Hello,
I seem to be having awful trouble with what I assumed to be a simple task, given the overall mission that I have embarked upon....

The mission... replace rear rotors... so IRS out, calipers off, drive shafts off, rotors replaced... so far so good..., but now I am stuck on what should be straightforward...brake piston dust cover fitting!

On careful inspection of calipers, rubber dust covers are fragmented and have to be replaced.... so...
After careful reading of the "manual" (pages 70-14 and 70-15) it would appear that the front calipers have a steel ring to hold the dust cover on, whilst there is no mention of steel rings for the rear calipers. In my case, the LHS rear caliper had steel rings holding what was left of the rubber, but the RHS caliper does not have any steel rings.

Does anybody have any tips for fitting these dust covers because my patience is wearing thin on a task (that I know is important) but not where I expected to be held up!

regards,

Rhys

 

It's been a while, but I seem to recall that the caliper had a raised portion around the pistons. That raised portion had a groove that matched a lip molded into the seal. Have you actually removed the old seals to see how they are attached? I could very well be mistaken. I've worked on so many calipers of different makes.

 

Thanks Ian for the prompt response..

yes, the old seals are off and there is a raised lip. I can get the seal on to the lip, which is quite narrow, and the seal will stay there, but slips off the moment that I try to put the wire ring (circlip) on it.... I can see what it should do... but whilst the rubber seal has a groove for the retaining clip, the raised portion of the caliper, that it should sit on, doesn't. It is narrow and smooth, so the seal just slides off if there is any movement of the piston.

 

I do not recall any wire ring, front or rear calipers.

teh cover has a lip that seats in a groove in the steel and that is it.

Calrt

 

Hi Rhys, this is of no help at all, only a confirmation of what you are experiencing. Getting that wire ring to stay on the caliper lip is indeed a PITA! I think I used two small screw drivers and my thumb to expand and start placing the ring at the open end. When the ring is well started, I used the screw driver to push the ring down on the lip and worked my way around.

I think it took me most of a day to rebuild my calipers and these retaining rings were the most maddening of the whole process. Good luck.

Dave

 

I'm with Jagcad on this one.
My guess is some later dust covers do not need the steel rings. I did not use them on my Series 1 re-build and the covers seem to stay in situ quite OK.
Also I assume any new covers would be supplied with new rings, if necessary for that type of cover.
Cheers.

 

My seal kits (front/rear) came with new wire retainers to replace the wire retainers that were in place when I dismantled the calipers. That's the only experience I have.

Dave

 

OK... all fixed now. I swapped the seals that I had been given for a different set (that actually came with retaining rings).

Took less than 15 minutes to fit all 4 to the callipers, so everything is back together again....

It is just weird that the manual shows retaining clips for the front callipers, but none for the rear callipers. As I have not touched the front callipers, I don't know why.

Anyway, whilst there was no magic advice to solve the issue, I appreciate the recognition of the problem and the implicit sympathy!

regards,

Rhys