Brake pads and caliper removal?

OK I know that the 'book' says the caliper doesnt need removing for changing the brake pads but looking at my caliper and the amount of room to work with I don't know how I'll do this!

I've never worked on bikes before but on my car, I can remove the caliper without taking off the brake hose to clean the caliper with brake cleaner, pop the brake pads out, put new ones in, and reinstall the caliper. Is this possible on my XJ? I'm not ready to do a caliper rebuild yet, but I'd like to take the caliper off with the brake line still connected and just spray it all out with brake cleaner and install new pads (which I'm getting tomorrow) If this is possible, any techniques I should know?

This site has been great so far! I've got orders coming in for a bunch of repairs I'm going attempt to do myself and I have you guys to thank for it!

 

You don't need to remove the Caliper to replace worn Pads.

You DO need to move the Caliper Piston back into the Caliper body.
Loosen the Bleeder Screw.
Pry the Piston back into the Caliper.
Tighten the Bleeder.
Protect the Rotor from being scratched or gouged with an improvised Tool.
(6-Inch square of Vinyl Siding)

Once the Piston is retracted; center the Caliper and the New Pads should go in without a fuss.

 

Rick, how will i push the piston back if the caliper is still on the bike and the pads are blocking it?

I mostly wanted to take the caliper off to clean it up some.

 

You push the Piston back with the Pads ... removed!

 

I did this last week, and here is what I did that made it easy:

1) remove 1 of the 2 caliper mounting bolts so the caliper can be swung away from the rotor to enable easy removal of the pads

2) Open the brake bleeder screw to allow piston to be pushed back

3) to push piston back, I took a thin metal bar and placed it across the piston. Then, I took a c-clamp and placed it over the bar/piston and the other end rested against the caliper housing*. SLOWLY screw in the clamp and the piston will retract.

*I was nervous about damaging the housing by doing this, but I went slowly and it worked. If your piston is seized, or you forget to open the bleed screw, I am sure you will damage the housing so be careful.

 

Ricks method of prying did not work well for me and that is why I used the c-clamp method. The fact I couldnt pry it back is definitely an indication my piston is gunked up and I need to do a caliper rebuild - but alas, if you dont want to do that yet you can do as I did

 

ry, thanks for the post man. So if I swing off the caliper, isn't the piston on the inside of the brake pad? How do I retract the piston? I don't see how I can do it from the outside of the caliper?

 

You can use a C-Clamp pressing against the piston-side pad once the other pad is out of the way.

However, just changing the pads is probably going to set you up to do the rebuild that you're not ready for anyway.

How old are the LINES? READ: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=41400.html

 

I'm ready for the line rebuild actually

I got my SS lines in the mail, missing 2 bolts and 4 washers, so I need to wait for those to show up before I do those. Figured I'd do the pads now, and when the lines come in, I can drain the system, put the new lines on, and bleed everything properly.

Is that a bad way to do things? I can change the pads without immediately bleeding the system right? Was planning to do that when I did the lines.

 

You need to rebuild the caliper and master cylinder too.

Here's the thing: Bleeding Yamaha brakes from empty is a real ring-tailed PIA; just do a forum search.

Doing the job "in stages" will just mean going through the entire bloody process all over again.

YOU WILL NEED to rebuild the caliper and master cylinder; if not the brakes will just start dragging/overheating on you and could ruin your new pads AND warp your rotor.

Just do it ALL at once; otherwise you'll have to go thru the brake bleeding fiasco multiple times. (I learned this the hard way.)

NO SHORTCUTS ON BRAKES!

 

I really need to rebuild the MC and caliper? Dammit man. I ordered everything up and was all pumped to do this. Now I'll need to order MC rebuild and caliper rebuild stuff, both of which I'm terrified to do. I've never done things like this before.

Man. Ordered my valve clearance AND gasket stuff from Len and found out I can't do it till next weekend. Was gonna do brakes and lines instead. Can't do that now either! Oh well

is it still a real PITA with a vacuum bleeder? Was gonna rent one from advance auto parts to do the job. So even if the bike only has 17k miles the MC and caliper need rebuilding? Time to save up some more money.

Thanks Fitz, you've already been a big help and I havent started on anything yet!

 

Why does everyone think that miles has something to do with these old bikes. AGE trumps MILES.
Sitting around for 10 years is jsut as bad as putting 20,000 miles on a bike!
I'm learning this with my bike as well with 4000 miles on it. Replaced pads, replaced lines. Now im pretty sure it needs new pads, new rotors, and a master cylinder rebuild, and another brake bleed.
Light pressure on my front brake makes it squeal. I'd just replace it all man and be done with it

 

Yea I know I should do that. But I need the stopping power quicker than I have cash to get more parts in. I may just have to do the bleed twice.

Stopping power sucks on these old rubber lines. I have the SS lines and the new pads.... Don't have 50 more dollars to spend till next weekend...

Decisions, decisions...

 

Overhauling the Front Brakes is not as complicated as you think.
Neither is the installation of the Master Cylinder Kit.

I took my time doing the whole schmear over about a 6 hour total time spent on the job.

The tricky parts are getting the Snap Ring out of the Master to extract the internal components.
The Kit includes New everything.

Removing the Caliper Pistons can be a chore if the Pistons are not free moving.
The Stainless Lines come tailor-made to fit without a fuss.

My Front Braking is vastly improved after the upgrade.

 

Ehhh, screw it, I'll just ride easy until i can get everything I need for a complete brake overhaul. I will heed the advice of those more experienced than me

I'm definitely getting that EBC brake rotor next season too