Heads-up On Disc Brake Calipers

[IN2DEEP]

Here's a little heads up for anyone with disc brakes on their trailer that needs new brake pads.
Instead of just retracting the caliper piston back in, I just found out that you should pop the piston out to check for rust / corrosion.
It seems as a new piston extends out as the pads wear, the exposed surfaces may start to rust. Not a problem until you push the corroded surfaces back into the caliper.
I didn't notice any leakage, but the brakes started dragging because the piston started to seize in the caliper bore.
I'd remove the pistons before buying any parts (check for caliper parts availability and decide if new replacements will be the better choice)

These are 4 yrs. old and always rinsed after launching and retrieving the boat.
My trailer guy tells me a 2 yr. life-span is not uncommon.
Yeah, you'll have to bleed your brakes, but it will avoid braking issues down the road.

UFP DB-42 Calipers, 12" vented rotors







God put salt in the ocean to punish us boaters

Scott

[BiggestT]

Are those stainless pistons? In the last pictures they look like chromed steel. If so, and you got 4 years out of them, then you did good. I'm used to getting 3 to 4 years out of that type.

Recently I switched to Kodiak Stainless calipers which have stainless pistons. The rotors are cadmium plated. I should get a bit more out of the rotors than the 3 to 4 years I got with the epoxy coated rotors. The stainless calipers should go much longer and are worth rebuilding. They have stainless pistons. With the old epoxy coated rotors and calipers, the rotors would rust into an unusable state before I had to replace the brake pads. I'd just change out the whole package every 3 to 4 years. Drum brakes would go 2 years.

[IN2DEEP]

BiggestT,
Those pistons are hard chromed steel.
Caliper body is gold cad. plated and almost no corrosion at all.
I just replaced the pads last fall and they have lots of life still.
There are no replacement parts to rebuild that particular caliper, sooo... I made my own 303 SS pistons (It helps to be a machinest )
I'm looking for two more years



So you say that you're using stainless pistons now? That's good to hear, because I was a little concerned that the surface of SS would not be hard enough compared to hard chrome.

Thanks for the info,
Scott

[BiggestT]

Originally Posted by IN2DEEP

BiggestT,
Those pistons are hard chromed steel.
Caliper body is gold cad. plated and almost no corrosion at all.
I just replaced the pads last fall and they have lots of life still.
There are no replacement parts to rebuild that particular caliper, sooo... I made my own 303 SS pistons (It helps to be a machinest )
I'm looking for two more years



So you say that you're using stainless pistons now? That's good to hear, because I was a little concerned that the surface of SS would not be hard enough compared to hard chrome.

Thanks for the info,
Scott

Scott, that's a beautiful job you did on machining those pistons.

Kodiak sells their disc brakes with stainless pistons, standard. I switched to stainless calipers and they also come with the stainless pistons. I went with the cadmium plated, vented rotors at $70 a pair versus the stainless rotors at $370 a pair. I was worried about stainless rotors warping, though people tell me they've had good experience with them. Still, I can go through 5 cadmium for the price of stainless. I think that's the way to go. The rebuild kits on the kodiaks are like $25.

Here's a link on a Kodiak rebuild you might find interesting:

http://www.coastsidefishingclub.com/...rue#Post489965

[IN2DEEP]

Thanks BiggestT,
I'll be thinking Kodiak next time around for sure

[sdjfish]

Great info, I'll be rebuilding my brakes soon and this is why I always look at these posts, golden information at a good price. Thanks for the update and nice work on the home-made/made in the USA parts.