Replace rear pistons or calipers?

mrnice · Feb 8, 2010

Hi, im pretty sure i need to replace the pistons on the rear of my truck, when mentioning it to my old man he very bluntly replied "pain in the arse, just buy new calipers instead".

Whilst comparing prices on Paddocks i saw that i could get the bits needed to replace the pistons for about £15 whereas a new set of calipers is gonna be about £100!

So im thinking, are changing the pistons really that hard? like 85 quid hard? or could he just not be bothered? Cheers

pete5570 · Feb 8, 2010

If the calipers are 100 quid a set, i would be tempted! Never done a disco before but found it quite straight forward when i had a golf gti, had no choice, the calipers were 200 quid each!!

discool · Feb 8, 2010

The front are a bit of a pain if you only have to do one piston as there two each side of the caliper.
Rears are ok a single piston each side, when i did a piston on my old RRC I used patten parts, so I couldn't fit the final seal retaining ring so had to leave it off. Now I have heard that if I had used genuine parts the retaining would have fitted.
I haven't had to replace a seal again but if I did i would go make sure they were genuine LR parts.

listerdiesel · Feb 9, 2010

Look at the pistons and see if they need replacing as well. Kits for seals and pistons are about £30 or so.

I'd be inclined to have a go and see how good/bad they are. If the bores in the caliper casting are good then go for it.

I've cleaned out very light bore marks with wet and dry before, but be careful to clean it out thoroughly afterwards, and don't be tempted to use a caliper with pitted bores.

Peter

andyb66 · Feb 9, 2010

This rebuild thread Rebuilding a caliper - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum is perhaps a little over the top, and actually deals with front calipers, but the principle is the same for the rears.

discool · Feb 9, 2010

Over the top but they do look new when finished, but if you only require a new piston and seal then caliper does not have to be split or even removed to do the job.

[JP] · Feb 9, 2010

its not a pain at all..

Never done it in cars, but have done loads of times on my bikes, including calipers with 6 pistons...!!

just time consuming really, having to clamp all the pistons and pop one out, clean, replace, etc...

you'll need an air compressor to make the pistons pop.. well, that's what I use anyway.

Clamp all, leave one piston free, air line in, pop it out, clean and replace seals, put back in, clamp it and leave other one free.. air line in, pop it out, clean....and so on.

not hard, just time consuming..

discool · Feb 9, 2010

On a car just press the brake peddle untill the required piston has poped out then clamp off the flexable hose to stop fluid loss..

Replace rear pistons or calipers?

mrnice

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