Sticky caliper?

When I did my tie rods the other day I noticed that the driver side front had some resistance turning.

I had done the calipers back when I bought the truck in highschool and figured it was just time for new ones again. So I got a new caliper and new brake hose and replaced them.

I had a heck of a time getting the old caliper off because the bleeder was stuck and the piston wouldn’t go in. But I got them off and the new ones on.

after the new one I noticed the passenger side would lock up before the driver side but I chocked it up to a million different variable possibilities.

today I drove it to work and my truck pulled to the left all the way to work. When I got home I checked the hubs and the driver side was warmer not scolding hot but Noticeably warmer than the passenger side.

I pulled it in the garage and sure enough the wheel resisted turning even worse than with the old caliper. And I found the following

if I tapped it with a rubber mallet the caliper would release untill the pedal was actuated again.

this led me to believe maybe the slide pins weren’t working so I swapped some slide pins I happen to have in and had the same result.

I cracked the bleeder while they were sticking and nothing came out like there was pressure being held on it.

after playing with it for a while I decided to lube everything up that moved and put it back together. And bled them again for good measure.

The tire still has more resistance than the passenger side but it will spin about 3/4 of a revolution with a decent spin now

I took it for a test drive and found the following

Both front brakes lock up at the same time now.

the pulling is gone

the pedal feels a lot more solid than it did before I did anything

when I got home again both hubs felt about the same temperature.

The way it test drove tonight I’m comfortable taking it to work but I’ll probably jack it up and see what it feels like again tomorrow and pay attention to it.

has anyone had this issue? Any ideas I should check tomorrow?

When doing any work on disc brakes, the caliper hardware needs to be cleaned up and lubricated with the appropriate grease. Any parts house will have high temperature brake specific grease. Looks like cake icing, and you want to use it like that lol. Not too much, really, cause that's messy and wasteful, but you need to use enough. One of my first jobs helping Dad work on our vehicles was cleaning up the fasteners and hardware. Got to be really good with the big wire brush on the bench grinder! You can get them clean,though, with Brakleen or similar spray cleaners and a hand wire brush.
Also on an older truck, the brake hoses are probably due for replacement. I had one collapse internally and it locked up the caliper,caught **** on fire! So I replaced both calipers, both front brake hoses, the ABS sensor package on the right side (the one that got melted) and a new set of pads. Replaced that set of pads couple months ago, and had no trouble getting the caliper pistons to retract. A 6 inch C clamp and a small piece of wood, or you can use the old inner brake pad if you're changing them.
But the point of all this is: CLEAN AND LUBRICATE THE HARDWARE on ANY brake job. The system is designed to work with lubricated parts and works MUCH BETTER with properly assembled and lubricated parts. Sorry for going all Schurkey on everybody but this is often overlooked......
Also if not lubricated the caliper pins/bolts will get worn; this can cause the issue OP was having.

Good to know. Sorry if I was a little unclear. I lived everything the first time around I just extra lubed it the second time around. Iv done a few brake jobs on various vehicles including this one and never had this issue but there is a first time for everything I guess.

I did the hose with the caliper and there isn’t any pressure on the caliper when it’s sticking and I open he bleeder so I’m really still leaning towards something not moving the way it should.

One thing I did notice is that this caliper has a black coating in it where the others I have done do not. It would be a very thin coating but where the caliper slides on the knuckle I’m wondering if that coating is making it bind?

I just got to work and the driver side is ever so slightly warm and the passenger side is cold but my pedal still feels great and I didn’t notice much if any pulling

dirtautoguy said:

Good to know. Sorry if I was a little unclear. I lived everything the first time around I just extra lubed it the second time around. Iv done a few brake jobs on various vehicles including this one and never had this issue but there is a first time for everything I guess.

I did the hose with the caliper and there isn’t any pressure on the caliper when it’s sticking and I open he bleeder so I’m really still leaning towards something not moving the way it should.

One thing I did notice is that this caliper has a black coating in it where the others I have done do not. It would be a very thin coating but where the caliper slides on the knuckle I’m wondering if that coating is making it bind?

