Caliper boot clamp

[Stuckinmud15]

Trying to put the calipers back together and wer are having a bitch of a time getting the clamp rings around the boots. Am I missing something here? The rings keep slipping off

[crazy steve]

Yeah, the Special calipers are harder to do than the standard ones...

What worked best for me was make sure both the caliper body and the boot are both bone-dry, as anything that 'lubricates' those will allow the slipping. Make sure the boot is fully seated against the caliper body, then expand the ring as much as you can and work it in starting at the 'back' of the boot. If you have a boot that has softened or expanded at all, that makes it even harder. A PITA to be sure; I spent more time doing this than all the rest of the assembly time total....

[Stuckinmud15]

Yeah, the Special calipers are harder to do than the standard ones...

What worked best for me was make sure both the caliper body and the boot are both bone-dry, as anything that 'lubricates' those will allow the slipping. Make sure the boot is fully seated against the caliper body, then expand the ring as much as you can and work it in starting at the 'back' of the boot. If you have a boot that has softened or expanded at all, that makes it even harder. A PITA to be sure; I spent more time doing this than all the rest of the assembly time total....

Woww those were a PITA!! The boots were a little moist with fluid when we were trying and dried them up real good, that seemed to help a lot. After much tedious finagling we got them back together and on the bike. Now I have another question before I start a new thread lol.

The front brakes seem to be rubbing the rotor to the point where it makes it *somewhat* difficult to turn the while its lifted off the ground. It doesn't free spin at all. Is this normal? It does take a good amount of strength to turn the wheel. When we pull the lever in, it locks up, which is obviously good. My r6's wheel will free spin like butter. WTF is up with these brakes?

[petejw]

have u fitted new pads?
if so, try bedding them in first,

also try pumping the lever hard a few times, this will help
centralise the pads.

not sure what else uve done to the brake
system but a blocked spooge hole could also
cause the brakes to bind.

[cywelchjr]

Also make sure you followed the procedure for putting the wheel on and centering the caliper's as outline in the manual as well, as if not done it can cause troubles.

[Stuckinmud15]

The spooge hole seemed to be clear because the brakes were pumping fluid through with no problem it seemed. Is that logic correct or will they still pump if blocked?
I'll have to check out a pdf manual for that centering procedure as I dont have a manual. I just put them on, didnt follow any special procedure.

[natemoen]

They will pump but the caliper will not release if it is plugged.

[James England]

The front brakes shouldn't bind at all and the wheel should spin easily by hand. I had a similar problem and found that I had incorrectly tightened the front axle. I'd tightened the left hand clamp first and then I tightened the main nut on the right. This was wrong and it caused the brakes to bind quite badly because, as I tightened the castellated nut, it pulled the left fork over to the right and everything went out of true. Once I'd loosened everything and done it correctly, the brakes were fine. Maybe you've inadvertantly done this?

[Stuckinmud15]

The only thing I messed with was the calipers, maybe the po did something with the axle. If I pull the calipers and the wheel will free spin that should tell me what's up I suppose right?

[cywelchjr]

You did press the piston all the way back in before re-installing it right? And you should still make sure that the forks are correctly aligned anyways, as just because you only pulled the calipers doesn't mean they were properly aligned to begin with.

[crazy steve]

The front brakes shouldn't bind at all and the wheel should spin easily by hand..

Well, maybe. A slight amount of drag can be 'normal', but if you give the wheel a good spin it should turn at least a couple of times. If you have continuous scraping that prevents this, then you need to look further. As Cy said, centering the calipers by 'adjusting' the forks should be done anytime they're removed (and this is critically important on the Specials, much less so on the standards). Also make sure the the caliper can pivot freely on its mounting bolt. If you have intermittent binding, then you may have an out-of-spec rotor with too much runout. As Nate said, if the 'splooge hole' is plugged, even partially, the brakes won't fully release.

The 'floating' calipers used on these bikes only 'retracts' the pad next to the piston, so slight drag is common. If after checking all of the above stuff and the problem persists, you may need to look at the piston seals if you didn't replace them. If these have lost their 'elasticity', are worn, or the receiver groove they fit into is dirty, they may not be retracting fully.

[Stuckinmud15]

Well, maybe. A slight amount of drag can be 'normal', but if you give the wheel a good spin it should turn at least a couple of times. If you have continuous scraping that prevents this, then you need to look further. As Cy said, centering the calipers by 'adjusting' the forks should be done anytime they're removed (and this is critically important on the Specials, much less so on the standards). Also make sure the the caliper can pivot freely on its mounting bolt. If you have intermittent binding, then you may have an out-of-spec rotor with too much runout. As Nate said, if the 'splooge hole' is plugged, even partially, the brakes won't fully release.

The 'floating' calipers used on these bikes only 'retracts' the pad next to the piston, so slight drag is common. If after checking all of the above stuff and the problem persists, you may need to look at the piston seals if you didn't replace them. If these have lost their 'elasticity', are worn, or the receiver groove they fit into is dirty, they may not be retracting fully.

I would never be able get a couple spins on it the way it is lol. Ill have to check the spooge hole again, I didnt really look at it too close. Thanks

[crazy steve]

There's one other thing to look at; there's supposed to be a U-shaped stainless steel clip that goes over the 'tabs' on the pads (part #10 in this pic: http://www.benefiscal.co.uk/imagine.... BRAKE CALIPER) that protects the fork slider from the pads wearing a groove in the soft aluminum. These are missing many times, and if there is a groove worn into the slider and you installed new pads, the pads may be hanging up on those grooves, preventing them from moving away from the rotor and/or the caliper freely pivoting. The standard has similar clips, but theirs are attached to the caliper bracket and don't get lost...

[cywelchjr]

Well, maybe. A slight amount of drag can be 'normal', but if you give the wheel a good spin it should turn at least a couple of times. If you have continuous scraping that prevents this, then you need to look further. As Cy said, centering the calipers by 'adjusting' the forks should be done anytime they're removed (and this is critically important on the Specials, much less so on the standards). Also make sure the the caliper can pivot freely on its mounting bolt. If you have intermittent binding, then you may have an out-of-spec rotor with too much runout. As Nate said, if the 'splooge hole' is plugged, even partially, the brakes won't fully release.

The 'floating' calipers used on these bikes only 'retracts' the pad next to the piston, so slight drag is common. If after checking all of the above stuff and the problem persists, you may need to look at the piston seals if you didn't replace them. If these have lost their 'elasticity', are worn, or the receiver groove they fit into is dirty, they may not be retracting fully.

As Steve said, on standards it less critical, only really needed if the disk doesn't clear the caliper bracket on the standards as the caliper fully floats on the standard. However on the specials it doesn't, so you really need to do the adjustment any time they are removed and replaced to insure they are correctly positioned on they may drag. Make sure that is correct before checking anything else, as you can be chasing shadows if the alignment is off.

[James England]

It's worth checking the pistons too, of course. They can get rusty on the exposed part which is under the rubber boot. Then, if you fit new brake pads which are obviously thicker because they're not worn at all, the piston doesn't go smoothly back into the caliper because the rusty bit stops it....