Caliper sliders

EmilysDad

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I wonder who thought it would be a good idea to use 7mm & 9mm Allen socket on the calipers sliders? Despite having loads of Allen keys I didn't have a 9mm for the front calipers sliders.
Took car for MOT yesterday, & he picked up that a couple of calipers/discs were binding. Despite new pads all round just a few months ago, the pads on one of the wheels have worn half way through ...... not really very pleased. Oh Well! If you want a job doing properly ....
 

Botus

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lots of fasteners on modern cars, party to stop us fiddling, partly to speed build time in the factory (or I bet that's what they tell themselves). need another 2 tools boxes to fit it all in
 
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EmilysDad

EmilysDad

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fleabay

lots of fasteners on modern cars, party to stop us fiddling, partly to speed build time in the factory (or I bet that's what they tell themselves). need another 2 tools boxes to fit it all in

They're now ordered off eBay, it just p***ed me off that of the many Allen keys I have, both standard & socket drive, I had to leave the front calipers for another day. (I found my 7mm socket drive Allen key for the rears ... last used many moons ago)
And why are the caliper carriers held on with 18mm headed bolts ...... I thought it was just the Koreans that used odd ball spanners instead of 10, 13, 17 & 19
 

Botus

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They're now ordered off eBay, it just p***ed me off that of the many Allen keys I have, both standard & socket drive, I had to leave the front calipers for another day. (I found my 7mm socket drive Allen key for the rears ... last used many moons ago)
And why are the caliper carriers held on with 18mm headed bolts ...... I thought it was just the Koreans that used odd ball spanners instead of 10, 13, 17 & 19


lots of 18 and 21mm bolts on suspension components (get your new sockets ready now)

I think its all due to the accountants, once upon a time Romans / British invented AF sizes where the material and strength used all lined up to give the right sizes and cost structure for a given loading / strength...

then a French git tried to take over the world, and some how Japanese guys went metric with 8 10 12 14 17 and 19mm sizes on their motorbikes (where clearly there was more strength and cost than necessary). not to be out done the European car manufactures went ha that's no good I want 11 13 15 16 18 21 24mm

somewhere in that madness the right size strength material and cost ended up making metric versions almost exactly coming full circle to the AF stuff we already had!!!
 

00slk

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Just had the same issue today when!i decided to check the diff oil level, I have many Allen keys but not a 12mm. I ended up doing my usual and made a tool to undo the filler plug, I have quite a few homemade tools now, best one is the Steering box nut adjuster for the W116, which can be down with the engine in place ;)
 

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I find most "new" jobs I do on a car now are split into two parts , firstly check what tools are required which involves checking the garage for an hour , then spending time on eBay to hunt them down when I find they are non standard .
Then finding another day to do the job .
 

onefortheroad

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you could remove the caliper with the carrier , then slide the carrier off the pins , clean pins , re - grease , push caliper piston back and refit pads etc . refit carrier and caliper. you ll need to do this in the event of the pin heads rounding off. ive just had to do this on my 08 cls as the merc pins had star heads which were destroyed in a few turns due to pins having thread lock on them. i ordered new slider pin kits from brakes international and replaced them .
 

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Could always grind down a larger allen key to fit.
 

Rory

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Despite new pads all round just a few months ago, the pads on one of the wheels have worn half way through ...... not really very pleased.

Not sure what's going on but we've had this on a couple of our cars recently. One (a Honda) is under warranty but the dealer thought it was hilarious to take £300 off my daughter. Honda UK didn't give a toss. I'm fuming!

I don't recall this being a regular issue in the past - but they don't even squirt brake cleaner at the callipers now during service, never mind strip and clean them.
 

Submariner1

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I wonder who thought it would be a good idea to use 7mm & 9mm Allen socket on the calipers sliders? Despite having loads of Allen keys I didn't have a 9mm for the front calipers sliders.
Took car for MOT yesterday, & he picked up that a couple of calipers/discs were binding. Despite new pads all round just a few months ago, the pads on one of the wheels have worn half way through ...... not really very pleased. Oh Well! If you want a job doing properly ....

When I changed my caliper piston boots, I happened to bump into my top mechanic at the dealers when collecting the parts.
He gave me a tip for the rears. Check or change the rubber sockets for the guide pins. Basiclly these big pins slide in a rubber boot.
Some people “grease them” with coppa slip. This is mineral oil based and causes the rubber sockets to swell and bind “on” and creates massive pad wear.
Note MB brake paste is better but not ideal! You cant use Ceratek either , thats mineral based!
And red rubber is also no good and cant take the heat.
He also said many MB main dealers do not grease them at all because of the above.

But there is a Dupont heat resistant rubber safe grease .. this takes the heat, and is rubber safe, so does not swell the pads.
Using it allows the brake pads to come off instantly, and reduces pad wear.

Sorry I forgot the name.
Its well expensive and sold in big tubs. But there is a guy on eBay who decants it into tiny pots for a few £.
Its over priced for the quantity but still cheap and you only need a little.

And he was right it works!
 

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