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exploding brake caliper

OCMI_Teddy

NAXJA Forum User
Location
San Diego
I was changing my brakes yesterday. I pushed the drivers side piston in no problem, then I went to do the pasenger side and after about 1 or 2 twist with a C-clamp the rubber poped like a ballon. These are very new calipers(swaped them in with my last brake change 4 months ago because the piston cept getting stuck and caused uneven pad wear.) There was also very uneven pad wear on this set of pads. The outside pad was completly gone while the inside still had about 50% left.

Any ideas to what could have caused this? I was thinking it might be my brake lines due to this being the second occourence of the uneven pad wear. Any help would be great.
 
check the knuckles where the pads rest for grooves. I bet you'll find some ugly grooves there, they catch the pads and make for uneven wear problems.
 
you swap the rotors too?

I've read about rotors being turned to many times and the pistons over extending and being damaged, no idea how legitimate this is.

I open the bleeders when I push the piston back in addition to opening the cap on the resovior. This way if there is any "junk" inside the caliper it isn't pushed back up into the system. Make it easier to push the pistons back too.
 
BBeach said:
Just noticed it was the caliper and not the line, maybe there was a kink in the line.

no kink, but could have the line have some junk in it that would cause it to happen?
 
You could check the flow of that line by using a different color brake fluid when you bleed it. Or really just have another person with you to help pump, while you see the flow coming out of the line.
 
check the sliders. u can remove them completely and get a decent amount of whtie lithium grease in the dust boot to lube them up. kinda messy but if the sliders get too much heat they can freeze up and cause the caliper to pull on one side
 
It really would be a good idea to check the line. I've never had this happen on an XJ, but sometimes a break on the inside lining of a flexible line can cause a restriction, similar to a one-way valve, and if it prevents retraction it could cause the exploding caliper as well as high pad wear.
 
Matthew Currie said:
It really would be a good idea to check the line. I've never had this happen on an XJ, but sometimes a break on the inside lining of a flexible line can cause a restriction, similar to a one-way valve, and if it prevents retraction it could cause the exploding caliper as well as high pad wear.


Exactly what I was thinking. Those rubber lines are really 2 lines, one on top of the other. Sometimes the inner line will collapse, and hold the pressure in the line.......resulting in stuck calipers/uneven pad wear/brake pull/etc...
 
well I guess it's a good thing I got a lift coming up then :)
 
When you say the rubber popped like a balloon, do you mean the rubber around the caliper piston????? This is just a dust seal.... It has absolutely nothing to due with the hydraulics such as the brake lines etc.... Air will be trapped in this area when you compress the piston...... I have never seen one pop from compressing the piston..... are these real low quality calipers?????As far as uneven pad wear, your pads need to fit the brackets correctly, without binding or excessive slop, they need to move freely.... the caliper needs to slide easily on the pins..... any binding or sticking at any part will cause uneven pad wear.....
 
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