Rt frnt calipher dragging

[cerebusa]

Rebuild which I dont know how to do or buy a used one?? It makes a shushing noise as it turns, I hate it. I have lookesd at the pads and pistons and they just are not retracting all the way I guess. Ideas?? Thanks, Mike

 

[IG.]

Lightly dragging pads are perfectly OK. Ride for a few miles at highway speeds without ever touching the front brake, then slow down gently using the rear brake only, and pull over to the side of the road. Check how hot the front rotors are. If they are barely warm or cold, everything is fine. If at least one of them is hot - you got a real problem.

Rebuilding calipers is not so difficult - you just have to set your mind on it, and get new seals ahead of time. If your calipers have years of riding on them, and especially if you didn't clean them regularly, it's almost a given that some pistons are binding, and some are more than others.

 

[quantumracer]

Rebuild which I dont know how to do or buy a used one?? It makes a shushing noise as it turns, I hate it. I have lookesd at the pads and pistons and they just are not retracting all the way I guess. Ideas?? Thanks, Mike

They usually won't retract "all the way". Just enough to clear the rotor. How many miles on the bike? I ask because I seriously doubt you need to rebuild your caliper. It sounds like you have a warped rotor, a dirty rotor or your fluid needs flushed/replaced. Here's what I would do:

1) Pull the caliper off the rotor and clean it throughly. Make sure you take the pads out before you add any cleaning solution to the caliper. Pay close attention to build up around the pistons, and boots. Grease the moving parts, but not anywhere that will come in contact with the rotor.

2) Now get some 00 or 000 steel wool and scrub your rotors to remove any grease, dirt, grime, brake dust off of them. You can also use emory to scrub the rotors. Don't worry if the steel wool leaves "swirl" marks. That's a good thing!

3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the other side.

4) Go for a short (LOW SPEED) test ride. If they are still rubbing the rotor do the following:

5) Pull the cap off your brake reservoir. DO NOT get brake fluid on your paint job. (don't ask how I know) Look in the reservoir, if you can't easily see to the bottom of it you need to flush the system. If you can kinda see to the bottom, but it's cloudy or dirty...you need to flush the system. If you can see to the bottom and there is a lot of black stuff laying there, you need to flush the system.

If none of that works....chances are you have a warped rotor. It's way more common than bad calipers.

 

[cerebusa]

Thanks guys for the input, Im on it this weekend. 30.5k miles on them.