Well guys, when it rains... it pours. I took removed/replaced wheel bearings and brake pads on the passenger side. With a few snafus, redos..etc... Finally, got it all together.

Removed the caliper from the drivers side. I noticed on one of the pistons that is
pushed out... the rubber piece going around it is broken. It is not leaking fluid.

When I depress the pistons for the new pads... is this gonna cause an issue?

Am I looking at getting a new caliper? I was not able to break loose the bolts that hold the caliper frame on. Will ask my son to come over tomorrow and borrow his muscles or get a impact wrench/gun thingy.

thanx guys.

2004.5 2500, 5.9 2WD, 296K miles stock

 

A friend had this exact thing happen. He put it back together and drove it. And yes, it was fine for a while, but a year or so later, that piston seized damaging the rotor. He ended up having to replace the rotor (did the other side too to keep everything the same as they were high mileage originals.

With that being said, this is a small problem, that eventually leads to bigger ones if you don't take care of it. Can you put it back together and drive it while you get parts together? Absolutely. But I wouldn't just put it back together and forget about it. Otherwise, it will remind you later in a bigger way.

 

thanx... I was kinda thinking that may the answer...

Is it ok to replace one caliper and not both sides?

I am replacing pads on both sides.

 

You can. However, I find it a best practice to replace both.

 

May be a good idea. Been looking and all i find are ones with the phenolic pistons. Are they all that is offered nowadays?

 

Autozone's Duralast calipers use a metal internal piston, just like the stock caliper. Autozone sell's two other reman calipers, but they use a phenolic piston. During a recent search for calipers about 6 months ago, I found that the Duralast caliper is fitted with a metal piston. The part number is C717.

 

thanx,

I did not see that one. I'll look again. Maybe my location...

 

As mentioned, I would definitely replace the calipers due to the damaged dust boot. I really haven't seen a lot of trouble with phenolic pistons and it wouldn't scare me off. I've seen far more trouble with the slides than anything else.

 

After further review, it appears that Autozone no longer offers calipers with metal pistons. I recall that is was difficult to locate them 6 months ago and perhaps I received the last of them. I also provided the incorrect Duralast part number for the front calipers as C717 was the rear part number. The front part caliper numbers are C714 and C715.

 

For $12 you can go to Autozone and get new seals.

 

Be certain you are not suffering piston bind. This is a common fault with OEM calipers and the only remedy is caliper replacement.

 

I recently replaced my driver side rear caliper because the piston had seized up. Found the part number on RockAuto.com for a Centric brand replacement caliper, but made the purchase on Amazon because it was cheaper and didn't not have a core-charge. About $60 shipped. Also replaced the drive side brake line. I dont think you need to replace both calipers - but probably always want to replace pads/rotors in pairs.