Mysterious brake drag?

[Geezer]

Have you ever rebuilt your calipers only to find they are dragging again the next day?

You won't find the fix in the manual but the problem was most likely caused by you when you thought you were only doing a good job.

The problem is the sleeve and rubber bushing that the caliper slide side to side on. The rubber bushing has some sort of grease in side of it and many just clean it out and regrease but here's where the problem lies. The manual doesn't tell you that the rubber bushing is natural rubber and intolerant of mineral based lubes. If you grease it with axle grease, it'll be stuck by morning.

The fix is to extract the sleeve then the rubber bushing from the caliper, take them inside and wash them thoroughly with dish soap and water as hot as you can stand working with. Scrub the bushing out 2 or 3 times and dry with a paper towel. If any grease comes out on the paper towel, wash them again. Also thoroughly scrub the sleeve and dry them.

Now for the lube. Go to the nearest gun store and buy a bottle of RCBS cartridge case lube. Be sure and get the stuff in the bottle and not the tube. This stuff is a vegetable based lube that is more of a grease in thickness than oil and is an industrial version of KY jelly. Don't get and funny ideas now, this is for your brakes.

Insert the rubber bushings back into the calipers and squirt in some of the lube. Make sure there's enough to coat the inside of the bushing and a little extra. Coat the outside of the sleeve with lube and reinsert into the bushing making sure you take care to get the lip of the seal in the groove on the sleeve.

Re assemble as usual and the drag from the caliper sliders will be gone.

Geezer
(and you guys thought only I did electrical systems.)

[pggg]

They might be over pumped too, bleed em' and pump them up smooth

[Ken Talbot]

Or, you can go to the auto parts store and buy a tube of 'silicone disc brake lubricant'. This thick stuff is purpose-built for lubing caliuper slides and bushings, etc. The funnt part is the caution printed on the tube that tells you to keep the lubricant away from the disc and the friction side of the pads. I can only imagine the pucker factor that would cause!

[prometheus578]

"Geezer, didn't I yell at you last year for doing the same thing?"

All that info stored in that knobby head of yours...
Yet, you only share your wisdom what, maybe once a year?
A tidbit here... a tidbit there...
"But I thought everybody knew this stuff... that it's common knowledge."
No Geezer, it's not.
You need to make a pot o' coffee... sit down somewhere quiet, and write out all your "words of wisdom" for us mechanical tadpoles.

[rman]

I wish I would have known this two days ago when I had the rear caliper apart.

If Its not binding I will probably leave well enough alone.

Also found out that I can swap my XS750 rear master cyclinder into my 1100. Works like a champ.

[Geezer]

Re: "Geezer, didn't I yell at you last year for doing the same thing?"

I sat down to write a book once and my mind went blank. I write this stuff at 1:00am after having to clean up the aftermath of someone else's handiwork...

The best I can do is to dribble out this info as I think of it...

Geezer

Originally posted by prometheus578
All that info stored in that knobby head of yours...
Yet, you only share your wisdom what, maybe once a year?
A tidbit here... a tidbit there...
"But I thought everybody knew this stuff... that it's common knowledge."
No Geezer, it's not.
You need to make a pot o' coffee... sit down somewhere quiet, and write out all your "words of wisdom" for us mechanical tadpoles.

[Geezer]

Originally posted by rman
If Its not binding I will probably leave well enough alone.

The caliper won't bind but it won't fully release because it can't slide back.

One good thing is that this can be fixed without pulling the caliper. You can pull the sleeve out with needle nose pliers and then remove the rubber bushing with your fingers.

Geezer

[randy]

"But I thought everybody knew this stuff... that it's common knowledge."

Easy to assume that this is common knowledge, every automotive caliper I've ever encountered (except the XS Specials) uses this kind of slider mechanism. Should be cleaned and lubed as part of every brake job.

[79XS11F]

Now I am confused. My manual says to lube the piston to sleeve seal with fresh break fluid. I just don't dry them off after they have been soaked in fresh break fluid for the minimum time stated. I think it's somewhere around 15 minutes.
Rob

[pggg]

.

[greyranch]

Hi,thought I would chime in.I had the brakes drag,even after taking the calipers apart and lubing the slider bolts and bushings.I eventually determined that the master cylinder(front) would build pressure from sitting,which it did.Instead of monkeying with drilling out the plugged return hole,I ordered from PartsNmore a new master cylinder for 75.00.My reservoir looked sad anyways.That fixed the brake drag and works like a champ!

[prometheus578]

"Poor PGGG...."

I guess his computer broke.
Or...
maybe he's trying to say you should use DOT1 brake fluid.
Or...
He's hard to understand when he's on his period.

[pggg]

it was a microdot containing video of various scantily attired females demonstrating a strip and overhaul of XS11 calipers.. but I realized no-one would be interested ...

[skids]

It was difficult, but I manuvered the mouse pointer on it and double clicked. I saw everything! I am going to visit the calipers just to touch them to see if they are still warm...

Originally posted by pggg
it was a microdot containing video of various scantily attired females demonstrating a strip and overhaul of XS11 calipers.. but I realized no-one would be interested ...

[Geezer]

Originally posted by 79XS11F
Now I am confused. My manual says to lube the piston to sleeve seal with fresh break fluid. I just don't dry them off after they have been soaked in fresh break fluid for the minimum time stated. I think it's somewhere around 15 minutes.
Rob

Are we talking about the same thing here? I mean the sleeve that the 8mm bolt goes through to hold the caliper to the bracket. The caliper floats side to side on these sleeve with a rubber bushing.

Geezer