the caliper bleeders or wait until there is a response. ...
Click to expand...

You should always open the bleeders on all cars when retracting the pistons. Even though the ABS system on the LS is okay with the fluid flowing backwards through it, you really don't want to do it. You may force rust or dirt from the calipers into the ABS valves or even the master cylinder seals. It's much safer to open the bleeders, and then when you are done, bleed enough brake fluid through to replace all of it.
 
joegr said:
Are you saying that item 5 below is missing?
Click to expand...

Yup - no squealers on this set up - last person must have removed them. I'll just have to keep an eye on the pads. So what's odd - is the back right break has 85% life, no tabs, and is squealing 7 out of 10 times i push the brake down , loudly. stranger yet that it doesn't do it every time... right now everything is back on, just cleaned and oiled better - we'll see if that makes any difference at all...
 
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