New calipers needed?

[jimincalif]

Drove the car on our SoCal drive last Saturday, 180 miles, all was well. Parked the car until this morning, when I hit the brakes, had a strong pull to the left. Seemed to get a bit better as the car drove, but still there. Came home tonight, saw a small spot of fluid where the right front wheel usually parks. Pulled the wheel off and see fluid around the caliper assembly and the brake is clearly dragging on the disk. So it seems the right front caliper is not functioning properly and leaking.

I see the rebuild kits are pretty cheap, but Autozone has rebuilt calipers for $38 each - are these any good? Come with a "limited lifetime warranty". Hope that doesn't mean the warranty runs out when the brakes fail and your lifetime comes to an end at the back of an SUV!

Jim

[So Cal Mark]

the front kits are cheap and the only difficulty would be if the piston has any pits on it.
Autozone generally honors their warranties, so $38 may be an easier way to go.

[rlux4]

I agree with Mark on this one. There's very little involved in rebuilding the calipers, so it's a pretty safe bet you'd get good ones. I put rebuilts on the front of mine, and so far, so good.
Ron

[jimincalif]

Thanks guys. Of course I go to buy them and the Autozone site reports that the passenger side one is NLA, grrr. But I can get the driver's side - what's up with that, don't you normally replace both sides when doing brakes?

[So Cal Mark]

yes, it's best to do both otherwise you stand the chance of uneven braking. I just went through this with rear calipers, I could get right sides but no left sides.

[mobigly73]

Advance auto parts has them too I just ordered the and there great. Oh also they come with new install hardware!!! Plus both sides are available.

[jimincalif]

Thanks, I guess Autozone did have them as the order went thru later. I'll keep Advance in mind, will probably need to do the rears at some point.

When reinstalling calipers, should I lube the mount wedges to help the caliper move? If so, what sort of lube is best there? Do I need any sort of gaskets/washers for the banjo bolts at the hose-caliper connection?

Thanks

[So Cal Mark]

the banjo bolts use copper washers, the slides should be lubricated. The best product is Ceramlub by Bendix