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IMHO multi-faceted sockets or ring spanners are rubbish. Invest in a decent quality set of Hex sockets (short and long reach) and decent 3/8" drive ratchet and I doubt you will ever round off another nut or bolt. Over 25 years ago I spent what was at the time a stupid amount of money on a huge selection of Snap-On tools. They have never let me down....not once, and I cannot remember ever rounding-off a nut or bolt. In hindsight it was definitely money well spent ! Also I try to clean all nuts & bolts on this kind of job with a wire brush before applying copious quantities of penetrating oil well beforehand. Any excess penetrating oil can always be cleaned up with brake cleaner or petrol afterwards.
I went to a breakers and picked up a wrench for £1 - my TF didn't come with one!
 
And finally........

Engage the tool into the notches and, using a ratchet and extension, turn clockwise until the piston is fully home. This will allow the housing to fit over the new thicker pads.


A note from Pete Vickerstaff "When you are re-winding the piston back in, ensure that the cut outs in the piston are at 12/3/6/9 o'clock, the cut out at 3 o'clock engages in a small pin on the back of the pad. If the piston is not aligned, you will get a 10-15mm rust ring at the outer edge of the inner surface of the disc due to uneven pressure on the pad."

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How do you know when the piston has been wound fully in - does it stop rotating? I wound mine in for ages and it seems to have stopped going any further in but I still struggle to fit the caliper around the new pads even with part worn discs and with the anti squeal shims removed!
 
Discussion starter · #105 ·
Honestly can't remember for definite, but I think it keeps rotating. You may need to push hard as well as turn it. The piston should get somewhere close to being flush.
 
How do you know when the piston has been wound fully in - does it stop rotating? I wound mine in for ages and it seems to have stopped going any further in but I still struggle to fit the caliper around the new pads even with part worn discs and with the anti squeal shims removed!
inside the rear callipers is a very coarse type of screw , not going into the detailed operation of the caliper but in certain circumstances if the pads get too low the piston will pop of the end of this screw ,and because of this when trying to turn the piston back on the bottom end of the screw may have come adrift inside the calliper , as said push hard to get the piston r- engaged when fully in it will sit level or just protruding from the caliper, when the handbrake is applied the piston will engage to the required distance but you will need to get it somewhere close
Paul D
 
Eeeeeh, think yerself lucky! I tried the threaded rod and nuts and bolts method and it worked on three discs but failed on one of the rears. I had to use a 150mm/6" three arm hub puller to get the damned thing off. And a hammer. And the threaded rod and nuts and bolts thing...

Looking back at one of the question on this page, from ages ago, you have to have the bleed nipple undone on the rear caliper to allow the piston to screw back in IIRC.
 
Excellent guide...
I did my rears a couple of weeks ago and the pads had difficulty bedding in, some heat bluing, a couple leaning and sweeping 1/2 the disc and a bit too much binding with both. It wasn't' right'.
I took it apart today and realised that before I was jacking the rear too high and the h/brake cables were stretching and bending over the subframe causing loadsa difficulty getting the caliper on square and possibly pulling the brakes on (?).
So with a lower rear on axle stands I used a scissor jack and jacked up close to the bottom of disc, relieving the tension, was able to screw the caliper bolts in with my fingers before tightening and all was square...
. Also I didn't 'hard push/centralise' the brake pedal until the wheels were back on and jacked down. And I tried not to use the handbrake 'till the pads had been driven a few miles (but failed once...
)
Hope this adds a little to such an excellent post. I found my handbrake cables were a bit of a pain...
Gotta do discs + pads on the red fronts soon, too...
 
Yep I followed the red brake 'how to' and it worked a treat, thanks to CJJ.


I'm really glad that he suggested taking the caliper away from the disc to get the pins out. I would have drifted them out in-situ and probably bent the pins.(Why, oh why don't we get new pins and shims/sliders when we buy brake pads?) My pads were seized solid in the caliper and they were down to the wear mark - I wondered why it was so difficult to push her in and out of the garage



I wiped some brake grease all over the internal caliper cavity, pistons (and rubbers), back of pads and slider points rather than just copper grease the back of the pads. My thoughts were that if it doesn't degrade the rubber bits it's probably 'healthier' and might stop it from seizing again...
 
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