Stuck caliper

[jada64]

Truck is 2WD dually, passenger front wheel. I dont drive the truck very often, once or twice a week.

Brakes were are redone when I bought the truck less than 2 years ago.

I do NOT have the equipment to put this thing on stands and pull the wheel off it and dont have the cash to pay someone right this right now, didnt work last week and no work this week.

I read that I could put a C clamp on the caliper with everything together and try to push the piston back in that way? Is that true, and if so what size c clamp should I get? Even if this doesn't fix the problem it would at least let me push the piston in and pinch the line so I could take it to a shop next week when I get paid.

 

[icanfixall]

I think a 6 inch C clamp will work ok. Possibly you have a stuck caliper slide that needs some anti sieze on it. Or that side hose has failed internally. Very seldom does the claiper piston stick but its possible. How far and how fast will you be driving to get it to a shop. hopefully not far and not very fast. Clamping the line closed is taking a huge risk. If thats done please replace that line and the other front caliper line. You really don't want to do this again. The front brakes do much of the stopping too. many times our rear brake shoes will not self adjust so the front end up being the only brakes that works. Hauling heavy really overheats the rotors too. I have cracked several rotors because I had no idea the rear brakes were so far out of adjustment. If your parking brake sets near the floor the rears are way out of adjustment and needs to be manually adjusted. Changing to hydroboost brakes will fix that rear brake issue.

 

[jada64]

Just would be in town, a 5 min drive at 25-30 MPH. Truck hasnt hauled anything really heavy since I have owned it. Just used it to pick up a car a couple times with a car hauler. Just little imports though. Trailer had good brakes on it.

I might just go buy a set of stands and jack that can handle the truck and fix it myself when I get paid. I just dont have anything that can handle this pig.


Just to be clear I am not trying to drive the truck with a hurt braking system. I have access to another vehicle in the mean time and I dont drive it to work. It just sits there 90% of the time.

 

[icanfixall]

I really didn't figure you wold be driving it all over town in traffic with children on board but had to ask. If you have some stands you can do one side at a time too. no reason to buy 2 stands unless you plan of other work. Harbor freight is about the cheapest stand you will find and they are fine. the sells 2 different types too. I got the heavy style stand from them years ago and it works great for what it is. I also have the split steel tube type that I'm suspect of. I would not use that on my 6200 lb crewcab.

 

[jada64]

I really didn't figure you wold be driving it all over town in traffic with children on board but had to ask. If you have some stands you can do one side at a time too. no reason to buy 2 stands unless you plan of other work. Harbor freight is about the cheapest stand you will find and they are fine. the sells 2 different types too. I got the heavy style stand from them years ago and it works great for what it is. I also have the split steel tube type that I'm suspect of. I would not use that on my 6200 lb crewcab.

Im gonna throw a c clamp on it and see if I can get it to stick again. If it does I am going to try and borrow a heavy duty jack and stand. I have the Harbor Freight 3 ton steel low profile jack and that seems to work well, maybe I will go buy their heavy duty one too for the truck. Just cant afford it right now, bills have to be paid and I had an unexpected 2 week vacation from work. No work available until next week.

 

[79jasper]

3 ton jack will work.
I think mines just a 2 ton. Lol
To do the c-clamp, you'll probably have to pull the tire. As Gary mentioned, could just be seized caliper slides. Could try smacking it with a hammer.


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[jada64]

3 ton jack will work.
I think mines just a 2 ton. Lol
To do the c-clamp, you'll probably have to pull the tire. As Gary mentioned, could just be seized caliper slides. Could try smacking it with a hammer.


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Im hoping it is the slides. Ill pull the tire off it tomorrow in that case.

 

[laserjock]

I know on the half ton trucks frozen caliper was not unheard of. Saw it happen twice on two different trucks. They were single piston though. Piston gets wedged.

 

[G. Mann]

I would guess your problem is the slides are stuck not the caliper piston is stuck. Pretty common after a brake job by some brake shop that doesn't really know these trucks. The caliper slides need to be driven out, the "V" the slides set in needs to be wire brushed and the "V" of the caliper also. Clean it up good and then coat the "V" with never seize and re-assemble it..

The never seize will help keep rust from happening which is what usually locks the caliper from sliding as the pads wear.

BTW, 3 ton floor or bottle jack will lift the truck. Pair of 3 ton jack stands on sale right now at Harbor Freight for $19.95.

Always be safe.. Never put a body part you want to keep between the truck and where it will fall.

 

[jada64]

Pulled the wheel off today and pulled the slides. They were in there pretty good but didnt fight me. However they were pretty dirty and there was no signs of any anti seize applied to them. Si I cleaned em up and put a liberal amount of AS on em. Now it no longer sticks, but my brakes are soft. What could cause this?

 

[laserjock]

Air. Bleed the brakes. Check your fluid level. May have got a little air when you were messing with the caliper if the level was really low. Probably a good thing to do regardless after servicing the brake system.

 

[jada64]

Air. Bleed the brakes. Check your fluid level. May have got a little air when you were messing with the caliper if the level was really low. Probably a good thing to do regardless after servicing the brake system.

I wanted to bleed the system but I had no one to pump the pedal. I couldnt do it so I had to make due. I dont drive the truck ever really, I am out of town 5 days a week and it just sits there. Ill bleed the brakes next weekend.

 

[icanfixall]

If the parking brake sets near the floor then the rear brakes needs to be manually adjusted. Our rear self adjusters usually wont keep the rear shoes in adjustment very well. so we found its best to manually adjust them. then you wont have the soft brake peddle. BTW that soft peddle is the rear wheel cylinders taking more fluid after the fronts have stopped the truck. then the peddle slowly sinks as the cylinders in the back are filled from the way out of adjustment shooes.

 

[jada64]

If the parking brake sets near the floor then the rear brakes needs to be manually adjusted. Our rear self adjusters usually wont keep the rear shoes in adjustment very well. so we found its best to manually adjust them. then you wont have the soft brake peddle. BTW that soft peddle is the rear wheel cylinders taking more fluid after the fronts have stopped the truck. then the peddle slowly sinks as the cylinders in the back are filled from the way out of adjustment shooes.

Im sure this is the problem. Makes perfect sense to me. Thanks for the explanation.