Caliper rebuild - how?
 

After a few Scottish winters, the SV's brakes were in serious need of a refurb.... Have taken the calipers apart to clean everything but the rubber bits split so have ordered a kit with replacement seals and rubber bits...

Just wondering if someone could point me in the direction of a wee guide to putting the seals on etc....

TIA.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Haynes Manual?

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

PM me you email & I'l send you the Suzuki PDF for servicing the caliper

Re: Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Sorry to be a pain but would you be able to send me a copy too? As I'm going to rebuild my calipers at some point soon and it would be helpful :)

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

No problem, pm me your e-mail

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

even better, how about i come up and show you how to do it properly.

i'm free next sunday morning.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

There's a guy on youtube who is an ex-mechanic. His youtube name is Moonfleet41 and he has a video called delboy's garage - caliper rebuild. He has a few how to videos on his channel that I found very useful. Perhaps check out his video.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

I did a Youtube video on this subject a short while ago, but it was more instructional on swearing than mechanics. :smt076

Not sure if it will help you, but you never know. :rolleyes:

Re: Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Cheers mate will send it over now

Re: Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Is that in the 'normal' bootlegged suzuki workshop manual?

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Yes

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

All received mate thanks a lot.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Cool

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Hey folks, thanks for the replies. Please excuse the delay, but I normally get email notifications to say when there are replies but not this time.

Bibio, I really appreciate the offer mate. I'm not free on Sunday unfortunately, but if you are good to enough to do that another time I'd appreciate it. I'm quite embarrassed by the nick of my bike, but figure I will use it this summer as it is and spend the winter doing it up...

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Done. Thanks mate!

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Going to be giving this a bash tomorrow. Decided to get new bleed valves. Should I use anything on the thread? Eg. thread lock or anything like that??

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

If you use anything on the thread, be careful that nothing reaches the brake fluid.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

You shouldn't need anything on the bleed valves, certainly no thread lock, they're bad enough at getting stuck without adding any complication.

I replaced mine with stainless ones, but its not 100% necessary

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

tip 1. crack the bleed nipple loose with a socket first then nip it lightly back up.

tip 2. use a dremmil and brass/plastic disc brush + autosol to clean the seal recesses out.

tip 3. use a smear of red rubber grease to put everything back together. i rub the RRG well into the seals before putting them in. do not use to much RRG. do not under any circumstances use brake fluid on the seals. the reason the seals burger up is due to furring behind the seals and brake fluid cases the furring.

tip 4. depending on if you know which way to wind PTFE (plumbers tape) then i would advise you to wrap the threads of the bleed nipples making sure that you leave the bleed holes clear with PTFE tape. this serves two purposes. 1. it gives a better seal for bleeding. 2. the nipples wont ever seize.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

I replaced mine with stainless as the oem looked like bakelite!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Thanks for the replies folks. Just got stainless ones as it seemed to make sense to change them at the same time as everything else.

The kit I got came with red grease. Thanks for the tips Bibio, feel a lot more confident with the bits I have picked up....

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

stainless and alloy do not mix well and you will find that the nipples will seize even quicker. to stop this you can use a small dab of copper grease on the nipple threads before putting them in.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Haha nae doubt. Always thought stainless would be better... nevermind got some copper slip...

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Stainless is better for itself, but it's reduced corrosion potential means that the aluminium calliper will corrode all the more as a reaction. You see this very strikingly if you fit a stainless steel shackle onto galvanised chain, the first few links rust in no time.

Boats and aircraft use a special sealant (Duralac) between stainless fittings and aluminium, but that's for permanent fixings.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

Well that's it done. It was actually pretty easy. Just need to fill it up and bleed the brakes. Few more jobs to do before I get out on it.... Change oil, filters, plugs, coolant. Will be ready to go after that!

Thanks for all the help folks.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

A third metal into the mix is not so much better, the electropotential between copper and aluminum is small, but still large between stainless and copper.

I would use a non-metallic grease, vaselin grease would do the job, and might even be cheaper then regular "industrial" grease.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

yes you are correct except you forgot about the properties of the actual copper and the copper being suspended in grease. the copper is not there to stop things oxidising its there to act as a lubricant if things do.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

you get 1 point for that, one would get the same properties with a grease containing PTFE, the ptfe would still be there if the grease dries up, and you get a non metallic grease.

Re: Caliper rebuild - how?
 

I'd be more concerned about the grease than the copper. Is the grease compatible with brake fluid? By the way, the use of copper grease as a general purpose anti-sieze is relatively recent. Back when I was a kid the only place we used to regularly use it was on exhaust system studs and nuts, the idea there being that the copper would remain after the grease has burned off.