Disc Brake Caliper - Overhaul

Hey Eric, Parts made it home safe and sound, Had my Rotors turned at Napa, started to put back together and decided that I needed to replace the rubber brake lines that connect to calipers, they were really not flexible anymore, so I went to Napa and of course they didnt have any, I told the guy just match them up with anything, guess he was to lazy to do this, so I ordered some from Rock Auto, now Im back to the waiting game, hopefully tomorrow, or soon, they will get here. After I ordered them, I noticed there is actually 2 rubber lines on each side, Not going to worry about them at this time. Yes the fluid will be flushed out before I connect to the new calipers. They were pretty bad off, Funny...they worked pretty good, until they started dragging. Im really excited to take it out for a shake and a shimmy :). Like I said the car is really fun to drive, sticks to the road like a dead racoon in the summer.............24,636 views, not bad. Do you rebuild turbos ?

For folks that work on their own vehicles, I recommend having a 6in welding/woodworking C-clamp in your toolbox. They're about $6, and work well to hold lots of things while you work on them. In this case he could have kept that spring compressed, using the socket like he did, then put the C-clamp in the vice to hold it while he put the snap ring on. It also makes pushing the caliper pistons back in the cylinder really easy, while it's still connected to the hydraulic system, when you're doing a typical brake job.

Future Charles was perplexed when his local mechanic stated he found a olive slice in his caliper piston.

This is the best complete caliper rebuild video available so far. Thanks for your time and showing us all your grandmother's tips.

Could you imagine if you happen to own a 1982 Nissan Datsun 280ZX and have this exact problem and happen to come across this gem of a video. You'd be doing a happy dance and wanting to name your next born child Eric.

Not editing out mistakes = respect.

Eric, on a personal note this is the first or one of the very first videos that i viewed and i was totally impressed with you. I was in a hospital room that i was not allowed to leave at MD Anderson Cancer Center going thru my bone marrow transplant for my leukemia diagnosis. Your voice and attitude got me thru those three months that I couldn’t leave my room. Without sounding like a total weirdo your a very important part of my recovery. It’s now been a few years and guess what I’m doing now for a living!!!jajaja I exchanged my suite and tie for wrenches and a scan tool. I now this its the best way to tell you but this morning i git up and said today is the day. Sir thank you for showing me what real priorities in life should be, wife, family and do what makes me happy. God Bless you my friend...

As a retired mechanic, I love how Eric thinks outside the box. Eric, you sir are the real deal.

"Let's fumble through this together" LOL, story of my life. Nice work Eric.

before i watched i was like "cool im going to rebuild my calipers" After I watched i was like " NAH.

Good job robbing the piston. Most would have never thought of that. You da man as usual.

There is honor in showing the struggle; to pass the experience on and show humility. You are a great teacher, an accomplished mechanic, and a funny dude. And the final proof is, I wrote this before you said the very same thing yourself. Thanks Mr. O.

This is a great video...one of your best, actually. It shows the "real" part of wrenching on cars. Late at night, wrong tools, no parts available, blah blah blah, and the frustration that goes along with it. It's a great break from watching you with the lift, and all the nice tools that many of us who work on our own cars just dream of.

Not only was this a brilliantly detailed explanation but the rebuild was completed for a subscriber. This is the sort of channel that goes above and beyond. A very educational video and no doubt a very grateful subscriber. I've seen the big jobs, the small jobs but this had me transfixed. So intricate. What can I say, I must be a nerd in the making. Way more patience than me and a great video, kudos.

After many years of meditation I was finally able to sleep at night without nightmares and then you posted this video. For me these calipers were designed by an engineer who should have been forced to commit seppuku to apologize to all Datsun/Nissan mechanics.

The ability to stay calm and press on when it doesn't go as planned is invaluable

This video is easily among your best, not because you made it look super easy, but because you struggled a bit like most of us do, and still did a top notch job. Thanks for sharing, and God bless you and your family.

Man I was having flashbacks of doing brake jobs in the 70s & 80s b/c we rebuilt all our calipers and w/cyl's. The chrome pistons always would corrode and pit and the chrome plating would come apart and then the pistons would seize up in the bore. Had to use a piston clamping tool, heat, air, whatever to get the piston out of the bore. The best pistons were the thermal plastic pistons b/c they didn't corrode but slowly the pistons became harder to find & more expensive and the rebuilt calipers got cheaper and rebuilding b/c a thing of the past. I still rebuild calipers and w/cylinders on my own but it's not cost effective on customer cars. My honing tools are still holding up over the years. Brake calipers in NY get so rusted it's probably not worth the labor or headaches. You're a better man than me leaving the camera running b/c it would probably get ugly & I show the bad side of being a mechanic but I have learned over the years to just get a cup of coffee, sit down & chill and then go at it again less frustrated and let the mind overcome the problem. There is a reason I don't do videos...too much editing would be involved probably. Nice video & a definite happy customer!

This video proves why you have a loyal following. You start with calm, cool and collected, sprinkled with humor. Then add a bit of frustration and awkwardness AND you still get the job done! While still managing to entertain and educate! Great video.

My wife watches with me for the humor. Your videos are by far the best thing on our TV these days. Thanks for the detailed commentary as well as the sheer entertainment value. Not many things in life entertain and educate at the same time.