Front Brake Caliper guide pin info. needed

Hi folks.....Have to change the front brake pads as they are almost down to the metal after 12000 miles, they were Ferodo.
It looks as though the piston was sticking in the bore and there were a few rust spots on it, Luckily I have a pair of caliper overhaul kits comprising of pistons, seals and guide pins and I shall do both calipers.

The guide pins are different, one has a steel shank with two flats on the head, the other has a steel shank with a plastic sleeve fitted towards the end, is shorter than the other one and has a square head. The one's that came out are the same as the new ones

I can't remember whether the short one came out of the top or the bottom...is it important where they go ?

I looked on Microcat and it shows the same part number for both guide pins and looking at the diagram it seems that they are both with a plain shank.
No reference to the difference in both RAVE and Haynes.
It's a 2002,TD4, VIN "2A"

Just had to change my guide pins for the mot.
The bottom one has the plastic sleeve.

mjrimmer said:

Just had to change my guide pins for the mot.
The bottom one has the plastic sleeve.

Click to expand...

:behindsofa:


:clap2::clap2::clap2:

Great stuff !!!!!
Thanks very much for that.......appreciated.

Anyone have any thoughts relating to the 12000 mile pad life ? Personally I would have expected more than that. I am not someone who constantly drives on the brakes and I get in excess of 20000 + between pad changes on 'Er Indoors V6 Vectra

I had a similar problem on my freelander, I believe the rubber boot on the bottom pin causes the brakes the stick on slightly causing quicker wear, I have replaced the bottom slider pins with new top pins from a repair kit, however it can cause the brakes to squeal depending on the type of pads uses.

Don't use copper grease on the pins as it causes the rubber to swell up and the pads then sticks against the disc and wears it out.

The replacement pins came with a sachet of pinky red colour grease . You can use a moly grease on them or the special brake grease which used to come in a small flat tin

Irishrover said:

Anyone have any thoughts relating to the 12000 mile pad life?

Click to expand...

Checked my front pads today after reading this thread but they are fine, even after 20k miles. Reckon I should get another 5/10k out of them but I am really light on the middle foot rest.

Forgot to add...the r.h. side were almost down to the metal but the l.h. side had plenty of wear left. The pads both sides were free in the caliper cradle so I assume the piston was sticking on the r.h. side as it was difficult to remove, I had to drive it out with a punch through the hole where the banjo connection is. When it came out I could see that the piston had rust patches on it but the caliper bore was clean, undamaged and unmarked. Replaced piston etc. in both calipers.
Luckily the disc was undamaged.

What make pistons did you use and where did you get them from? Thanks.

Hippo said:

What make pistons did you use and where did you get them from? Thanks.

Click to expand...

:behindsofa:


Hi Hippo.....raise: I got two new piston kits (Piston, seal and boot) together with a caliper guide pin set (2 long and 2 short pins, rubber boots + sachet of special grease0 from my usual supplier of LR parts-Island 4x4. The parts are Britpart and I am more than happy with their products despite the digs to their reputation from a few members. I have used them for a good few years now and never had a problem other than a towing flasher relay which didn't work as it should. Gave them a call and they sorted it out without any hassle.

Irishrover said:

:behindsofa:


:clap2::clap2::clap2:

Great stuff !!!!!
Thanks very much for that.......appreciated.

Anyone have any thoughts relating to the 12000 mile pad life ? Personally I would have expected more than that. I am not someone who constantly drives on the brakes and I get in excess of 20000 + between pad changes on 'Er Indoors V6 Vectra

Click to expand...

As far as I can tell, my Freelander is on its first set of pads at 35K miles. They are down to 3mm now. If changed my slides for the MG version which don't have the rubber anti squeak sleeve.

Thanks Nodge......Looking at the amount of wear that was on the L.H. set, there is a good have that they would have made 30k.
Hopefully the caliper overhaul (Both sides) will have sorted out the problem.