I just got to work and the driver side is ever so slightly warm and the passenger side is cold but my pedal still feels great and I didn’t notice much if any pulling

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Could be. The new calipers were clear coated but it's not very thick. I use a wire brush on the machined surface on the spindle where the caliper slides, and then put grease on them. This is the messiest part, because moving the caliper around to locate it, you'll get some of this on your hands. But there isn't much clearance between the caliper and the spindle, so if there's gunk on it then it might not slide like it should.

Update: last night I took it all apart and used a die grinder with a scotch pad on it and polished all metal to metal contacts and then greased all contacts. While on the jack stands it felt a little better and didn’t stick as bad when the brake was pumped this morning it’s pulling to the left again. I brought my temperature gun with me and the driver side is about 88degrees and the passenger side is about 74.

the only thing left that I haven’t tried is new pads. The ones on it are about 40 percent left I figured they would last untill the parts store had a good deal on them but maybe it would help? I don’t know how it would but it’s about the only variable left.

I want to start saying the caliper or hose is defective but the old caliper has resistance to so I don’t think they are defective

I don’t think it’s holding pressure on the caliper because when it’s sticking I can open the bleeder and fluid doesn’t come out.

Tonight I went back to the parts store and explained what was going on and the only thing they could come up with was a defective caliper and sent me home with a new caliper.

the new new caliper is on and appears to be working normally and not hanging up. I ran out of time but on jack stands it appeared to work perfect.

I noticed some differences in the pistons. On the one that was sticking the piston was a dull color and almost looked like it was in finished with rough grooves in it and had square edges.

The new new one is almost a chrome color,still has the groove marks but they are much smoother. Also the edges are tapered and smooth

I’ll test drive it tomorrow and check it out some more but I think it’s fixed. I’ll post again if I find it’s still having issues.

Interesting stuff. Please keep posting. I normally use temp gun to check for sticking brakes. Just drive a little, make a few relatively hard stops, and then check with temp gun. That will reveal a lot. Of course, the hotter side is the one doing more work, but it doesn't mean that side is sticking. The OTHER side may simply not be working well, i.e., it could have frozen slider pins.

Anyway, when I start having ANY issues like this, I will start by replacing both sides calipers and pads, and usually rotors too. Make sure slider pins properly lubed. Make sure pads move freely when mounted in calipers... not too loose... but sometimes they are too tight. Once in a while I will file off some rough edge of the pad to get it moving freely (but not rattling). Lube proper contact points with appropriate brake lube.

I have personally never seen a brake line seize up, and I have done literally thousands of brake jobs over the last 40+ years (I owned two service stations). But of course, this would be the next item to replace if calipers, pads & rotors did not fix.

Keep us posted. Good luck.

So I know it’s been a little bit but I have a new theory.

I got the one caliper warrantied and a second new one put on. This one does not drag or hang up like the last new one did.

however this is what I have noticed, the drive front wheel still has more drag than the passenger side. I’m pretty positive it’s the brakes. Taking the temperature the driver front is always atleast 10-15 degrees hotter than the passenger side.

and when you brake you can feel the driver side brake harder. Which led me to some theories

1. The passenger side is sticking/hanging up too. It’s not as old as the driver side only about 2 years old. But possible

2. the pads are more grabby on the driver side (not sure it would be constant)

3. I wonder if my steering knuckle is bent? When I was in highschool I was your typical dumb highschool kid and turned out in front of someone and they hit me right square in the front driver tire. I used to have the list of parts they replaced but now I can’t find it. But I’m pretty sure control arms were in there but I’m pretty sure the steering knuckle was not. This would make sense why the first caliper didn’t fit right and was binding. And possibly why this was is still tighter than normal.

The whole truck has newer calipers (same age as the pads)

new hubs
cv axles
Brake hoses
1 new caliper
1 caliper that’s about 2 years old
new ball joints
New tie rods inner and outer


So I don’t think those have to do with it. After highschool I went to tech school for autobody. While there I was able to put the truck on the frame rack and straighten the frame back into spec. That was several years ago.

If I get the chance I want to pull both tires and see if I can measure a difference between the left and right knuckles

HotWheelsBurban said:

Sorry for going all Schurkey on everybody but this is often overlooked...

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I see my reputation precedes me.

Schurkey said:

I see my reputation precedes me.

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Sometimes I get **** for being overly detailed or aggressive in my explanations. But that's what it takes to get people to understand at times....
And at least I spelled your name right!