rusnak

Hi guys:

Yesterday I finally got around to changing the front rotors, pads, and re-pack my front bearings. Did the rears about 9 months ago.

It occured to me that some people might not know about, or have made a 20 degree alignment template to check their caliper piston orientation.

So I scanned my home-made tool to show others how to make one at home. Mine is made from some tin that was left over from roof flashing material. It is rather thick, but I can easily cut it with a pair of snips. I tried to make one out of card stock, but paper or cardboard is far too bendy to be any good.

Make one out of thin metal, and you'll have an easy time checking your calipers. This one clicks right in there, and you can adjust the piston angle by rotating them with a screwdriver pressed against the notched radius.

theiceman

This is pretty neat if that image prints out 1:1 .. Now we have ourselves a template .. Good Job !!!

ivangene

awe boy... I had no idea.... something NEW to learn

I was planning to repack/replace front wheel bearings this weekend... I will most likely be figuring this out too.... looks very strange to me !!

OK well from the book it MUST be easy because they just say "set the caliper piston alignment using tool..." So I assume the tool rests on some sort of a flat?

TIA !

rusnak

Ivangene,

The lower pic shows the flat surface of the caliper that the back of the tool rests against. Once you have cut one out from scrap metal, it just clicks in there and the fit is perfect.

If you need to rotate a piston, extend them with a few GENTLE taps on the brake pedal, and you can rotate them with a push on a screwdriver. Then a brake pad retractor tool against the pads, and you have perfect piston and pad alignment. It's quick and very easy.

Iceman,

The scan is 1:1. I have not tried printing it out, but I provided the ruler to allow folks to resize if necessary. It took some trial and error to the the right size to fit the calipers. The critical part is the 20 degree angle.

cal44

Typical Russ, all over it........again. I'm glad you brought this up as i will be doing what you just did this weekend.............thanks Russ.

Ed Hughes

I actually did make one out of HEAVY "card stock" that worked at least two times over about 3 or 4 years, and I had it until I canned it when we moved back to Calif, as I no longer needed it. But, I agree, metal is better for the long haul.

rusnak

...just trying to re-size it so at least on screen it's actual size.....

ok, that's pretty much right on. Length should be around 11 cm. Mine is 11.4 cm, but that's not important. Get the 20 degrees right and you're golden.

I don't know why my printer won't print out in actual size.

Ed Hughes

Oh, one can easily bypass this nuisance by switching to 4 piston calipers.

Brett San Diego

I'll admit... I eyeballed mine. And, I'm usually such a stickler for the right tools for everything, too.

Brett

ivangene

rusnak - thanks for the pic... I had to futz a bit with the copy machine to get it "close" but then used a scale and dropped it on the CNC... made 5 of them in 0.03" aluminum.

I need one, and will offer one to my indy - the other 3 are free to the who ever would like one.

rusnak

Wow, you're amazing Ivangene. First you custom mill a pair of shift couplers, and now a CNC machined caliper tool.....

ivangene

got no moneys - has a to use what I gots !! LOL

ivangene

OK so contrary to the recommendation of my indy, I rebuilt ONLY the bad caliper - and that bastard was STUCK ! - took me a couple hours, most of the time spent trying to get the piston out, and cleaning off the rust. - that said she is working beautifully !!

I bought cheap DOT4 brake fluid for the fill and will flush the whole system this weekend with the good stuff.

but seriously, I make 3 extra tools and if anyone wants one - its yours. worked perfect with the caliper off... didnt check with it mounted - I didnt know what it was for until I was doing it and then I figured out why and how "non-critical" having the angle "perfect" is... but anyhow....

next project ? we'll see

Brett San Diego

If you read my post, you know I need one. I'll take one if they're not gone.

Brett

rusnak

Those are gorgeous. I check the calipers mounted on the car with pads out. Adjust with pistons extended, then retract with a pad retracting tool.