BRAKE CALIPER removal and refitting on a VR

[DEL VR6 0]

I want to take the calipers off, and give them a good clean (they are quite rusty) and general refurbishment, but i need them off the car to do it.

 

Is this a very difficult job to do?

 

What does it involve in terms of time required / helpers required / tools required?

 

Is it "Specialist" stuff, or can someone thats reasonably good at mechanics do it?

 

(lots of) advice needed please.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

If you take the calipers off completely, you'll need to bleed the brakes afterwards. I'd personally just wire brush them in situ and then hammerite them.

 

But if you want to take them off, 2 bolts secure the caliper to the floating pins and 2 bolts hold the carriers to the hubs. The carrier bolts will be done up tight, so be careful and the brake line removal is self explanatory when you see it. That's pretty much it really.

[DEL VR6 0]

these bolts that fit the carrier to the hubs that are done up tight, are they likely to sheer?

[Joe M 0]

There normally ok at the front, rears use an allen head bolt though and round easily so its worth getting replacements for them before starting.

[DEL VR6 0]

so far sounds ok. in terms of tools... do i need anything unusual to do the job?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Not really mate, you can get special spanners for undoing brake lines/slackening bleed nipples etc but I've always found normal spanners work OK with VW brakes....

[DEL VR6 0]

cool. i have only ever done the brakes on my 1974 Beetle, and assume that its a similar operation on the VR? are there any sensors or things like that to be detached?

[Henny 0]

not unless you have pad wear indicators, in which case there's a single multiplug to undo on each of the front calipers... It's actually quite scarey how simple the brakes are when you consider how important they are! :lol:

[DEL VR6 0]

i dont think that i have pad wear indicators on mine. Or at least ive never had indication of any wear.

 

where is the ABS sensor?

[Henny 0]

ABS sensor cage is on the back of the disks on the rears with the sensor mounted on the axle. On the fronts the grated disk is behind the disk attached to the hub and the sensor is built into the hub-housing...

 

Basically, ignore it 'cos you won't need to touch any of it unless you remove the rear disks... 8)

[daves16v 1]

I changed my calipers and disks last year and the two bolts holding the carriers on were extremely very tight, had to use leg work to crack em'.

 

I believe you need to use thread locker on all bolts when you re-fit. I did.

[Mike Edwards 0]

Get a bigger spanner next time Dave... :)

[fla 9]

Would it also be possible to remove the calipers without removing the hose for refurb, thus avoiding bleeding of the brakes - reason i ask is i want to refurb my calipers too (clean and paint)? Sorry to hijack this slightly DEL VR6, !

[Henny 0]

you don't even need to remove 'em to paint 'em... you won't get the best finish in the world, but it'll still look better than the 10 to 15 years of crud that's on most of 'em now... ;)

 

Spray 'em with brake cleaner, Wire brush 'em, leave 'em to dry and attack with your choice of paint... Job's a good'un... 8)

[DEL VR6 0]

not at all FLA. thats what this Forum is all about dude.

[DEL VR6 0]

HENNY, love the "Henry Hoover" Picture. Its a cracker.

[Louie Lungbubble 0]

Took one of my front calipers off 2 weeks ago to investigate an odd noise, and yep, those 2 bolts are in super-tight. (3 LB mallet job just to break them)

But once they're off the bolts and attached only by the pipe, you could easily tidy them up.

(They don't reach to the floor when on the pipes though, so you'll need to balance em on the dog's back while you hammerite away) :wink:

[Henny 0]

It's thanks to joebloggsVR69 here... 8) I just resized it and added the red cross! ;)