Stuck caliper, replace or can I fix?

[VehiX]

Hi folks, my right front brake caliper is sticking! Enough to cause the RIM to heat up enough to burn skin on even just a short ride. Shop says I need a new caliper? Is this possible? I did a search and it appears no one has replaced the caliper itself. Can I just lube it or is it beyond repair? Calipers on VX are rusty but not sure if replacement is actually needed? Any tips or advise? It's in the shop now waiting on word back from me to replace. They want over 200 for one caliper!

Thanks

[Ldub]

Unless you have enough mechanical ability to change a caliper & bleed the brake(s),(it's not too difficult) you'll have to bite the bullet & pay the man...

The only two choices I found on ebay are from this seller.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Isuzu-VehiCROSS-...item3ef9f31866

[tom4bren]

From my limited experience, a caliper can be unstuck but you'll be fighting an uphill battle. It'll stick again ... & again ... & again.

You need to find out why it stuck as well. If it's exterior rust then breaking it free (& cleaning it up) should set things right. If it's interior rust then replacement is needed & you need to also find out how water (moisture) got into your brake lines.

[VehiX]

thanks ldub and tom4bren for your reply. They stated that all 4 calipers, rotors and pads needed to be replaced but said at a minimum to get the right front caliper and both front pad sets replaced. The rust is on the inside mostly on the rears though. They want over $2000 for everything which I DO NOT have right now

Figures this happens right before Christmas

Any suggestions?

[SilverBullet75]

RE: the other calipers...

If it ain't broke... don't fix it.

You said it right... it's Christmas time... for THEM too.

[tom4bren]

I would guess the first step is to check that RF caliper. Can you get it unstuck? Is it just a build up of rust on the outside or did the piston actually sieze because of moisture in the brake fluid?

You need to also determine if the rotors can be turned or are they bad & need to be replaced.

Once those questions can be answered, make sure you have all the parts on hand so that you aren't up on blocks for weeks & weeks waiting on parts.

This is all my 2 cents - I'm not a mechanic or a brake expert.

[MSHardeman]

I'm sure that you could find a caliper on ebay, or get on from Merlin at St. Charles and replace it yourself. It's really not that difficult to do, and bleeding the brakes isn't that hard either.

Did a quick search and came up with this:
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...g+front+rotors

It talks more about replacing the front rotors and repacking the front bearings, but there is some good information there. If you can't find anything here I could make an attempt at writing up a "replacing the brake caliper" how-to.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[VehiX]

Thanks for all your help folks. The caliper was seized and took a bit to get off. I had the shop put everything back together and had a friend replace just the right front caliper and front brake pads on both sides. Total was $232.26!!! That's more like it

The caliper was reman'ed and cost $48.13 and pads where $45.74 (ceramic), the rest was labor.

This should get me around town for now. I will revisit the brakes after the holidays and when I have more $$$

I also had my buddy grease the zyrks on the drive shaft for free with his electric grease gun. Took two seconds to do and no more driveline clunk

I'm happy for now

[Dumke]

Man if i had gotten on earlier I woulda have given ya some insight. I need to get on here more often lol.. Anyways I just replaced my front pads and front passenger side caliper and rotor. (yea i let it get too far.) I did it all for under a 140 bucks and did it myself which took all of 6 hours with many of breaks inbetween and to look up Kenny's write up on rotor replacement. Rotor ran me 40 bucks, caliper 60 and pads 22. I went sorta cheap as I have the OEM pads and getting newer rotors ro do a whole brake system job. Now that I have done it I can cut that time waaay down. Looks like you got everything tho so there was really no need to *** all that info lol..

[VehiX]

Thanks for chimming in dumke. All seems to be good for now.

BTW, These are the orginal rotors from when I first bought the VX. I now have 120,000 miles on them! I have never seen or heard of rotors lasting this long!! I only resurfaced them once in her life time. No warping or pulsating when braking and the rotors are still ever so slightly within spec. So, I will need new rotors and pads soon but she goes for now

My VX lives on