cromulius

I'm sure there is no amount of grease that will make my front passenger side brake caliper equalize as it should because I found a dimple on the outside of the sleeve and the same amount sticking out on the inside of the sleeve. What would cause this? Has this been the case since 1995 and the previous owner's mechanic (dealer) just kept putting pads on? The caliper is not equalizing because the inside was worn to nothing when the outside looked almost new. I guess I need to bore out the inside of this sleeve or buy a new one somewhere? Look at the top left of the sleeve for the dimple.

Robert Rausch

I don't know that I'd bore it out. Maybe if you have access to chucking reamers and a drill press you could ream it out.

Was the truck ever in an accident?

patdaly

New ones are dirt cheap at any auto parts store, not even remotely worth spending any time on fixing......

cromulius

I don't know if the truck was ever wrecked but I have seen so signs of such. Ok so it sounds like this is something that is not supposed to be there so I'll pick up some new parts. Thanks y'all.

98fargo

Correct me if I'm wrong but the caliper slides on the sleeve. The sleeve shouldn't move on the bolt once everything is tight, I believe the dimple is there so the sleeve doesn't fall off the bolt when everything is apart, chevy's have the same thing going on. Should not affect anything.

cromulius

Good question 98. Im not sure. I really didnt look at the drivers side because the bolts came right out of the sleeves and the sleeves stayed with the calipers. I guess I can take the bolts and sleeves out of the drivers side or stop at the auto parts store and see what their stuff looks like.

jstone44720

See if the one at the part store has the same dimple?

toms73novass

both of my 98 front caliper bolts have dimples to keep the sleeve from falling off the bolt.

cromulius

The sleeves at the parts store had no dimples. You get two sleeves and bolts for $4 so the new gear is on and I can tell the difference. I seems to be stopping better now that it is equalizing but that may just be in my head. I pulled the driver side bolts out and re greased for good measure. Thanks for the help guys.

As far as what Tom was saying I dont see any way that a sleeve could go anywhere. My bolt head is larger in diameter than the sleeve and the other side is up against the steel where the bolts threads in. Maybe slightly newer trucks are different.

98fargo

Its not to keep the sleeve from moving when it's together, just to keep them together when it's apart I believe

toms73novass

Yes that is what I was referring to also, when you pull the bolt, the sleeve will come with it instead of being left in the caliper.

cromulius

Ok duh its making sense now. its cold here after dark lately and working on the truck hanging halfway out of the garage at about 30-35f is making the fluid in my brain move slow. i will pull the drivers side bolts and sleeves back out and lube the outside of the sleeves. I guess I only wasted $4.

Yes the sleeve that had no dimple was very hard to get out of the passenger side caliper. Thanks guys.

j_martin

The sleeves need to be lubricated with a heat resistant grease (silglide) and there should also be some sort of rubber boots to keep dirt and water out. There should be kits available with bolts, sleeves, and boots for repair.

When properly assembled, the caliper should slide freely on the pins.

torquefan

The biggest thing in making those pads wear evenly is to remove the slide bolts and sleeves, then remove the rubber slide bushings from the caliper. The bore that those rubber bushings sit in will be all rusty. Even if the pins feel like they move great, they are still binding when that rust gets hot and expands You need to hone out all that rust, right down to bare shiny metal, then spray something on the metal to keep the rust from coming back. (Fluid Film works great.) Then pop in some new slide bushings with a bit of silicone grease inside. Once the rust is gone, then the pins will still be free to slide even when the caliper is hot.

98fargo

This is excellent advice! Probably the most overlooked aspect of brake servicing!