I replaced the rubber brake bushings with brass ones a couple of years ago. One of them has seized (driver's side, rear, lower) and I need to remove it to clean/replace. Any tips to get it off without removing the caliper from the brake line? Normally if they're stuck, I tap gently on the back with a brass hammer and they pull it through the front, but I can't get this one to budge. I've soaked with penetrating oil and whacked it pretty hard with a piece of wood to lessen the impact between the brass and the hammer. Before that I tried heating it. Any better ideas?

 

I don't recall having to remove the caliper from the line when I did mine. You did remove the snap ring that's holding it in, right?

 

Yup. Even got the right tool to use to remove it. (It's all about the tools.) The other size is stuck as well in the same way. I'll try a good dose of PB blaster and letting it soak over night. It just seems to be a problem on the lower ones not the upper ones. I thought maybe I could just leave it where it is, but with the new pads installed, the caliper doesn't slide far enought to release from the rotor.

 

I hope you didn't take my question about the snap ring the wrong way, sometimes we forget the most obvious things while working on a car(at least i do sometimes).

Anyway, letting it soak with PB may work, that's some good stuff. Maybe put together a small "press" using a bolt and nut, some washers and spacers, etc? Try to draw it out.

BTW, you're right, it's all about the tools. You can never have too many tools.

 

One way I've used to pull bushings is to use a tap to thread the bushing, then thread a bolt through it and either drive or pull the bushing using the bolt. It the bushing's very thin it may not work, but as I recall those bushings are pretty sturdy. A little heat may help as well.

 

mine rattle in the caliper! Did it sieze to the shaft or is it burried into the caliper? Too bad it's not the fronts. I have two sets of stock calipers....

in the very worst case you will have to cut the shaft and that will be a total biatch.

Let me know how this goes, this is the first I've ever heard about it

Matt

 

Burried in the calipers, but just in the rear. They moved on the shafts, just not far enough to clear the new pads. I ended up grinding them out. Both sides, in the rear, lower bushing. (I should have taken a photo...) If you picture pushing the bushing so the retaining ring is flush with the back side of the caliper and the the bushing is all the way toward the pads, that's where they were stuck. The pad was worn unevenly, like the caliper was twisting. I'm thinking maybe the funky retaining clip came off of one side on the pad, got between the pad and the piston and put some twist into the caliper. After the heat of a 3 or 4 track days, baked in place. Totally different in the front. On the left, they moved with just a gentle tap of the hammer. On the right the moved freely. Given there's more heat in the front, I'm surprised. I cleaned them all up, put some high temp anti-seize compound on them and am heading out to the track again this weekend. I'll pull the calipers on Sunday and see what they're like.