Bleeding brakes

Black GT

Active Member
Sep 8, 2018
148
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Jacksonville, Florida
I had the right front brake caliper lockup on my 2001 GT. I replaced the caliper. I should only have to bleed the right front caliper right? The front of my car has been lowered and near impossible to get a jack under it. So if I don't need to bleed the others I will not go through the hassle of doing it. The brake reservoir never inhaled any air. Always had fluid in it.
 
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My car is lowered as well and when I need to jack it up, I drive up on a 2x10 (about 12" long). Jack fits great then.

As far as bleeding, it should be good. When I did my swap to brembos I found that if I just opened the bleed screw on the caliper and let it gravity bleed, virtually all the air came out. It was a very quick bleed after that - one or two cycles and I was done.
 
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My car is lowered as well and when I need to jack it up, I drive up on a 2x10 (about 12" long). Jack fits great then.

As far as bleeding, it should be good. When I did my swap to brembos I found that if I just opened the bleed screw on the caliper and let it gravity bleed, virtually all the air came out. It was a very quick bleed after that - one or two cycles and I was done.
Good Idea with the boards. I will remember that. Thanks for the reply!
 
When replacing a single caliper, i've had good success only bleeding that one corner. I've never had to bleed all 4.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to bleed all 4 if you are able to however.
 
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I have to wonder why the caliper froze. If you have not flushed the fluid or at least bled the system in recent memory, it could easily be from water in the fluid causing corrosion of the lines or the piston. Rusted brake lines are bad news.
Preventative maintenance is good.
 
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99-04 front PBR calipers are prone to seizing if the car sits for a period of time with contaminated fluid. This story has played out more times than I can count given that many of those cars from that era are now 20+ years old and might still have original fluid in the system.

Really imperative to keep fresh fluid in the system on those cars. I bleed the brakes on all my cars every 2 years.
 
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99-04 front PBR calipers are prone to seizing if the car sits for a period of time with contaminated fluid. This story has played out more times than I can count given that many of those cars from that era are now 20+ years old and might still have original fluid in the system.

Really imperative to keep fresh fluid in the system on those cars. I bleed the brakes on all my cars every 2 years.
Yeah , I guess next time I get it on the concrete I will bleed all 4. If for no other reason to get new fluid in the system. My right front locked completely . Would just spin the rear tires when trying to move it. It only sat for a couple of days at a time. I could tell it was happening before it totally locked up. My car is a manual so when I would back up and use the clutch to change gears the car would immediately stop rolling. I imagine it was not that great for the clutch trying to get the car to move with the brake stuck.
 
99-04 front PBR calipers are prone to seizing if the car sits for a period of time with contaminated fluid. This story has played out more times than I can count given that many of those cars from that era are now 20+ years old and might still have original fluid in the system.
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Really imperative to keep fresh fluid in the system on those cars. I bleed the brakes on all my cars every 2 years.
The PBR caliper pistons are the ones I was thinking about with corrosion and sticking. Do you know if Raybestos or someone has come up with a better material for rebuilds?
 
Damn straight those calipers seize
The hats too
The guy at ford who is in charge of the grease needs an ass kicking
The F150 and all of them barely have enough grease to get out of the warranty period
The real thick grease that is used on the caliper piston and o ring during assembly is what they scrimp on (for this problem)
IF ford used a bit more grease they would never seize
Same as the hats and pins
 
You are right 7991LXnShO water don't help a bit
People do not realize that contaminated fluid is real bad
So you have no grease on the caliper o ring on one side and contaminated fluid on the other
Used to put pistons in them and an overhaul kit with the boot and o ring under warranty 3-36 at the time
You could do it with just brake fluid as a lubricant
A whole lot easier and a much better job with a bit of caliper piston assembly grease
 
Yeah, This thing had the death grip on my rotor. I had to pry it off. To look at it from the outside you would never know it was frozen. I could not get the pistons to break lose with a C clamp or the giant pair of channel locks I use to push brake pistons in..
 

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The PBR caliper pistons are the ones I was thinking about with corrosion and sticking. Do you know if Raybestos or someone has come up with a better material for rebuilds?

No.

Folks are trying to source Pistons that are not phenolic but one hasn’t been located and nobody has decided it was worth it to tool up to make some. I’d imagine most folks looking at brake upgrades simply throw them in the trash and go with the 13” brake setup.


It’s a shame because it’s a great brake concept. Large piston, large pad area and fits inside a 15” wheel. More than enough brake performance for a drag-oriented setup where you need one good strong stop and then they can cool.

All I can say is stay on top of fluid changes with these
 
The phenolic pistons work fine
They just crack and break
The phenolic are lighter and dissipate heat better
However the F250 dual piston phenolics had so much trouble...
Phenolic is an insulator. It should be good at keeping the heat from the pad and caliper away from the fluid.

It would be easy to machine Delrin pistons. I wonder if the melting point of it or another high density polymer is high enough for brakes? It would be stronger and less brittle.
 
Phenolic is an insulator. It should be good at keeping the heat from the pad and caliper away from the fluid.

It would be easy to machine Delrin pistons. I wonder if the melting point of it or another high density polymer is high enough for brakes? It would be stronger and less brittle.
You are right dissipate is the wrong word. F250's were melting the caliper rubber real bad. Ford swapped to phenolic to no avail. Later added aluminum and fiber insulators thru a recall. Later still went back to conventional metal pistons. Most of the fleet went back to phenolic in the mid 90's Blame CAFE and the need to save weight