Repeat Brake Caliper Failure Same Wheel-Any Thought's on Why?

[Truman325i]

around a year ago, I had to replace a worn out caliper that was sticking. replaced it/pads, all good for over a year and several track laps.

Just took the car out for a drive and got home and the brakes are SMOKING. Same side.

Any thoughts on why the same corner would repeat failure?

[Cos270]

Check your brake hoses (the ones that go to the caliper, not the hardlines). They're cheap I would just replace them to eliminate a possible factor. They can collapse internally and will show no visual sign of failure until the caliper starts sticking.

[Truman325i]

Replaced those after the last failure with ECS hoses... Any other ideas? Or is it just bad luck?

[Cos270]

What pads and rotors are you running? Stock calipers? I'm by no means an expert when it comes to brakes, but I had the same issue (sticky caliper-passenger side) and I replaced the hoses with ECS braided units and sourced a rebuilt caliper for good measure. No problems since.

[TostitoBandito]

Assuming the rebuilt caliper was good when it was installed, it seems highly unlikely for it to seize again. I agree with he comment above to check the lines for any kinks or damage, and maybe just replace them with stainless steel lines if you haven't yet. Regardless, you should also probably remove the caliper and inspect/clean it, and maybe pop out the piston and rebuild it for good measure. Look at the guide pins too, don't know if you put new ones in when the rebuilt caliper was installed but bad pins and/or bushings can cause the caliper to not want to slide like it should and instead drag on the rotor. I'm assuming your brake fluid is relatively fresh and you don't have air in the system or anything like that?

[pbonsalb]

Heat from parking brake too tight or worn wheel bearing? I like the guide pin suggestion but assume you replaced and/or inspected and cleaned and regreased those when changing the caliper.

[pizzaman09]

I'm too surprised that you are having this issue after a caliper replacement. I would still pull it and see I'd you have rust on the piston or a bad seal. I purchased a rebuilt caliper for my M3 that had the outer diagram seal incorrectly installed, it would have definitely caused water to be trapped and rust the piston if I had not corrected it before install on the car. As the other folks said, lines can collapse and cause issue as well.

Of all the brakes caliper designs I've come across, the ones on 90S BMWs impress me the least. The calipers on my Oldsmoblie 88 are a much easier design to service. The factory calipers on my 62 Austin Healey Sprite are super easy to work on and a more advanced dual piston design that works excellently. They have nice and rigid mounting, no sliding pins, just a piston on each side of the disk. They are by far the best feeling brakes I've had the pleasure to drive, the fact that they aren't vacuum boosted certainly helps.

[Truman325i]

Appreciate the suggestions all. To recap, when I replaced the caliper, install SS lines, all new fluid/bleed, guide bolts (greased), new pads. All worked great for 6-8 months of semi daily driving and a few HPDE days.

I put her in the air today, quick while changing oil, and while it isn't 100% seized it is still dragging. Ordered new caliper, ATE guide bushings and bolts, and new rotors. Have some HAWK pads ready to go on as well.

Passenger side front, so no parking brake issues...

[das borgen]

I can't think of anything that should be causing this issue if your guide bolts and calipers are newly rebuilt other than a badly rebuilt caliper

[RRSperry]

Probably a crappy caliper, BUT... I'd check that the pads actually fit correctly. That the "ears" can move and aren't rough in the carrier. I've seen a lot of pads that are really beat up, with burrs and bent "ears"

Again just a wild ass guess.

[Truman325i]

Looks like a bad caliper after pulling it and looking at the piston. Just below the dust cover was rusty and it took a LOT of force to get the piston to retract fully.

All new rotors, HPS pads, rbf 600, guide pins and bushings and a new caliper on that side. Braking better than ever. Just got to keep checking the temps to make sure nothing else is happening.

Now on to a leaky slave cylinder

[emoore924]

Ok, this might sound unrelated, but probably not. I've owned a toyota 4runner for about 10 years now. I've been through probably 4 or 5 right front calipers. I change the fluid, keep the flexi hoses in good shape, blah blah, I even upgraded to the "upgraded" later style 2010-2015 calipers. No mas. The right front keeps freezing up like a rock once every 2-3 years.

I look at it like a wear part. Every other set of brake pads, I replace the caliper. No idea why it fails. It just does.

[Truman325i]

Closing this out. I have been on a few spirited drives, with no issues. Have checked temps upon arriving at destinations and no discrepancy between each side. LOVING the new HPS pads. Will likely make threshold braking a little bit tougher at the track.

[RRSperry]

They are not track pads at all...

[das borgen]

+1. Ditch those pads. They're terrible on the street (metallic dust is bad for paint and there's a lot of it) and most definitely not suited for the track on a 3100lb car.

Heck, I wouldn't use them on a 2200lb car for the track (like a Miata)

[RRSperry]

That was my thought when I used the HPS pad once. I didn't like them at all. They felt wooden, and really didn't have stopping power. I thought the Axxis Ultimate (at the time) was a much better street pad. Low dust, good bite, and decent power...