Rebuilt brake calipers leaking
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 288
Likes: 1
From: Maple Ridge British Columbia
Rebuilt brake calipers leaking
I purchased two Raybestos rebuilt brake calipers for the front of my car last summer as one of the original calipers was leaking. I drove the car about a thousand miles over the summer and then laid it up for the winter to redo the rear suspension. I decided to do the front suspension as well, and when I took off the front calipers, both of them are leaking. Is this just a bad coincidence, or could I have done something when I installed them to cause this.
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,708
Likes: 2,574
assuming you installed new pads at the same time the only possiblity is if the pistons were cocked at some angle when you installed them and damaged the seals. Did you use something to hold in the pistons when installing the pads? Did they come with O ring pistons?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 288
Likes: 1
From: Maple Ridge British Columbia
Thanks for all the helpful replies, but it turns out that the calipers I bought were part of a bad batch. The auto parts store where I bought them knew immediately when I explained the issue. They gave me new rebuilt calipers and brake pads free of charge. Good customer service!
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,717
Likes: 551
From: Seattle Washington
I'd look in to just what the rebuild the rebuilt caliper had. Rabestos is a good old American name but the Pads I just got with there name on them also sez made in China. So what was done to rebuild them, a quit coat of paint, or stainless sleaves and all new parts? This is an area where I shy away from local parts stores and go straight to the people who rebuild Corvette Calipers for a living. The life time waranty sounds good but just how many times are you going to want to change out calipers.
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2013
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Drifting
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 1,839
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From: nassau co. new york
i went through a nightmare with the front calipers after having no issues replacing the rears with rebuilts.(better condition bodies?).finally had to get a new one from lonestar to stop the bleeding.good luck.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 7,445
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From: Tennessee/Rhode Island
I agree with those who stated that they prefer specialty corvette brake companies than going with Autozone, Raybestos etc-most of these brand names and stores sell to the mass market and one would be wise to be cautious about what parts you buy from them.
As I have stated before, SS corvette calipers like mine with the regular o rings, NOT lip seals, which I installed in 1985 from VBP (lifetime warranty) on my 78 which sits 99.99% of the time have never leaked. A quality rebuilt SS caliper with quality regular o rings like mine will last a LONG time sitting. Change the brake fluid often-every 3-4 years- and you should be good to go. As long as the above is followed along with the proper rotor runout, the corvette C3 calipers are really very good and not problematic. The issues seem to be from brakes that are neglected or abused sometime in their life cycle.
As I have stated before, SS corvette calipers like mine with the regular o rings, NOT lip seals, which I installed in 1985 from VBP (lifetime warranty) on my 78 which sits 99.99% of the time have never leaked. A quality rebuilt SS caliper with quality regular o rings like mine will last a LONG time sitting. Change the brake fluid often-every 3-4 years- and you should be good to go. As long as the above is followed along with the proper rotor runout, the corvette C3 calipers are really very good and not problematic. The issues seem to be from brakes that are neglected or abused sometime in their life cycle.