caliper questions
 

How does one tell if a brake caliper is bad? my rf caliper on my 72 appears to have a stuck piston...can it be re-built or is it best to by a new one? I prefer to rebuild and ive seen kits,,is that what it needs?
Thanks ,,Mr.Magoo

Re: caliper questions
 

Yes u can rebuild it. The kits aren't bad priced at all. I for one though would look at buying a remanufactured, they are almost as cheap as the rbuild kits.
Plus you get a warrinty with it. Just my cents worth though.;):chevy:

Re: caliper questions
 

yeap what he said. new calipers with brake shoes are like 25 bucks each. you cant beat it..

but to answer your question a stuck caliper will have really weird wearing brake pads

Re: caliper questions
 

Also look at the slides and take it apart and clean the slides good and the sleeves that it rides in. Relube them and see if that helps any.;):chevy:

Re: caliper questions
 

also check your rubber brake lines. over time they swell and clog internally.the truck will pull towards the good hose till you force enough fluid thru the bad one,then it'll pull that way and drag that caliper when you take your foot off. dont bother rebuilding the caliper yourself...if it's stuck it's rusty and needs to be honed [and hard to get the piston out]and possibly needs another piston.rebuilt calipers for these trucks are so cheap there's no reason to try it yourself. the hone and kit would cost more.

Re: caliper questions
 

Thanks for all the advice. I tore it down today and it had a small ring of rust around the piston. IT wasnt too hard to get the piston out. gonna clean the piston with 2000 grit and the sleeve with 1500 and put it back togather and see do it stop better and not pull when I apply the brakes.