Brake Caliper Conundrum

#1
So I have heard of people having trouble with Chevy/Jeep calipers like what are found on a waggy d44. Many people use them for the rear disc conversions on d60s and 14 bolts. Well I have replaced my front right caliper 4 times and front left caliper 1 time since I did my 44 swap. What could I be doing that is causing it to stick?

I have totally flushed all fluid twice and let the passenger front caliper bleed an entire quart bottle of fluid. I have also replaced the soft line.

Do the jeep/gm calipers just suck? is it because they are all reman and crappy?

Hunter had on lock up on his rear 44 that we did a disc conversion on, kirby had one lockup on his 44 when he had it, and I think david had a rear on his 60 lock up. Whats the deal?




I will add that this time it started when I was pulling our enclosed trailer that is 6x10. I would think it would be harder to stop, but I dont see why it would make the caliper stick...?
 
#4
Has anyone done any research on the psi & volume difference between the 2 systems?
Not having the proper proportioning valve can cause problems as well.
 
#5
Dude, funny you should mention. Add mine to the list of failures as well. I had problems with my rear passenger reman Chevy caliper sticking on my 9" and then recently got fed up and swapped on an old junkyard Chevy caliper and it did great ever since until yesterday. I was out in the Jeep messing around with Gillis in some local water holes and on the way back I had it stick. Seems as though it gets worse when it gets wet. After swapping to the junkyard caliper I've wheeled URE in the rain and Gulches. And I've driven it in the rain several times with no issue, so I doubt that really has anything to do with it.

Unfortunately most disc brake conversion kits come setup for the GM calipers. I'm fed up with 'em personally. I've never been able to figure it out either. :pissed:
 
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#6
The only moving pieces are the bolts/pins the caliper is held in place with and the piston on the inboard side of the caliper. The only thing that retains the piston (in most cases) is an o-ring around the piston. Remove the bleeder valve or banjo bolt and give an easy does it shot of compressed air (be careful) and the piston will pop out. The rebuild kit for your caliper includes one o-ring for the piston and a new dust seal, there isn't a whole lot to go wrong in there.
 
#7
yeah, I saw the rebuild kits are $6 and I felt like that would be the solution. I just dont know what causes it. I went to get a replacement yesterday and they didnt have any in stock. So I removed the cap on the master cylinder and pried the caliper apart and it didnt stick on the way to work this morning that I am aware of.
 
#9
Just curious, but has anyone checked the operating temp on the calipers? If the swap is causing a shift in pressure to one caliper it could be boiling fluid and looses it's lubrication!
 
#11
They are only $17 for a reason. At least thats the way I felt about it. Mine have siezed up as well on my 60 conversion.

the jeep ones are cheaper than the chevys, mine were $13 at advance with no discount. I just dont see whats causing it because I know when people used to DD wagoneers to work they werent having these issues...were they?
 
#13
well they work for a year or so at least, so i wouldnt think its the proportioning.

I took it apart this morning before work (5:00am) and lubed up the slides to see if that was the issue. Sunday when I noticed it sticking I pried it apart and it worked for my drive into columbia on monday and to the bus stop in chapin on tuesday. This morning I jacked it up and it was dragging pretty good but not as bad as before. So I pried it apart and lubed the pins to see if that would help. I would have replaced the caliper last night but andrea was busy and I didnt have anyone to help bleed the brakes.

I'm thinking maybe the slide pins get dirty and it cant open back up???
 
#16
I was looking at them last night as I want to put the stainless steel lines I have in my garage on the front, and they run about 40 bucks for the set of 4....Supposedly, you open one, pump the brakes till the fluid is bubble free, then close it and move to the next one. Simple as can be...
 
#17
Speed bleeders rock! No pump-hold-tighten bleeder-pump-hold..... I can bleed all four calipers in about 5 minutes with a helper and in about 10 minutes by myself.
 
#18
Speed bleeders rock! No pump-hold-tighten bleeder-pump-hold..... I can bleed all four calipers in about 5 minutes with a helper and in about 10 minutes by myself.
where is the best place to get these mystical time savers? and I'm assuming they are caliper specific?
 
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