Rebuilt Caliper Pin Resistance

[wildwilly]

I am installing rebuilt AC Delco gold calipers from Rock Auto on my '96 2500 4x4. They came with new pins and bolts. I lubed the pins and cavity, and it went in "normally" on one. The other caliper had quite a bit more resistance getting the pin in. I paused and checked to see if there was a twist or something with the seals, but they looked good ... A little extra effort and it did slide in.

Weird in that one side felt really loose easily sliding with little resistance and the other really tight and really needing mechanical assistance to slide. I had an old caliper rebuild kit and took the "stiff" caliper out and replaced the seals. It was much better after in that I could at least push it with my thumb. It still was not as loose as the other side, however.

How much resistance is normal in caliper side pins when new and well lubed ... butter, slight resistance, stiff, etc? I have one side that is butter and the other side that went from a stiff rock to a firm slide.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

I am installing rebuilt AC Delco gold calipers from Rock Auto on my '96 2500 4x4. They came with new pins and bolts. I lubed the pins and cavity, and it went in "normally" on one. The other caliper had quite a bit more resistance getting the pin in. I paused and checked to see if there was a twist or something with the seals, but they looked good ... A little extra effort and it did slide in.

Weird in that one side felt really loose easily sliding with little resistance and the other really tight and really needing mechanical assistance to slide. I had an old caliper rebuild kit and took the "stiff" caliper out and replaced the seals. It was much better after in that I could at least push it with my thumb. It still was not as loose as the other side, however.

How much resistance is normal in caliper side pins when new and well lubed ... butter, slight resistance, stiff, etc? I have one side that is butter and the other side that went from a stiff rock to a firm slide.

Something could be slightly warped or as we say in the South "womperjawed". I had to clean out the threads on the spindle (where the caliper bolts up) on the last set of pads I put on the Burb. Done a lotta GM disc brakes and never had it happen before. If everything is clean and lubed, and everything is reassembled properly, it all should fit together nicely. But obviously not always....

 

[wildwilly]

I ended up taking off the buttery loose caliper and replaced the seals. They were a bit smaller. It is better now, a little looser than the other side, but ill drive it and see. Still have to replace booster and master and backing plates on the rear so give me a bit before I report back. So I had one caliper with a little larger seal, one with a little smaller seal, and a rebuild kit with seals about in the middle. The shape of the seals in the rebuild kit were a bit more square, black, and a bit softer. The seals that came out were orange, one a noticeably different orange and they had a little taper to the edges where the pin slides in. After I could move the pin on both sides with my thumb not stressing too much to do it but with some resistance, but definitely not to the point I needed to tap the pin out like the one stiff side needed.

Any one else have feedback on this ... resistance, differences in rebuild kits, etc? Thanks.

 

[Supercharged111]

The calipers on these trucks are weird. The pins don't bear any load, so they really just glide back and forth on rubber and grease. It's been my experience that the pins don't slide as effortlessly as something that slides on metal pins with metal guides. It's also been my experience that when one caliper slides more freely than the other, something isn't right. Is it the individual pins that give you trouble? You can remove the pads and reinstall both calipers and see how they slide as a unit. This is the method I used to narrow down why my Corvette used to eat pads all weird on the right rear. Caliper bridge was tweaked and those pins were splayed on the one side.

 

[Pinger]

Any one else have feedback on this ... resistance, differences in rebuild kits, etc? Thanks.

Not too dissimilar to your experience. Had to hammer the pins out and didn't get them free enough on reinstall until I replaced the seals (leaving the old ones in a bad idea it seems!) and generously greased them. Firm push with thumb to get them moving and a bit freer once moving. Brakes are working fine.